Guitar Pro Free Trial Editor's Review

Compose and distribute original scored guitar music in both traditional score and tab formats with this must have multi-platform application.

I've been a musician all my life. The guitar is my instrument, and I've written a number of songs over the years that I've either had to memorize or hand write score or tab for. This is why I'm excited about Guitar Pro. It’s a guitar specific music writing application for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

You'll know how to handle the interface in a matter of minutes, easily navigating over its tabs and buttons. For optimal ease in reading, you'll be able to display your scores as you prefer -- full-screen, double-page, or parchment-like, and also display a guitar fret board to visualize the exact positioning of your fingers on it.

Express your talent by creating your own scores in a matter of minutes. You can edit the notes directly on the standard score or on the tablature. In either case, you can capture your notes quickly with the numerical pad, the mouse, or even a MIDI instrument. During playback, the score automatically scrolls, and a cursor highlights the music currently being played. You can adjust tempo, and play all or part of a piece in loops. The Speed Trainer will then let you play any section of the score in loops with progressive accelerations, helping you nail down complex or difficult parts.

All of the effects specific to a guitar, bend, slide, ghost notes, etc., are rendered during playback, as well as the various possible playing styles, pick-stroking, fingerpicking or slapping, for instance.

Pro’s: Write and compose on the PC or MIDI compatible instrument, transpose into any tuning, export songs to a number of formats 

Con’s: COMPLEX. You really have to know a bit about guitar music and tab, as well as composition to make the most of this app.

Conclusion: Guitar Pro is a true workshop for guitarists. Writing music in tab for others or for yourself has traditionally been difficult and it's easy to miss critical strings and notes when composing songs in tab, by hand.  With Guitar Pro and your sound card, it's easy to correct this issue. The best part about Guitar Pro is that it works with all guitar-like, fretted instruments from 4 to 8 strings. While it does offer a bit of a learning curve, especially for less experienced users or musicians, I urge you to give this application a try and to stay at it. At the end of the day, it's really an awesome application and will likely provide you with more value than you might initially think.