Specimen 885

MuseScore Studio 4.6

Free, open-source notation and tablature software with no feature limits, and the main no-cost alternative to paid tab editors.

Watch

MuseScore's own channel demonstrates the 4.6 playback and engraving additions and a separate fretboard diagram tutorial, while David McCoy shows his favourite features from the 4.7 beta.

Why it matters

Nothing is held back behind a licence: the whole application is free, including guitar-specific engraving for bends, hammer-ons and pull-offs and TablEdit file import. Tablature legends and fretboard diagrams are generated from chord symbols, which saves a lot of manual entry. MuseSounds guitar libraries are available through MuseHub, and the app reads and writes MusicXML and MIDI.

Note

MuseScore Studio 4.6 (September 2025) is the world's most widely used free notation app and the main no-cost rival to Guitar Pro, with guitar-specific additions such as auto-generated fretboard diagram legends and TablEdit import. The 4.6.x line continued to receive patches into 2026, with development builds of 4.7 already public.

Specifications

• free and open source (GPL), no feature limitations
• Windows / macOS / Linux (incl. AppImage, BSD packages)
• default tablature legend auto-generated from chord symbols; fretboard diagrams auto-fill from chord symbols
• improved bend/hammer-on/pull-off engraving for guitar and TablEdit file import
• MuseSounds playback libraries via MuseHub (Muse Guitars Vols. 1 and 2)
• MusicXML and MIDI import/export; VST3 support
• optional paid MuseScore.com Pro subscription (from $5.99/week) for the score-sharing site

Before you buy

• The application is free; MuseScore.com Pro from $5.99 per week is only for the score-sharing site
• real guitar sound needs the MuseSounds libraries from MuseHub, which are separate downloads
• 4.6.x is still being patched while 4.7 development builds are public

Sources

• musescore.org
• musescore.org
• github.com