musescore / musescore/MuseScore

MusicXML import ignoring capo specification

Open
#33,483 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

community MusicXML
Dominant language
C++
Stars
15.1k
Forks
3.3k
Avg merge
2d 2h
Merged PRs (30d)
91

Description

Issue type

Import/export issue

Description with steps to reproduce
  1. import the attached musicxml file into musescore.
  2. compare the note staff and the tab staff and see the capo information above the staffs
  3. see the lowest note on first chord. It is a low B, midi value 47

Actual behaviour:
The tab staff says string 5 fret 2 for the first note, which is midi value 47

Expected behaviour:
The tab staff should display string 6 fret 3 for the first note.
Because that would be midi value 43, add capo +4, we get the correct pitch of 47

So for me it looks like musescore ignores the capo and the fret/string numbers that are specified in my musicxml.

Note: this bug only appears if I specify a capo in my musicxml. Without a capo, musescore shows the exact same fret/string numbers like in my musicxml.

In the screenshots you can see how my first measure looks in musescore and the musicxml with string specification and the first note of the tab staff.

Supporting files, videos and screenshots
Image Image
In which versions of MuseScore Studio is this issue present?

4.5.2

Regression

I was unable to check

Operating system

macOS Tahoe 26.4.1

Additional context

No response

Checklist
  • This report follows the guidelines for reporting bugs and issues
  • I have verified that this issue has not been logged before, by searching the issue tracker for similar issues
  • I have attached all requested files and information to this report
  • I have attempted to identify the root problem as concisely as possible, and have used minimal reproducible examples where possible

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by importing the attached MusicXML file in MuseScore 4.5.2 and compare the note and tab staves, focusing on the capo and first chord. Trace the MusicXML import path for capo and string/fret data; done means the imported tab displays string 6, fret 3 with capo +4 for the low B, while behavior without a capo remains unchanged.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.