Feature Request: Manual Staff Visibility for Guitar Notation/Tablature

Dear Team,

I use Dorico not only for my own musical projects but also to notate guitar pieces for my music school students.

I believe it would be very helpful to have a simple way to switch between notation and tablature within the same instrument.

For example:

  • In some sections, such as riffs or solos, I prefer to use tablature.
  • In other sections, like chords and rhythm, the tablature staff takes up unnecessary space and could be hidden.

Currently, there is no straightforward way to achieve this.

I am aware of existing workarounds, such as duplicating parts for separate instruments and applying manual staff visibility, or treating notation and tablature as entirely separate instruments.

From a player’s perspective, notation and tablature represent the same instrument, not two different ones (similar to how the second staff of a piano part can be hidden in long comping sections to save space).

Notation software should aim to provide a simple and intuitive way to achieve the desired result.

It would be great if this suggestion can be considered for a future update.

Greetings,
Johannes

4 Likes

This has been requested before, and we know that there is a desire from some users for greater flexibility in this area.

Hi Daniel,

Thanks a lot for your response (as always!)

I totally get that this might not be very high on the priority list, but I thought it might not be too tricky to implement and could maybe be considered for the future.

Greetings,
Johannes