Guitar Stroke Helper

Build guitar strokes from TAB notation — no guitar skills required.

Guitar Stroke Helper is a guitar MIDI workflow tool. Design your performances from TAB notation — fretting and picking controlled independently. Shape strokes, riffs, arpeggios, or custom picking patterns, then export the result as MIDI and play it through your preferred guitar library.

You design the performance. They handle the sound.

Designed for composers and arrangers who want realistic guitar parts without needing to play guitar:

• TAB-based note input — type fret numbers directly, just like reading a TAB sheet.

• Independent fretting and picking — change chords and strokes separately for flexible performance building.

• Stroke curve editor — control the timing of each string for realistic strum feel.

• Anchor string — choose which string lands on the beat for natural groove.

• Per-string velocity and on/off — fine-tune dynamics string by string.

• Per-string pitch bend — shape bends per string or globally, with attack/hold/release curves.

• Per-string key switch — apply articulations per string via MIDI channel targeting.

• Per-string MIDI CC support (not all CCs).

• Custom tuning — set each string's pitch freely.

• MIDI drag and drop — export your patterns to your DAW and play through your preferred guitar library.

• Per-string MIDI channel output — route each string to its own MIDI channel for flexible control.

• MIDI to TAB conversion — import Standard MIDI Files and convert to TAB with automatic fretting positions.

• String transfer — move notes to adjacent strings while keeping the same pitch.

• Drag & drop MIDI files into the TAB Editor (SMF should be quantized).

• Resizable window — Large/Medium/Small.

Note: Guitar Stroke Helper outputs MIDI only. A guitar library is required for sound.

Compatibility:

• macOS: VST3 / AU.
• Windows: VST3 (tested on Windows 10).

Tested DAWs:

• Mac: Cubase, Reaper, Logic Pro, Luna.
• Windows: Cubase, Reaper.