Tablature

A SwiftUI package for guitar, bass, and any stringed instrument tablature visualization. Part of the AudioKit ecosystem.

Installation

Add Tablature via Swift Package Manager:

dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/AudioKit/Tablature.git", from: "1.0.0")
]

Quick Start

Static Tablature

Build a passage from measures and notes, then render it:

import SwiftUI
import Tablature

struct ContentView: View {
    var body: some View {
        TablatureView(sequence: .smokeOnTheWater)
    }
}

Or construct your own:

let measure = TabMeasure(
    duration: 4.0,
    notes: [
        TabNote(string: 3, fret: 0, time: 0),
        TabNote(string: 3, fret: 3, time: 1),
        TabNote(string: 3, fret: 5, time: 2),
    ]
)
let sequence = TabSequence(instrument: .guitar, measures: [measure])

TablatureView(sequence: sequence)

Live Scrolling Tablature

For real-time input (e.g., MIDI guitar), use LiveTablatureView:

@StateObject var model = LiveTablatureModel(instrument: .guitar, timeWindow: 5.0)

var body: some View {
    LiveTablatureView(model: model)
}

// Feed notes as they arrive:
model.addNote(string: 0, fret: 5)

Theming

Customize appearance with TablatureStyle:

TablatureView(sequence: .smokeOnTheWater)
    .tablatureStyle(TablatureStyle(
        stringSpacing: 24,
        measureWidth: 400,
        fretColor: .blue,
        lineColor: .gray
    ))

Features

• Static tablature — render pre-built TabSequence passages with bar lines, fret numbers, and string labels
• Live scrolling tablature — real-time rendering with Canvas + TimelineView for smooth frame-rate updates
• Instrument presets — guitar, 7-string, drop-D, bass (4/5/6-string), ukulele, banjo, or define your own
• MIDI-to-fret conversion — create notes from MIDI note numbers with automatic fret derivation
• Articulations — bend, hammer-on, pull-off, slide, and pitch-bend arrow annotations
• Theming — configurable colors, fonts, spacing, and sizing via environment values
• Dark/light mode — adaptive defaults out of the box
• Any string count — layout driven by StringInstrument, not hardcoded to 6
• Memory-bounded — live model prunes off-screen notes automatically
• Dependency-free — no external dependencies in the library itself

Demo App

The demo app shows MIDI guitar integration using MIDIKit (demo-only dependency):

xcodebuild build -project Demo/TablatureDemo.xcodeproj \
    -scheme TablatureDemo -destination "platform=macOS"

Build & Test

swift build    # Build the library
swift test     # Run tests

License

MIT. See LICENSE for details.