Home › Export formats › MIDI
Guitar tab and sheet music to MIDI
Export the notes of your score as a standard MIDI file to play with real sounds in GarageBand, Logic, Ableton Live, FL Studio or Reaper, or to build a backing track around it.
How to export MIDI
- Write your score in the editor, or import a Guitar Pro, MusicXML or MIDI file.
- When it is ready, open the ⋯ menu at the top right of the editor and choose Export → MIDI. You can also press Ctrl+K (⌘K on a Mac) and type “export”.
- A .mid file downloads. Drag it into your DAW, or open it in any app that plays MIDI.
What the file keeps
- Every note with its timing and loudness: dynamics and accents set how hard it is played, staccato and palm mute make it shorter
- Repeats, first and second endings and D.S., D.C. and coda jumps played out in order, so the file plays exactly like the score
- Tempo, tempo changes, time and key signatures
- One track per instrument with its General MIDI sound, volume and pan; drums on channel 10
What it leaves out
- Strings and frets: MIDI has no tab. When a MIDI file is imported anywhere, tab has to be worked out again
- Bends and vibrato, which would need pitch-bend data
- How notes are written: sharps or flats, voices, lyrics, chord names and everything about layout
Where to use it
Put the guitar part on a virtual instrument, add drums under a riff, or load the file into a practice app that plays MIDI. If you want to carry on editing the written score in another notation program, MusicXML keeps far more. If you simply want something to listen to, export MP3.
Turn a MIDI file into tab
It works the other way too: import a MIDI file and SimpleNotation writes it out as notation and tab, choosing a string and fret for every note. From there you can export PDF, text tab or Guitar Pro.
Questions
Why are my bends missing in the MIDI file?
MIDI export writes notes without pitch-bend data, so bends and vibrato play as plain notes. They stay in the score, and in Guitar Pro, MusicXML and audio exports.
Are repeats included?
Yes. Repeats, first and second endings and D.S. or D.C. jumps are played out, so a repeated eight-bar section appears twice in the MIDI file.
What type of MIDI file is it?
A Standard MIDI File, format 1, at 960 ticks per quarter note, with a tempo track and one track per instrument.
Other export formats
All exports are free and need no account. Compare every format.