3. Writing tab

Keys lanes

Not every part has strings. A keys lane is a piano roll inside the Editor: a row for each pitch, the highest at the top, and a small keyboard down the track’s header with each C labelled. Use it for piano, organ, synths, a vocal line or any part you’d rather write by pitch than by fret.

Keys lanes

Available on every platform.

Getting a keys lane

• A new track. Open the track’s menu (right-click a track’s header) and choose Add Track › Keys.
• A new song. The Piano template starts with one.
• An import. Pianos, synths, vocals and other parts without frets in a Guitar Pro, MIDI or MusicXML file come in as keys lanes.

Writing notes

• Double-click a row to write a note on that pitch, one step long.
• Press ReturnEnter to write a note at the caret, on the caret’s row, and move the caret on a step.
• +, = and - move the selected notes up or down a semitone. A right-click on a note has them too, as A Semitone Up and A Semitone Down.
• ⌥↑, ⌥↓Alt+Up, Alt+DownAlt+Up, Alt+Down (⌥↑, ⌥↓ on a Mac) move them up or down an octave.

Digits do nothing on a keys lane: there are no frets to type. Selecting, moving, copying, the step length and the grid work as they do on strings; see Selecting, moving and copying and Step length and the grid.

The lane’s range

A keys lane shows the pitches from its lowest row to its highest. Write or move a note outside them and the lane widens to take it, in the same undo step. To change it yourself, use the track’s menu:

• Range › Extend Up an Octave and Range › Extend Down an Octave add an octave of rows.
• Range › Fit to Notes shrinks the lane to the whole octaves its notes use.

The range never cuts a note off.

Fewer rows

• Hide Unused Rows keeps only the pitches the part plays, so a sparse part takes little room. With nothing written yet, one row is left to write on. The rows follow the notes as you add and remove them.
• Collapse turns the lane into a thin strip that shows where the notes are. Click the strip, or choose Expand, to open it again.

Both are saved with the song.

Its sound and its score

The track menu’s Sound submenu picks what the lane plays through: a SoundFont instrument (Grand Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Strings, Choir, Synth Pad and others) or the Stab Synth. The pane says the new sound for a moment at its foot (“Piano: Electric Piano”). See The Synth and Sampled instruments.

In a Score pane, a keys part with a good share of its notes on each side of middle C is written on a grand staff. The track menu’s Left Hand decides which notes go on the lower staff: Below Middle C, or the notes of chosen voices. See Editing notation.