ShamiTab
Learn the basic path from a blank page to a saved shamisen score: choose your setup, enter notes, shape the music, listen back, and prepare the page for sharing or printing.
Beginner walkthrough
ShamiTab opens with three main choices. Use New when you want a fresh score, Open when you already have a saved ShamiTab project file, and Import when you want to bring in material from Guitar Pro, MusicXML, MXL, or MIDI.
The New Score Setup window decides the starting shape of the score. Pick Western Rhythm for familiar stems and beams, or Oyama Rhythm for the shamisen-specific flag style. Choose the tuning, number of tracks, title, and artist before confirming.
The score surface is the white page in the center. The top bar handles playback, tempo, meter, view mode, and zoom. The left palette adds lyrics, repeats, dynamics, techniques, and notation symbols. The right inspector edits song and track settings. The bottom toolbar manages tracks, mixer controls, and measure navigation.
Click the score, choose a duration, then type a shamisen position number. The musical cursor marks where the next entry will go. Use arrow keys to move around, Tab to advance, number keys for positions, and the rest button or rest shortcut when a beat should be silent.
Build the score in layers. Add bars as the piece grows, mark repeats and sections, add lyrics when needed, and use comments for teaching notes or arrangement reminders. Techniques, dynamics, finger markers, ties, grace notes, triplets, and rests can be added from the menus, shortcut keys, or the left tool palette.
Use the transport controls to play from the start, jump between bars, loop a passage, or turn on count-in and metronome. The right inspector controls tuning and soundbank choices. The bottom toolbar gives each track its own visibility, mute, solo, volume, and pan controls.
Switch between Continuous, Page, and Horizontal views while editing. Use zoom, line spacing, track layout, and page view to check the printed result. When the score is ready, use File > Print for paper or PDF output, and File > Save to download a ShamiTab project file for later editing.
The cursor is the red entry box on the score. It shows the string and rhythmic position where the next note, rest, or edit will happen.
Each bar is divided into rhythmic positions. Durations decide how much space a note or rest uses before the cursor advances.
Tracks let you write separate shamisen parts. Each track can have its own name, color, sound, tuning view, volume, pan, mute, and solo state.
Western Rhythm uses standard stem and beam notation. Oyama Rhythm uses shamisen-focused flags, rest marks, and marker placement.
The Song tab in the right inspector holds title, artist, subtitle, album, words, music, transcriber, notice, and instructions.
Lyrics, comments, dynamics, section names, repeat signs, techniques, and finger markers sit around the tablature to make the score readable.
Start with New, choose the rhythm style and tuning, then enter notes one bar at a time. Add repeats, sections, and comments after the basic notes are in place.
Use Import to bring in Guitar Pro, MusicXML, MXL, or MIDI material. After import, check tuning, rhythm warnings, track choices, and layout before editing further.
Add or duplicate tracks from the Track menu. Use stacked track layout when you need to compare parts and single track layout when you want a cleaner writing view.
Open Lyrics from the left palette for verse text. Use Note > Add Comment when you need an instruction above a specific note or bar.
Set tempo and meter from the transport area, choose a soundbank, adjust levels in the bottom toolbar, and loop hard passages while checking the notation.
Use Page view to check spacing, then print or save as PDF from the browser print flow. Save a ShamiTab project file when you need to edit the score later.
New, Open, Import, Save, Print, and the welcome screen.
Notes, rests, durations, dots, triplets, grace notes, ties, techniques, dynamics, and comments.
Insert, duplicate, delete, clear, tempo, time signature, system breaks, section names, and section colors.
Playback, loop, count-in, metronome, master volume, metronome level, and active track sound.
Continuous, Page, Horizontal, zoom, UI scale, line spacing, language, keyboard guide, and welcome screen.
Lyrics, repeat/navigation tools, playback feel, track tuning, rhythm style, soundbank, mixer controls, and measure navigation.