Music for plucked string instruments is frequently notated using a
finger/touch notation or tablature. In contrast to traditional
notation pitches are not denoted with note heads, but by numbers (or
-letter-like symbols in historical intavolatura). The numbers
-indicate on which string and fret a note must be played. The numbers
-are printed on top of each other if they are to be played
-simultaneously.
-
-By default, string 1 is the highest, and the tuning defaults to the
+letter-like symbols in historical intavolatura). The staff lines
+in tablature indicate the string on which the note is to be played,
+and a number placed on a staff line indicated the fret at which
+the corresponding string is to be pressed.
+Notes that are to be played simultaneously are vertically aligned.
+
+By default, string 1 is the highest string, and corresponds to the top
+line on the @code{TabStaff}. The tuning of the @code{TabStaff}
+strings defaults to the
standard guitar tuning (with 6 strings). The notes are printed as
tablature, by using @code{TabStaff} and @code{TabVoice} contexts. A
calligraphic tablature clef is added automatically.
used to define a string tuning and set it as the
@code{stringTunings} for the current context.
@code{\contextStringTuning} takes two arguments: the
-symbol in which the string tuning, and a chord construct
+symbol in which the string tuning will be stored,
+and a chord construct
that defines the pitches of each string in the tuning.
The chord construct must be in absolute octave mode,
see @ref{Absolute octave entry}. The string
>>
@end lilypond
-LilyPond automatically calculates the number of strings in the
+LilyPond automatically calculates the number of lines in the
@code{TabStaff} and the number of strings in an automatically
calculated @code{FretBoard} as the number of elements
in @code{stringTunings}.