LumaFretsPlay Guitar Pro Files Over the Real Song
Published 9 October 2026. Details of other products were checked on their own sites on 7 October 2026.
A Guitar Pro file holds a whole tab: every part, every note, the tempo and the tuning. Most programs that open one play it back with a synth. That's fine for checking notes, but it isn't the song you want to learn. This page covers what opens these files and how to play one over the real recording.
Where the Files Come From
Guitar Pro files are made in Guitar Pro, and tab sites often offer them as downloads. Songsterr Plus, for example, includes Guitar Pro downloads (Songsterr).
Programs That Open Them
Guitar Pro
Guitar Pro is the editor that makes these files, for Windows and Mac. It edits and plays tabs, with a metronome, a tuner, tempo changes and loops. Guitar Pro 8 can add an audio track to a score (Guitar Pro). Pick it when you want to write or fix a tab.
TuxGuitar
TuxGuitar is a free, open-source editor. It opens Guitar Pro files and has packages for Linux, Windows and macOS (TuxGuitar). It plays the tab with a synth.
LumaFrets
LumaFrets is a desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux. It opens Guitar Pro (3 to 7), MusicXML and TuxGuitar files. It's made for practice, not editing. It shows the tab as a 3D note highway or as a page, and plays it with the real song.
How to Play the File Over the Real Song
- Open the Guitar Pro file in LumaFrets and pick the part you want, guitar or bass.
- Add the song: a YouTube video, or your own audio file.
- Sync it. With your own audio file, LumaFrets lines the tab up by ear, bar by bar. Or tap along once. It remembers the sync for next time.
- Slow it down anywhere from 25% to full speed, with the pitch kept. Double-click a section, or drag across bars, to loop it.
- Turn on the speed trainer to build the loop back up to full speed.
With no recording, LumaFrets can also play the tab by itself.
Plug your guitar into an audio interface and you can play through the built-in amp: five amps, six cabinets and eight pedals. A tuner follows the tab's tuning, and there's a count-in, a click and scoring.
What Costs Money
Everything above is free. Pro is a one-time $39, with no subscription. It splits your own audio file into vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano and the rest, so you can solo the guitar or take it out and play the part yourself. It also plays your own VST3 and Audio Unit plugins, amp captures and impulse responses. Songs are separated on your computer, and nothing is uploaded.
What You Need First
LumaFrets doesn't sell or download tabs. You need the Guitar Pro file, from a tab site or one you wrote yourself.
Comparing options? See Songsterr alternatives for playing tabs with the real song and Rocksmith alternatives for learning real songs.
To compare other players, see free guitar tab players for Mac, Windows and Linux.
Looking at other editors and players too? See Guitar Pro alternatives.