I want to get more conscientious about charting songs out - I'm bad for learning songs, moving on, and by the time I want to play them again I've more than half forgotten them.
I'm wondering about the best way of doing it.
I have Guitar Pro which is good for detailed transcription but not for quickly sketching the basics of a song out.
Just something that will enable me to outine the structure, chords, and any additional information that might be relevant (a riff, rhythm pattern where it needs to be precise, etc).
Options I've been considering.
Manuscript paper and pencil. Maybe still the best/most flexible option? But I'm invariably working with a computer when working stuff out. And a computer would help with organisation, tidiness and maybe the legibility of the final product.
Word processor. I'm familiar with Word but use a Word-less Mac for music. I've tried Libre and Googedocs on the Mac and didn't find them as intuitively Word-like as I'd hoped. There's also the issue of how you indicate rhythms/notes etc
Apple pencil (or cheaper alternative) with a note-taking app. I know next to nothing about these but wondered if they could combine the flexibility of paper and pencil with the organisational advantages of a computer?
Any specialist software that could be adapted to this purpose?
What do other people do?
Grateful for any thoughts/suggestions.
“To a man with a hammer every problem looks like a nail.”
Comments
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Can also use basic tab syntax for riffs if needed. Just use a suitable equal spaced font (Courier) and narrow the page edge markers.
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Just screenshot the pdf to a jpg, insert the jpeg as a full screen image behind text in word.
Then type the lyrics in and use different test sizes for the carriage returns to get the spacing correct (in example below the blue text is added in word, the notation is the image that ive extrated from a pdf)
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When did you download it, because it's now at version 3?
I use Guitar Pro and Musescore. I find Guitar Pro is good for the specific task of transcribing guitar solos. But Musescore is much better for general purpose charts because it can combine standard notation, rhythmic slash notation and basic slash notation in a single chart.
Musescore is good for transcribing to stave and TAB. I use this as a tool when working out and learning a complex song.
SetListManager for reminders whilst rehearsing. That looks like this:
It's expensive and worth every penny.
https://speakerimpedance.co.uk/?act=two_parallel&page=calculator
going to order some for writing tabs