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@manolo manolo commented Nov 25, 2025

Resolves: #11814 (Half notes to be displayed in circle in TAB staff notation)
Resolves: #13699 (Whole and half notes are not in circle for Common tab staff type)
Related: https://musescore.org/en/node/275196 (Circled fret marks for half note and whole note durations in tablature staves)

Summary

Add a new tablature style option that draws an ellipse around fret numbers for half notes, providing clear visual distinction from other note durations.

Problem

In tablature notation, distinguishing half notes is problematic:

  • Short stem: Easily confused with quarter notes
  • Slashed stem: Confused with tremolo notation (plucked strings, mandolin)
  • No marking: Half notes indistinguishable from whole notes

Prior art

  • Guitar Pro/Notion/Scoremaker: Native support
  • Sibelius / Finale: Manual workarounds
  • The circled fret number is a well-established convention used for years in tablature scores.
image image Screenshot 2025-11-25 at 18 43 42

Solution

  • Adds a new "Circled" option in Staff/Part Properties > Advanced Style Properties.
Screenshot 2025-11-25 at 18 25 44
  • Now, tremolo and tempo information is much clearer:
Screenshot 2025-11-25 at 18 33 14
  • I signed the CLA
  • The title of the PR describes the problem it addresses
  • Each commit's message describes its purpose and effects, and references the issue it resolves
  • If changes are extensive, there is a sequence of easily reviewable commits
  • The code in the PR follows the coding rules
  • There are no unnecessary changes
  • The code compiles and runs on my machine, preferably after each commit individually
  • I created a unit test or vtest to verify the changes I made (if applicable)

Add new TablatureMinimStyle::CIRCLED option that draws an ellipse
around fret numbers for half notes. This provides an alternative
visual differentiation method alongside SHORTER and SLASHED styles.

Staff lines are masked to avoid crossing through the circles.
@manolo manolo force-pushed the pr_tablature_circle branch from e646f28 to 7cf2a67 Compare November 25, 2025 17:45
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manolo commented Nov 25, 2025

I guess the failure because of the new test is ok until this is merged.

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[MU4 Issue][GP] Whole and half notes are not in circle (for Common tab staff type) Half notes to be displayed in circle in TAB staff notation

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