How to create drum notation and drum tabs in Guitar Pro
Drum notation combines rhythm with a mapping from staff positions and noteheads to kit pieces. Use Guitar Pro’s drum view as the source of truth instead of guessing MIDI numbers or staff lines.
The practical answer
Build the groove in rhythmic layers, choose sounds from the drum assistant, and reserve extra voices for genuinely independent patterns.
A step-by-step approach
-
1
Create a drum track
Add a percussion or drum track and choose a kit that fits the arrangement.
-
2
Open the drum view
Display the drum assistant or drum view and use it to select the intended kit piece.
-
3
Enter the core pulse
Write kick, snare, and the main cymbal pattern before fills and articulations.
-
4
Separate independent rhythms
Use additional voices only when layers need different durations or subdivisions.
-
5
Add detail
Add accents, ghost notes, tuplets, dynamics, and fills after the bar structure is stable.
-
6
Verify notation and sound
Check bar duration, listen slowly, and confirm each staff symbol triggers the intended kit element.
Create the right track and expose the drum map
Add a dedicated percussion track rather than forcing drum notes onto a melodic instrument. Choose an appropriate kit or sound preset, then open the drum view so each available sound is represented by an identifiable kit element.
The drum view is safer than memorising MIDI numbers because it connects the sound with Guitar Pro’s notation mapping. Guitar Pro’s current drum materials describe standard notation, optional tablature, multiple kit styles, and a visual assistant for selecting elements.
Write the groove from the pulse outward
Enter the time signature and a simple skeleton first: main cymbal pulse, snare backbeat, and kick pattern. Play that layer slowly before adding ghost notes, open hi-hats, toms, or fills.
This order makes rhythmic mistakes easy to hear and prevents decorative notes from hiding an incomplete bar. Use Check Bar Duration before duplicating a groove across the arrangement.
Use voices for independent drum layers
Multiple voices are useful when cymbals, kick, and snare carry genuinely different subdivisions or sustain rules. Guitar Pro’s official multivoice example combines quarter-note cymbals, triplet bass-drum notes, and straight eighth-note snare notes in separate voices.
Keep each layer in a consistent voice across the passage and complete its bar with rests. Avoid creating a new voice for every kit piece when several hits share the same rhythmic stem.
Add articulations only after the rhythm works
Once the groove is stable, add accents, dynamics, sticking choices, dead or ghosted strokes, cymbal variations, and tuplets. Confirm that the selected articulation changes the intended playback rather than simply altering the symbol.
For fills, slow playback and check every transition into and out of the fill. A technically correct fill can still displace the downbeat if the preceding bar or final tuplet has the wrong duration.
Choose the display for the reader
Standard drum notation is generally the clearest shared format, while drum tablature or MIDI-value views can help editors familiar with older Guitar Pro workflows. The Track Inspector and stylesheet control which notation appears.
Before sharing, print-preview the part, check page turns and staff spacing, and listen once with the metronome. If exporting to a DAW, verify the percussion mapping after MIDI import because receiving instruments can assign kit sounds differently.
Common questions
Sources and review notes
Product details were checked against the official sources below on 9 August 2026. Offers and software details can change, so confirm current terms before buying.