Free online M4A to GP5 converter

A bandmate or older score editor may require a Guitar Pro 5 file when you have only an M4A recording. This is not a direct audio-format conversion: the notes and timing must first be transcribed from the sound.

What the M4A format is

M4A is an audio container commonly used for AAC-encoded recordings. Apple Music, iTunes, and Apple Voice Memos are common sources; the file contains recorded sound, not musical notation or tablature.

What the GP5 format is

GP5 is Guitar Pro 5’s score and tablature format. It stores musical parts, notes, rhythms, and track information for editing and playback in Guitar Pro and compatible programs such as TuxGuitar.

How to convert M4A to GP5

Online on 101convert.com

Choose M4A as the source and GP5 as the target in the page’s built-in converter, upload the recording, select Convert, then download the result. Multiple files can be submitted as a batch; the page shows the per-file size limit. An audio recording contains no GP5 score data, so a converted file is not necessarily a transcribed, editable score; open it in a compatible program and check its contents.

Offline with desktop software

Free workflow: Use FFmpeg to make a WAV copy, Spotify’s Basic Pitch to generate MIDI, then TuxGuitar to import the MIDI and save a GP5 file. For example:

ffmpeg -i input.m4a input.wav

Run Basic Pitch on the WAV file, for example basic-pitch output/ input.wav. In TuxGuitar, choose File → Import → MIDI, open the generated MIDI, then use File → Save as and select GP5 if offered by your version. FFmpeg and Basic Pitch are available on major desktop operating systems; TuxGuitar runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Commercial option: AnthemScore can transcribe audio into MIDI; if your recording is not accepted directly, first convert it to WAV with FFmpeg. Export MIDI from AnthemScore, import it in Guitar Pro through File → Import → MIDI, then save as GP5. Guitar Pro 5 runs on Windows and macOS.

Transcription limitations

Transcription software estimates notes from audio; it does not reliably recover exact tablature, fingering, or track separation from every recording. Isolated instruments generally produce more usable MIDI than dense mixes, and compressed AAC audio can obscure note attacks. Expect to correct pitches, rhythms, tuning, and string positions in the score editor.