Does anyone use Guitar Pro?

Haych

I only discovered this in the last couple of days, before that I wasn't aware it existed.

For anyone else who isn't aware of it, it's a piece of software available for Windows/Mac in which you can open a file which will play through a piece of music, with tablature and standard notation.

You can slow down playback and loop a section so you can see and learn tricky parts.

After my recent foray in trying to decipher Setting Me Up I came across a French guy via Youtube who seems to be a bit of a DS and PF fanatic.  He's tabbed quite a few songs and has made them available via PDF and Guitar Pro (for a price, of course).

I took the plunge and bought the files (the Guitar Pro file was only about an extra Euro over the PDF, and I get them both) which have proved quite useful, I still can't get the main riff, though!

I downloaded a trial version of Guitar Pro (I think the license is about 70 Euros) and found it to be a quite good, even if the guitar sounds are still a bit Bontempi.

Not sure that I'll fork out for a license simply because I don't know if I'll ever use it again as the big question now is, where does one find Guitar Pro files?  Who tabs them and are they any good?

Is there a repository anywhere?

Anyway, I just wondered if anyone else uses it and if they do where they find files for it?  As a piece of educational music software I think it's pretty good.  I could certainly see how guitar teachers/students might be able to use it.  Without a catalogue of files to be able to use it does seem a bit redundant, though.  Even then, you're at the mercy of the individuals who have tabbed the files - garbage in, garbage out.

bloodandtears

Guitar Pro, Tux Editor, Tabledit, Power Tab... used them all over the years..  plenty of resources on line to grab files, some even multi-tracked.. but yeah, you are at the mercy of the creator for sure..

With some software you can change the default sound engine to a soundfont file which can be better in some cases.

TheBigDipper

I still own the iOS and macOS versions, but rarely use it now. I'm still at v6. Nothing wrong with what it does, and I got my money's worth, but I've altered my workflow and tools for learning new stuff and writing it down. I rarely used the MIDI playback feature, though. I thought it sounded a bit unrealistic even though the notes and timing was accurate.

As an example of what I changed to, I used to use GP to write down tabs of solos I had transcribed. Now I use GoodNotes on iOS and an Apple pencil - it's faster for me and just as editable and shareable. We're spoilt for choice! 

Emiel

I first got into Guitar Pro back in I think 2005 or 2006. Crazy now I think about it.

I mainly used it to transcribe music for later use. Recently I went back to it because my girlfriend, who plays keyboard, joined my band and there was no sheet music available for her parts. So I help her out with writing down organ parts et cetera.

The website I use mostly are http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ and https://www.songsterr.com/. 

ZenOvertone

Levi Clay has some YT video on how he uses it to transcribe, lots of useful info there...

hollywoodrox

It’s good for learning tricky bits of songs ,I’ve used a few versions and the excellent TUX editor 
  . I’m tempted on buying the latest guitar pro as a patreon I’m subscribed to does loads of great arrangements and I’ve got a cool collection of pdf and gp files . 

I had a version of Guitar pro 6 on a licensed cd that I could not get to work , but a cracked version I got off the net would , but it died with my old iMac so I may get the new version which is 7.5 if it works . I’m running high Sierra now on one and Catalina on another 

Jetfire

Im a member of a website that uses Guitarpro for its lessons. I was kindly gifted a copy and its flipping amazing how much I use it. This is all depending on if the the file is correct of course!  

mrkb

Ultimate Guitar has loads of guitar pro format files. I use them a lot, you can export any of the tracks in midi or wav format so are really useful for making backing tracks. I also print out drum scores from the software.

Haych

mrkb said:

Ultimate Guitar has loads of guitar pro format files. I use them a lot, you can export any of the tracks in midi or wav format so are really useful for making backing tracks. I also print out drum scores from the software.

Is there a subscription to UG required to make use of the GP files?

mrkb

Possibly need a subscription - I do have one.

they've still got the new year sale on for another 4 hours-
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/pro/?utm_source=UltimateGuitar&utm_medium=TopBanner&utm_campaign=PermanentBanner&song&artist&utm_content

idiotwind

A trick for Songsterr - if you go to "Submit a New Revision" for a song then you can download the current version in GP format.  You only need a free account to do that.
I use Tux Guitar rather than Guitar Pro, but it's essentially the same (just free).  The best thing about it for me is the editability.  You get online tab with odd stretches and string choices, but you can quickly Shift + Up/Down to change what string the note is played on, or update bits with a better transcription from a Youtube video.

bloodandtears

idiotwind said:

A trick for Songsterr - if you go to "Submit a New Revision" for a song then you can download the current version in GP format.  You only need a free account to do that.

This is gold... I wonder how long it will remain like this...

DavidR

Yes its great. I get nearly all my music from MusicNotesLib.com. I search for pieces in Guitar Pro format and they're marked as such rather than the scrappier tabs which litter much of the internet. As you've pointed out, Guitar Pro has tab and standard notation for rhythm etc. Nearly all us average players need! It does not however have the left and right hand fingering notation nor much of the other info like dynamics and phrasing which is contained in the best classical guitar scores to help you play a piece optimally. But usually you can intuit that. Or make it up!

Big Guitar Pro fan. Never used it to generate scores though. Just +++ preferred format for fingerstyle acoustic.

neilg

I bought it years ago but never really made any use of it until about a year ago when I started taking drum lessons, I enter the drum notation my teacher gives me in to Guitar Pro so that I can get the rhythm of what I'm learning in my head in between lessons.

This is having the added bonus of making it easier to read notation.

digitalkettle

I only use it for writing and transcribing. It’s surprising how tricky it is to get rhythms right at first so it’s invaluable to be able to hear it played back. Error checking keeps you honest too. I’m really scruffy at writing ideas down so this keeps it all neat and tweakable.

When you’ve finished messing around, you can export a ‘M1D1’ file and drop it into your DAW if required.

BahHumbug

I got GuitarPro when I started teaching guitar.  I've used it loads for transcribing pieces and lessons for pupils.  I've also used it quite a bit for transcribing pieces for my own use, say if I'm trying to learn a piece of music from a recording.....and I've also used it for transcribing pieces for my bands, including drum, bass, keyboard and violin parts.  
I've even used it to sort out the 'how its supposed to be played' arguments in one of my bands.
Its sound synthesizer isn't great but the fact that it plays back is really useful and I've found that it has helped me to develop my ear and theory knowledge, particularly with regards to rhythm.

So I think its great.