Does this desktop fretboard mapping software exist?
November 15, 2014 6:41 AM Subscribe
I love Guitar Toolkit on my iPhone. Specifically, the scale and chord features. I want the same functionality on my desktop monitor so I can see more than 5 frets at a time.
Guitar Toolkit's scale and chord tools let you designate the number of strings on your instrument and how those strings are tuned. From there you can look up any given chord variation or scale, and it will show you a graphic representation of the fretboard with the position of every note in that chord or scale all the way up and down the fretboard (and gives you the option of displaying them by note name or interval.) Tapping any given fret will ply the corresponding tone.
It's brilliant! It's fantastic! I wouldn't change a thing about how it works. It's been a huge help as I get used to mapping standard notation to a fretted instrument... but being limited to a smartphone screen is a drag, especially since I do must of my practicing right by my computer, where I could probably view the whole neck of the instrument without scrolling.
I've spent a fair amount of time looking around and most of what I'm finding is all tablature/jamming/practice oriented. Does anyone know of an OS X or Linux desktop app that just displays chords and scales on a fingerboard (with support for custom numbers of strings and custom tunings?) I'm getting the feeling that I may need to write it myself.
Guitar Toolkit's scale and chord tools let you designate the number of strings on your instrument and how those strings are tuned. From there you can look up any given chord variation or scale, and it will show you a graphic representation of the fretboard with the position of every note in that chord or scale all the way up and down the fretboard (and gives you the option of displaying them by note name or interval.) Tapping any given fret will ply the corresponding tone.
It's brilliant! It's fantastic! I wouldn't change a thing about how it works. It's been a huge help as I get used to mapping standard notation to a fretted instrument... but being limited to a smartphone screen is a drag, especially since I do must of my practicing right by my computer, where I could probably view the whole neck of the instrument without scrolling.
I've spent a fair amount of time looking around and most of what I'm finding is all tablature/jamming/practice oriented. Does anyone know of an OS X or Linux desktop app that just displays chords and scales on a fingerboard (with support for custom numbers of strings and custom tunings?) I'm getting the feeling that I may need to write it myself.
Well, I wrote something like this a loooong time ago. It might still work - it probably doesn't have 100% of your desired feature set but maybe like 80%. It's very crude-looking compared to the very nice app you linked to. Send me a PM if you're interested and I'll see if I can get something together to send you.
It should work on osx/windows/linux OK although the features vary a bit between them (mostly regarding audio which is vastly different between platforms)
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:18 AM on November 15, 2014
It should work on osx/windows/linux OK although the features vary a bit between them (mostly regarding audio which is vastly different between platforms)
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:18 AM on November 15, 2014
I love Guitar Toolkit as well—I use it on iPad—but I sadly haven't found anything like it on desktop. The closest is ChordScaleGenerator, but for $30 I'll deal with the inconvenience of using my iPad or Googling the chord/scale on my computer.
posted by Woodroar at 11:44 AM on November 15, 2014
posted by Woodroar at 11:44 AM on November 15, 2014
Fret Pet X (for OSX) lets you change tunings, but I'm not sure if you can limit the amount of strings:
http://www.thinkyhead.com/fretpet/about
posted by hz37 at 12:53 PM on November 15, 2014
http://www.thinkyhead.com/fretpet/about
posted by hz37 at 12:53 PM on November 15, 2014
Byell Harmony might help, functions are identical on iOS and OSX. There are tutorial videos on the linked page, so you can check if it replicates all of your favorite functions from Guitar Toolkit.
posted by Oneirokritikos at 5:00 PM on November 15, 2014
posted by Oneirokritikos at 5:00 PM on November 15, 2014
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posted by infini at 8:36 AM on November 15, 2014