Fretboard Heatmap

Project - 14.04.19

File here.

Using Python, a guitar tablature website was scraped to workout how many times each fret is played for a given song and section of the track (ex. the rhythm guitar track or the lead guitar track etc.). This count is then plotted to form a heatmap.

Notes about how the tab is processed:

• When a chord is played, each fret-string combo is counted (i.e. up to 6 notes for 1 chord).
• When strings are played muted, this is indicated as fret -1.
• Bends, slides, hammer-ons/pull-offs, tapping etc are counted as as many notes used in the tab e.g. a bend from 5 to 7 back to 5 is counted as 3 notes.

The following is a heatmap of the fretboard for the solo of "Tornado of Souls", by Megadeth.

In the image below, every note is counted.

Total note count: 441.

Most played note: string 1 (e) fret 10, x56.

As some notes are played far more often than others, this skews the plot and makes the general pattern harder to understand.

In the next plot, the log of the count is used instead. This makes the general pattern clearer.

Stairway to Heaven

"Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin, 1971.