Dear LilyPond Developers,
I hope this message finds you well. I’m writing to request consideration for a new feature that I believe would significantly improve the usability of LilyPond for guitarists who use both standard notation and tablature (TabStaff). *Feature Request Overview* Currently, it is possible to add left-hand and right-hand fingerings to the traditional staff using \finger and \rightHandFinger, respectively. However, adding these fingerings to tablature requires additional manual steps, making it cumbersome and time-consuming. *What I propose is a parameter, tentatively named* ShowFingeringOnTablature, *which, when enabled, would automatically display the fingerings already notated on the standard staff onto the TabStaff*. This would eliminate the need for duplicating fingering annotations manually between staves, streamlining the workflow for users who need both types of notation. *Explanation of the Desired Functionality* • *Automatic Transfer*: When ShowFingeringOnTablature is enabled, the fingerings (\finger and \rightHandFinger) that are already defined on the standard notation staff would automatically appear on the TabStaff. • *Left-Hand Fingerings*: • Currently, left-hand fingerings are marked using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) and are often placed to the left of the note on the standard staff. • However, if these same markings were displayed on the TabStaff in their current left-side position, it could cause confusion with the fret numbers, which are also displayed using Arabic numerals. • To avoid this confusion, I suggest that, when the parameter is enabled, *left-hand fingerings should automatically be placed above or below the tablature lines* (depending on the context), rather than to the left. The exact positioning (above or below) could be determined based on the voice or staff context, or by default settings. • *Right-Hand Fingerings*: • Right-hand fingerings (\rightHandFinger) are crucial for guitarists who rely on precise plucking techniques, especially in classical and fingerstyle pieces. • Currently, adding right-hand fingerings to the TabStaff requires defining custom commands or using \markup, which can be complex and time-consuming. • With the proposed parameter, right-hand fingerings that are already defined on the standard staff would automatically appear on the TabStaff, greatly simplifying the process. Additionally, I would like to refer you to a specific section of the current LilyPond documentation that demonstrates how fingerings can be added to tablatures using \markup and \finger: *Link to documentation*: Adding fingerings to tablatures <https://lilypond.org/doc/v2.24/Documentation/snippets/fretted-strings.de.html> ``` one = \markup { \finger 1 } two = \markup { \finger 2 } threeTwo = \markup { \override #'(baseline-skip . 2) \column { \finger 3 \finger 2 } } threeFour = \markup { \override #'(baseline-skip . 2) \column { \finger 3 \finger 4 } } \score { \new TabStaff { \tabFullNotation \stemUp e8\4^\one b\2 <g\3 e'\1>^>[ b\2 e\4] <a\3 fis'\1>^>^\threeTwo[ b\2 e\4] } } ``` Thank you very much for your time and for all the hard work you put into developing and maintaining LilyPond. Best regards, Peter
