Guitar Pro 5 Template and Tutorial

**RyuBlitz** · Last edited by RyuBlitz on Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:25 pm; edited 10 times in total

Note: Due to the great capabilities of the FeedBack software, I will no longer be updating this tutorial... I personally recommend FeedBack, because its UI makes it so much easier to create custom songs.

Well, since it seems some people have been having trouble using Guitar Pro for making midis, I thought I would make a new template and a Guitar Pro-Centered tutorial.

This template will allow you to copy the tab straight into it (no, it will not assign the GH notes for you...). It is also set up to be a little friendlier when it comes to making face-off setups and adding Guitarist animations.

So, here's the template...
http://www.savefile.com/files/737150 - Guitar Pro 4
http://www.savefile.com/files/737151 - Guitar Pro 5

Couple things to do to make this template easier...

1. Hide the standard notation (View -> Hide Standard Notation)
2 Enable Multi-view (View -> Multitrack View)

Now, for the tutorial:
Disclaimer: This tutorial is a addition to Chapter 4 (and an aide to some others) of whiskeyface’s IPG to Making custom songs. I make no guarantee as to the effectiveness of these methods, and as such there may possibly be errors in your final product. As a good rule of thumb, always double-check your work for errors. If you are going to take the time to do this, you might as well give it your best effort.
If you find any errors in this tutorial, post or PM me and I will do what I can to correct it.

Importing Files

Guitar Pro (hereafter referred to as GP) makes it very easy to either a) import a previously created GH midi for corrections, or b) import an actual guitar tab for use as a reference in the design of your GH midi.

A) Import GH Midi

This will be useful for anyone who wants to use GP to fine-tune some of their already created midis (ex: adjust tempo, add difficulties, etc.) To start off, select the track of the difficulty you want to edit, then go to File =>Import => MIDI… and select the GH midi that you want to edit.

You will then want to select only the “PART GUITAR” midi track, then click the last option under “Step by Step” Import. Warning: This import will rename the GP track to “PART GUITAR”. To avoid confusion in later steps, be sure to change the name back to something identifiable to the difficulty (ie. “expert” or “difficulty – hard”).

B) Importing a GP Tab

If you are planning on creating a new tab, this is the way to go. There are many sites that have good quality GP tabs; be sure to check the GP tab that you are going to use for accuracy.

To import the GP tab, first open it (the tab) in GP. Select all of the notes in the track that you want to copy (Ctrl+A) and Copy them (Ctrl+C). Choose “Only the current track”, and select “OK”. Note: Some songs have multiple guitars, so you may have to pick and choose what you want for your GH midi.

Now open the GP template (found above). Select the track of difficulty you will be working with, and Paste the copied notes (Ctrl+V). I choose “Insert the clipboard before the selection” to ensure that the track is flush with the beginning, but your specific situation may differ. Note: you can also paste the tab into the “Original Tab” track if you like, but it is necessary that you paste into the difficulty that you are creating.

Modifying tabs with GP

Much of the procedure in whiskeyface’s IPG to Making custom songs can be used in GP. However, there are a few important changes to note.

Change 1: Note Position

The strings in this GP template are setup up differently that those in the other tutorial. For this template, the strings correspond like this:

Star Power
Orange
Blue
Yellow
Red
Green

Basically, the lowest note goes at the bottom. If the pitch goes up, the note goes up on the chart.

Change 2: Avoiding Sustains

In GP, there are several alternative methods to avoid sustains. One method is the “Staccato” option. By choosing staccato, GP will create an extremely short note, perfect for what we need. Another option that does the same thing is the “Dead Note” option. It is up to you to determine which option you prefer.

Change 3: Tempo Modification

One added feature of GP is the ability to modify the tempo. To do this, simply click on the note that is located where you want the tempo to change, then press F10. The following menu will pop up:

Check the box next to “Tempo”, choose the desired tempo, and pick “Immediately”. Click “OK”, and the tempo shift is done!

Change 4: Time Signature Modification

**Qineuro** · Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Posts: 4

Thanks for the template. I'm in the process of trying to create my first custom with GP5, and despite the current general tutorial that's up, having not tabbed anything out before I've hit a couple of snags. Looking forward to the Guitar Pro-tailored tutorial.

**bobz99by** · Joined: 20 Jan 2007 Posts: 3

I too eagerly await. It seems like guitar pro has a better selection of tabs and at a higher quality than tabit

**GoColts** · Joined: 05 Feb 2007 Posts: 6

I really need this since the other tutorial left out a lot of important info.

**tarod83** · Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 506 Location: Córdoba, Spain

Having used Guitar Pro for a couple years now, the great difference I've found between TabIt and GP regarding the creation of note charts is the possibility to change tempo ad-lib, and also it's easier to change the duration of the notes (triplets for ultra-fast solos, and so on).
GP would make the creation of custom midis far easier IMO, so thanks for the template!

**nextlevel88** · Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 573

I've noticed too that using dead notes (X) gives you the note without holding it until the next note hits. This may be common knowledge, but I just found it by accident and it saves a lot of time.

**Sottle** · Joined: 14 May 2006 Posts: 3050

This tutorial would be awesome, as someone has already mentioned, GP has a MUCH wider base of available tabs to work from.
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Wiazards Of Gore!!! Wizards Of Gore!!!

**AlCapwned** · Joined: 11 Oct 2006 Posts: 149

Could you export this template into an earlier version of GP? I have GP5 but I can't update to 5.2.

**greenwood** · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 102

I started using Guitar Pro. I'm still using the demo version, but it seems very powerful. Much more so than TabIt. I simply couldn't get Power Tab to work and gave up on it. GP is nice because you can put the tempo changes right in without using another piece of software. As someone who knows how to write music on a staff, I find working in that notation much easier than using just tabs.

Any tips or advice for using GP would be great!

**RyuBlitz** · Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:22 pm Post subject:

Bumped to announce that I wrote the tutorial. I had some free time before my ComSci test, so I figured I might as well. Note that this is not a substitute for Whiskeyface's tutorial; rather, it is a supplement.

-Ryu
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**captive** · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 5

thank you! this is just what i was looking for

**captive** · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 5

one question, though: sometimes in GP people repeat bars 2, 3, 4 times using the notation in the program (||: and :||). Does this need to be edited in the GH track, making it longer than the GP file? or can you leave it and GHex or whatever will recognize it and automatically lengthen it?

**RyuBlitz** · Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:10 pm Post subject:

**AlCapwned** · Joined: 11 Oct 2006 Posts: 149

From my experience, repeated bars do not transfer over into the midi. I've had to repaste the bars instead.

**pnorris** · Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 13

your links for the tab track are broken. it's saying not found. do we need this?