SongsterrToGuitarPro

A small local tool that downloads a Songsterr tab and saves it as a Guitar Pro 5 (.gp5) file you can open in Guitar Pro or TuxGuitar (free).

Songsterr stores each tab's notes as JSON (one file per track) on its CDN. Many tabs — including all AI-generated ones — have no original Guitar Pro file to grab, so this tool fetches that note data and reconstructs a .gp5 from it. Songsterr's note model lines up closely with the Guitar Pro format (string/fret, durations, bends, tuplets, etc.), so the reconstruction is faithful.

Standalone app (Windows) — no Python needed

Download SongsterrToGuitarPro.exe from the Releases page and double-click it. It's a single self-contained file (~11 MB) with Python and everything bundled in, so it runs on a machine that doesn't have Python installed. Saved tabs go to your Downloads\Songsterr Tabs folder by default (changeable in the window).

First launch may take a few seconds (it unpacks to a temp folder), and Windows SmartScreen / antivirus may warn about an unsigned exe — that's normal for a self-built PyInstaller binary; choose "More info → Run anyway".

Rebuilding the exe

If you change the code and want a fresh exe:

pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --noconfirm --clean --name SongsterrToGuitarPro songsterr_gui.py

The exe lands in dist\. (The build is verifiable via a hidden self-test: SongsterrToGuitarPro.exe --selftest <folder> downloads one tab headlessly and exits 0 on success.)

Setup (running from source)

Requires Python 3 and one package:

pip install PyGuitarPro

GUI

For a point-and-click version (no extra dependencies — uses Python's built-in Tkinter):

python songsterr_gui.py          # or: pythonw songsterr_gui.py  (no console window)

Paste one or more Songsterr URLs / song IDs (one per line), choose a folder, and click Download. Progress shows in the log; Open folder reveals the saved files.

Command line

python songsterr_dl.py <songsterr-url-or-id> [more urls/ids ...] [options]

Examples:

# By full URL
python songsterr_dl.py https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/brian-fallon-a-wonderful-life-tab-s2580013

# By bare song id, into a folder
python songsterr_dl.py 2580013 -o tabs/

# Several at once
python songsterr_dl.py 2580013 455118 60 -o tabs/

# Also keep the raw Songsterr JSON
python songsterr_dl.py 2580013 --json

Options:

Option	Meaning
-o, --output PATH	Output file or directory. With multiple songs, treated as a directory. Default: current directory, named Artist - Title.gp5.
--json	Also save the raw per-track Songsterr JSON.
-q, --quiet	Less output.

What gets converted

All tracks (guitars, bass, drums as a percussion track), tunings, time signatures, tempo including mid-song tempo changes, multiple voices, and rhythm (note values, dots, tuplets, rests). Articulations: hammer-ons/pull-offs, slides, bends, tremolo bar, natural/artificial/pinch/tapped harmonics, palm mute, let ring, vibrato, staccato, dead/ghost/accented notes, grace notes, tapping, pick strokes, dynamics, section markers, repeats, and chord-name/beat text.

Notes & limitations

• Output is GP5. Guitar Pro 5 supports up to 7 strings; 8-string tabs are truncated to 7 (the lowest string's notes are dropped) because the format can't represent them.
• Drums are placed on a percussion track. Notes/rhythm are preserved; exact staff-line placement of each drum is best-effort.
• For personal use — please respect Songsterr's terms and tab authors' work.

Files

• SongsterrToGuitarPro.exe — standalone Windows app (no Python required), on the Releases page.
• songsterr_gui.py — point-and-click GUI (Tkinter).
• songsterr_dl.py — command-line entry point.
• songsterr.py — fetch layer (URL/id → metadata + per-track note JSON).
• convert.py — Songsterr JSON → PyGuitarPro model → .gp5.