# Guitar Tab to MIDI Paste ASCII guitar or bass tablature and download a real Standard MIDI File — tuning presets, capo, transpose, tempo, note length and GM instrument. ## Run it - **CLI:** `gizza tool guitar-tab-to-midi "e|-------------| B|-------------| G|-------------| D|--2--2--5--5-| A|--2--2--5--5-| E|--0--0--3--3-|"` - **Web:** https://gizza.ai/tools/guitar-tab-to-midi/ - **Agents:** machine-readable descriptor (parameters JSON Schema) at https://gizza.ai/tools/guitar-tab-to-midi/tool.json ## Inputs - `tab` — ASCII tablature _(field)_ - `tuning` — Tuning _(field)_ - `custom_tuning` — Custom tuning (overrides the preset) _(field)_ - `string_order` — Stave layout _(field)_ - `capo` — Capo (frets) _(field)_ - `transpose` — Transpose (semitones) _(field)_ - `tempo` — Tempo (BPM) _(field)_ - `note_duration` — Length of one tab column _(field)_ - `timing` — How time advances _(field)_ - `sustain` — Note length _(field)_ - `velocity` — Velocity (loudness) _(field)_ - `instrument` — General MIDI instrument _(field)_ - `muted_notes` — Play x/X mutes as short muted notes _(field)_ ## Output - MIDI file (text) ## Query parameters Open the tool pre-filled and auto-run via URL: - `tab` — ASCII tablature - `tuning` — Tuning - `custom_tuning` — Custom tuning (overrides the preset) - `string_order` — Stave layout - `capo` — Capo (frets) - `transpose` — Transpose (semitones) - `tempo` — Tempo (BPM) - `note_duration` — Length of one tab column - `timing` — How time advances - `sustain` — Note length - `velocity` — Velocity (loudness) - `instrument` — General MIDI instrument - `muted_notes` — Play x/X mutes as short muted notes Example: `https://gizza.ai/tools/guitar-tab-to-midi/?tab=e%7C-------------%7C%0AB%7C-------------%7C%0AG%7C-------------%7C%0AD%7C--2--2--5--5-%7C%0AA%7C--2--2--5--5-%7C%0AE%7C--0--0--3--3-%7C&tuning=auto&custom_tuning=D2%2CA2%2CD3%2CG3%2CB3%2CE4&string_order=high-on-top&capo=0&transpose=0&tempo=120¬e_duration=eighth&timing=columns&sustain=until-next&velocity=96&instrument=acoustic-guitar-steel&muted_notes=true` --- ## Turn ASCII tablature into a playable MIDI file Paste the kind of text tab that lives in forums, song archives and text files — one line per string, fret numbers on the strings, dashes for rests — and download a real Standard MIDI File you can drop into a DAW, notation editor or any MIDI player. The model is the familiar one: a stave is a grid of character columns, and the pitch of a fret number is `open string + capo + fret + transpose`. Every string carrying a fret in the same column starts together, so chords stay chords. A run of digits is one fret (`12` is the twelfth fret, not a 1 and a 2), a column that is `|` on every string is a bar line and consumes no time, and articulation marks (`h p b r s t / \ ~ ^ * . ( )`) are skipped while the frets around them still sound. Several staves separated by blank or prose lines are concatenated in reading order, so a whole song file converts in one pass. Open strings come from a **tuning** preset — `auto` reads the number of string lines (4 → bass, 5 → 5-string bass, 6 → guitar, 7/8 → extended range) or you can pick drop D, half/full step down, drop C, open G, open D, DADGAD or ukulele, or list exact pitches in **custom tuning**. Set a **capo**, **transpose**, **tempo**, **velocity** and a General MIDI **instrument**, choose how long one column lasts, and decide whether notes ring until the string's next note or stop after a single column. ### Worked example This eighth-note power-chord riff: ```text e|-------------| B|-------------| G|-------------| D|--2--2--5--5-| A|--2--2--5--5-| E|--0--0--3--3-| ``` converts to 12 notes (four three-note chords: E5 twice, then G5 twice) on a 6-string stave in standard tuning, spanning E2 to D4. At the default 120 BPM with eighth-note columns each column lasts 0.25 s. Headlessly, the same conversion runs through the CLI — the base64 `.mid` comes back in the response envelope: ```bash gizza tool guitar-tab-to-midi "e|-------------| B|-------------| G|-------------| D|--2--2--5--5-| A|--2--2--5--5-| E|--0--0--3--3-|" instrument=distortion-guitar