I have a project that I began on Finale many years ago and would like to resume using Dorico. I’m a seven string guitarist in the style of George Van Eps. I transcribed many of his solo seven string guitar recordings, where he uses a low a, then tunes the entire instrument down a whole step. I played them for him when he was 92 years old. Back then , to move my hand written, single-treble-clef transcriptions to Finale, (I used colored notes to indicate the lower A-string instead of using 5 ledger lines below the staff), I shoehorned a seven string tablature in Finale, and am pleasantly impressed by how much easier it was using Dorico. But, the truth is that the range of this instrument is simply too large for a single treble clef down an octave like a Six String guitar. It really needs a grand staff connected to 7-String tablature. The instrument was originally called the “Lap Piano”.
I created a score where a Grand Staff and a 7-String guitar, (showing Tab only), could appear together, (with the invisible guitar clef notes pasted into the Grand Staff to the appropriate G or F clefs). This should work in theory, but this uke thing has me worried that similar things could complicate an already complicated process. I am still just learning Dorico, so thanks for reading all this.
Also, there are a lot of extra string guys with Guitars that want to read. I’m sure this issue is important. The printed music thing about guitarists is that most of them are not reading very much, and that probably has kept this issue hidden.
Joke at Berklee College:
Q: How do you get a guitarist to turn down?
A: Put printed music in front of them!
There are many guitarists who are excellent readers, and I’m not one of them. In my case, I was originally a classical tuba player and still read Bass Clef, better than G Clef, lol. This is one of the things that drew me to the seven string guitar and for a way to notate it for Music readers.
It even is possible to give that instrument 2 staves and a bracket, but funny things happen when you want notation + tablature. Don’t know if this is a (known) issue or considered a feature.
That makes sense. Thank you and you nailed the issue about having to change it in two places. My apologies for reposting, but I felt it was a separate topic and thank you very much for responding.
