To keep the same guitar fingering while changing tuning, set the new tuning, then restore any recalculated string-and-fret positions. Editing the tab updates linked notation; changing tuning alone does not produce that result.

This guide covers an existing guitar passage whose fret numbers and string assignments should stay the same while its pitches change. It uses the current official MuseScore Studio handbook and distinguishes that task from keeping standard notation at its original written pitch.

Why changing tuning can change your fret numbers

A fret number describes a position relative to an open string. Consequently, preserving a note’s pitch after retuning can require a different fret. The handbook explicitly warns that changing tuning through Edit String Data… automatically adjusts existing fret marks where possible. That dialog is therefore not a documented way to lock existing fingering. Customizing a tablature staff

Consider this illustrative example: a note at fret 3 on a string tuned to E sounds G. Lowering that string to D creates two different possible goals:

Desired result Open-string pitch Fret Resulting pitch
Original passage E 3 G
Preserve the original pitch D 5 G
Preserve the original fingering D 3 F

These are calculated examples, not application test results. The useful relationship is: sounding pitch equals open-string pitch plus the fret’s semitone offset. Keeping fret 3 while lowering the open string two semitones also lowers that note two semitones. This follows the handbook’s explanation of fret positions relative to open-string tuning. Alternate string tunings

For this task, record both the original fret numbers and their strings. A list of numbers alone is insufficient: fret 3 on two different strings generally represents different pitches.

Prepare linked notation and an unchanged reference

Keep an unchanged copy of the original score available for comparison. Start with a short passage containing an open string, a fretted note and a chord, rather than converting the entire piece immediately. This gives you a manageable check of string placement, rhythm and notation.

A standard staff and tab staff must be linked for note edits to update each other automatically. An unlinked pair is edited independently, even when both staves belong to the same instrument. For a new test score, the handbook documents the Guitar + Tablature template under Create from template → Solo as a linked pair. Creating a tablature staff

If your existing guitar has only tablature, add a linked standard staff using the documented controls:

  1. Open the Layout panel and expand the guitar’s entry.
  2. Click the cog beside the existing staff.
  3. Choose Create a linked staff.
  4. Open the new staff’s cog and set Staff type to a standard staff.

The ordinary Add staff command creates an independent staff, so choose the linked command for automatic notation updates. Instruments and system markings

Set the new guitar tuning

For MuseScore Studio 4.2 and later, use the measure-based tuning element:

  1. Drag String tunings from the Guitar palette onto the starting measure.
  2. Select its tuning-fork icon and choose a Preset.
  3. For a custom tuning, select the tuning text and adjust each string’s pitch with the widget’s arrows.

The tuning applies from that measure’s beginning until another tuning element, including on linked staves. Eye icons change which instructions are displayed; they do not disable a string’s tuning. Alternate string tunings

For versions before 4.2, the handbook directs readers to the older tuning method: right-click the staff, open Staff/Part Properties…, choose Edit String Data…, select a pitch and click Edit String…. Choose the replacement pitch and confirm the dialogs. Existing frets can be recalculated, so the restoration step below still matters. These changes affect the current score rather than program defaults. Customizing a tablature staff

Restore the original frets and let linked notation update

The following workflow combines documented tuning and tablature-editing operations. It is a manual conversion procedure; the cited handbook pages do not document a universal command that retunes an existing passage while freezing every string-and-fret assignment.

Compare the retuned tab against your unchanged reference, one measure at a time. First check the string, then the number. Where a note remains on the correct string, select its fret mark in normal mode and use Up or Down to increase or decrease the fret without changing strings. Alternatively, in note input mode, position the cursor over the fret mark and type the desired number. Entering and editing tablature notation

For example, if the illustrative E-string fret 3 becomes fret 5 after changing the open string to D, restore it to fret 3. The target pitch is now F. Because the standard staff is linked, that note edit updates its notation too. Creating a tablature staff

If a note has moved to another string, Mac’s Cmd+Up or Cmd+Down moves it to an adjacent string while preserving pitch. This works only when the destination string is available and can produce that pitch. Once it is on the intended string, restore its original fret number. Entering and editing tablature notation

When that move is impossible, rebuild the affected passage from the reference under the new tuning. In tab note input mode, use Up and Down to choose strings, select durations from the note-input toolbar and type fret numbers. Recreate chords and voices carefully, then compare ties, rests and other markings against the original. Those input operations are documented; rebuilding the passage is the practical fallback derived from them. Entering and editing tablature notation

Avoid treating a whole-passage transpose as a guaranteed fingering-preservation command. Transposition raises or lowers selected notes by a common interval. If only one string changes tuning, the required pitch changes depend on which string each note occupies. Transposition

Decide whether notation should show changed or original pitches

Written pitch is what the staff displays; sounding pitch is the actual musical pitch. MuseScore’s instrument Transposition setting defines their relationship using octave, interval and direction settings. Check the existing configuration before changing it, especially when diagnosing an octave discrepancy. Staff/Part properties

For the main task here, allow linked notation to follow your restored tab notes. Adding alternate tuning alone leaves the existing standard notation unchanged; the subsequent note edits create the changed musical pitches. Alternate string tunings

If instead every string is lowered a half-step and you want the original written notation, the handbook gives a separate recipe: choose Tune down 1/2 step, then in Staff/Part properties… set Transposition to 1 – Minor second, select Down, and enable Don't reflect transposition in linked tablature staves. Supply the appropriate concert key signature where needed. Alternate string tunings

That checkbox belongs to the documented transposing-notation workflow. A single instrument-wide interval cannot express different pitch changes for different strings. For checking actual pitches, the handbook documents the Concert pitch display control; it changes the notation view rather than serving as a retuning operation. Transposition

Check the score and guitar part before finishing

Linked staves and linked parts are separate relationships. A guitar part opened through Parts is another view of score content. Pitch and duration edits propagate between score and parts; certain appearance and position properties can differ. Duplicating a part therefore does not create an independent musical reference for this conversion. Parts

Use this final check on the converted passage:

  • Compare every string-and-fret pair with the original reference.
  • Calculate an open-string note and a fretted note using the new tuning.
  • Check an unchanged string as well as a retuned one.
  • Compare linked notation and playback with those expected pitches.
  • Check every chord note, rhythm, tie and voice.
  • Open the guitar part and inspect the same passage there.

Once the test passage matches, continue measure by measure. The finished result should preserve the original playing positions, sound at the pitches implied by the new tuning, and show the corresponding linked notation in your chosen pitch view.

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