tempo=132 ``` Switch **How time advances** to *only note columns* when a tab's dash spacing is decorative rather than rhythmic: the onsets are then spaced evenly instead of following the layout. ## Limits and edge cases Text tablature carries pitch and order, not real rhythm — nothing in `--3---5--` says how long a note is held. This converter therefore treats the grid as evenly spaced columns, which is faithful for most tabs and approximate for anything with a swing feel, triplets or mixed note values. Techniques are recognised as characters and skipped, not performed: a hammer-on, pull-off, slide, bend or vibrato mark does not bend pitch or add a note, so a bent note sounds at its written fret. `x`/`X` mutes are silent by default and become short muted notes on the open string when you enable that option. Every stave in one conversion must use the same number of string lines, and the tuning must have that many strings — a 6-string preset against a 4-line bass tab is rejected with a message instead of a wrong file. Frets are capped at 36, resulting pitches must land inside MIDI 0–127 (a large negative transpose is what usually pushes them out), input is limited to 1 MiB and 20,000 notes, and tempo, capo, transpose and velocity are range-checked. Errors name the offending line and column. The output is a single-track format-0 file at 480 ticks per quarter note with one tempo event, one program change and one channel — drum tabs, per-note velocities, lyrics and multi-instrument arrangements are out of scope. ## FAQ
Which tab notation does it understand? Standard ASCII tab: one line per string, an optional string label such as `e|` or `G |` at the start of each line, fret numbers (single or double digit), `-` or `=` for rests, `|` bar lines, and the common articulation characters `h p b r s t / \ ~ ^ * . ( ) < > + _ '`. Lines that are prose rather than tab are ignored, so you can paste a whole song file with titles and comments in it.
How does it know the tuning? By default it infers one from how many string lines a stave has — 4 lines is a bass, 5 a five-string bass, 6 a guitar in standard tuning, 7 and 8 the extended-range tunings. Choose a named preset when the tab is in drop D, drop C, DADGAD, an open tuning or a step down, or type exact open-string pitches into **Custom tuning** (`D2,A2,D3,G3,B3,E4` or MIDI numbers like `38 45 50 55 59 64`), lowest tab line first. A custom tuning always overrides the preset.
The file plays back at the wrong speed or rhythm. What should I change? Two settings control that. **Length of one tab column** sets the musical value of a single character column: pick sixteenth notes for dense tabs and quarter notes for sparse ones. **Tempo** sets the BPM written into the file. If the dash spacing in your tab is decorative, switch **How time advances** to *only note columns* so the onsets are evenly spaced regardless of layout.
My tab came out an octave or several semitones off. Check three things. If the tab is written with the low string on the top line, set **Stave layout** to the inverted option — otherwise the file comes out pitch-mirrored. If the song is played with a capo, set the capo fret rather than adding it to every fret number. **Transpose** then applies a further shift in semitones after the capo, so `-12` drops an octave and `+12` raises one.
Can I hear it on this page? No — the page produces the `.mid` file for download rather than audio. A MIDI file contains notes, not sound, so playing it needs an instrument: open the download in a DAW, a notation program, or any MIDI player with a soundfont, and choose whatever instrument you like there. The General MIDI instrument setting here is written into the file as a program change, which those players honour by default but can always override.
Is my tab uploaded anywhere? No. The converter is compiled to WebAssembly and runs inside your browser tab; the resulting file is handed to you as a local `data:` URL. Nothing is sent to a server and nothing is stored.
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