ISPOG — Is it Playable on Guitar?
ISPOG checks whether a score can be played on the guitar. It reads a MusicXML file, finds string and fret positions for every note, fingers simultaneous and held notes together, and returns the score with each notehead colored, plus a readable report.
| color | meaning |
|---|---|
| green | playable |
| orange | difficult (e.g. pinky barré, maximum stretch) |
| red | unplayable |
| black | not analyzed (e.g. harmonics, microtones), listed in the report with the reason |
- Latest version:
0.10.0b1(beta), in thebetafolder - Web version (nothing to install): https://ispog.onrender.com
- Author: Stefano Mancuso
Download
Open the beta folder and download the file for your system:
| System | File |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 or 11 | ISPOG-0.10.0b1-windows.exe |
| macOS, Apple Silicon (M1 and later) | ISPOG-0.10.0b1-macos-arm64.zip |
| macOS, Intel | ISPOG-0.10.0b1-macos-x86_64.zip |
Which Mac do I have? Apple menu → About This Mac: "Chip: Apple M…" is Apple Silicon, "Processor: Intel…" is Intel. macOS 11 or later is required.
No installation is required.
Install and first launch
The programs are not digitally signed, so Windows and macOS ask for one extra confirmation the first time you open them. This is expected.
Windows
- Download
ISPOG-0.10.0b1-windows.exeand double-click it. - If you see "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway.
- If your browser warns that the file is not commonly downloaded, choose Keep.
You can keep the file anywhere (for example on the desktop); there is nothing to install.
macOS
- Download the
.zipfor your Mac and double-click it to unzip: you get ISPOG.app. - Drag ISPOG.app to the Applications folder.
- Open it. macOS says the app cannot be opened or that Apple could not verify it: click Done (or OK), not "Move to Trash".
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the message about ISPOG and click Open Anyway, then confirm with your password.
This is needed only once. On macOS 14 and earlier, right-click the app → Open → Open is enough.
How to use it
- Open a score: click Browse…, or drag the file onto the ISPOG window, or onto the ISPOG
icon. Supported files:
.musicxml,.xml,.mxl(compressed), exported from MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, Dorico, Guitar Pro and others. - Parts: the guitar parts of the score are selected automatically. You can select other parts too (for example a banjo, with its tuning set as Custom).
- Tuning: Standard, Drop D, Open G, or Custom (4 to 8 strings, any notes) and the number of frets (12–24, default 19).
- Output: one full score, or separate files (one per part). "Add labels to score" writes a short note (for example span 6, 5 fingers, no free string) above every difficult or unplayable point.
- Click Analyze Playability, then choose where to save the result. ISPOG saves the colored
score (
<name>_ispog.musicxml) and a report (<name>_ispog_report.txt) next to it. - Open the colored score in your notation program.
The report lists only the difficult and unplayable points, with measure and beat, the notes, the notes still held, the reason, and the closest fingering found.
Reporting a problem
Help → Report a problem… (or the button offered with any error) sends a report to the developer. Nothing is sent until you press Send. The report always contains the log file (with your user name removed) and system information. The last analysis is included unless you untick it; your score is included only if you tick "Include score file". Your e-mail address is optional. If the report cannot be sent, ISPOG offers to open an e-mail instead.
Useful feedback: passages marked wrongly (a note that is easy but red, or impossible but green), with measure number and what you expected.
Web version
https://ispog.onrender.com has the same options and produces the same files. Scores are analyzed on the server only to produce the results shown on the page; uploaded files and results are deleted within an hour and are not shared. On the free server, the first analysis after a pause can take up to a minute.
Older versions
ISPOG_0.9.1.zip (alpha, February 2026) is kept unchanged for reproducibility of published
results, under the terms it was released with (research and educational use).
License
Version 0.10 and later: GNU General Public License v3.0 or later,
© 2026 Stefano Mancuso. Third-party components and their licenses are listed in the
THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md file of the source code.
Citation
If you use ISPOG in research, please cite the paper:
Crecchi, Niccolò, and Stefano Mancuso. "Dealing with a Guitar's Historical Limit through Computer-Assisted Composition." In Sounding the Posthuman: Proceedings of the 25th Colloquium on Music Informatics. L'Aquila, Italy, 13–16 October 2026. Forthcoming.
and, if you like, the software:
Mancuso, Stefano. ISPOG — Is it Playable on Guitar? Version 0.10.0b1, 2026. https://huggingface.co/StefanoMancuso88/ISPOG