Turn a recorded melody into sheet music
This audio to sheet music converter listens to a recording, finds the notes, and writes them out as standard notation: a staff with clef, key signature, time signature, bar lines and rhythms. Sing, hum, whistle or play a tune on one instrument, drop the file here, and a minute later you have a score you can print, open in MuseScore or Finale, or play back.
It is honest about its limits. Automatic music transcription is a hard problem, and this tool is built for simple melodies, one note at a time. Chords and piano music can be tried with the “Piano or chords” setting, but expect a rough draft. Full songs with drums, bass and vocals together are beyond it — isolate the part you want first, for example with the Vocal Extractor.
How to use the Audio to Sheet Music
- Drop a recording of a melody (up to 5 minutes), or press Try a generated melody.
- Keep A melody selected unless several notes sound at once, then press Transcribe to sheet music.
- Check the score. Set the Time signature and any pickup beats; correct the tempo or key if they were detected wrongly, and choose the shortest note to quantise to.
- Press Play the notation to hear what was written, and compare it with your recording.
- Add a title and download PDF or PNG to print, MusicXML to edit in notation software, MIDI for a DAW, or ABC text.
Audio to Sheet Music features
Pitch from a neural network
Notes come from Spotify’s open-source Basic Pitch model, the same engine as the Audio to MIDI Converter.
Key and tempo detection
The key is matched against melody key profiles; the tempo is fitted to the note starts. Both can be overridden.
Real rhythms
Notes snap to a sixteenth, eighth or quarter grid, small gaps are closed, and long notes are split at beats and bar lines with ties, the way a copyist would write them.
Treble, bass or grand staff
The staff is chosen from the note range, or set it yourself; in chord mode notes from middle C up go to the right hand.
Five export formats
Vector PDF on A4 or Letter, a high-resolution PNG, MusicXML 4.0, a Standard MIDI File and ABC notation.
How it works
The recording is mixed to mono and resampled to 22,050 Hz, and Basic Pitch (Bittner et al., ICASSP 2022) estimates which semitones are sounding and starting, 86 times a second; notes are picked from that with the library’s own method. In melody mode, when two notes overlap, the stronger one is kept, and faint notes below the quietness setting are dropped — that removes most overtone errors.
The tempo is the one whose eighth-note grid best fits the note starts, with a gentle preference for tempos near 100 BPM, refined by least squares. Notes are then quantised to the grid you choose. The key comes from a duration-weighted count of the twelve pitch classes, correlated with the Aarden–Essen major and minor profiles, which were derived from thousands of folk melodies. Notes are spelled to fit the key signature, and abcjs draws the score.
What to expect
| Recording | Typical result |
|---|---|
| A clear melody on flute, violin, recorder, whistle or piano (one hand) | Good: pitches right; check the rhythm of quick or dotted notes |
| Singing or humming | Usually good pitch; vibrato and slides can add short extra notes |
| Chords, piano with two hands, guitar strumming | Rough: missing and extra notes, simplified rhythm |
| Free tempo (rubato) or swing | Rhythms come out wrong; set the tempo by hand and use a coarser grid |
| A full song or band | Not usable; isolate one part first |
Tips for a better transcription
- Play or sing to a metronome, in a quiet room, close to the microphone; steady tempo matters as much as clean pitch.
- Trim silence and talking from the start, so the first note lands on the beat.
- If the key looks odd, confirm it with the Key Finder; for the tempo, the BPM Detector.
- Open the MusicXML in free notation software to fix the last details, add lyrics and dynamics.
Audio to Sheet Music FAQ
How do I convert audio to sheet music for free?
Drop the recording on this page and press Transcribe to sheet music. Adjust the time signature, tempo and key if needed, then download a PDF or MusicXML. Nothing is uploaded and there is no sign-up.
Is it accurate?
For a clear, simple melody played one note at a time, the pitches are usually right and the rhythm is close. Chords, fast passages and full mixes produce errors. Treat the result as a draft to check.
Can I turn my singing or humming into sheet music?
Yes. Sing clearly at a steady speed, ideally with a metronome, and keep the melody mode. Check short notes where your voice slid between pitches.
Can it transcribe piano or a whole song?
Choose “Piano or chords” for piano or guitar; the result is a rough draft on a grand staff. A whole song with drums and vocals is too dense — extract one part first.
Which programs open the MusicXML file?
MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, Notion and most other notation programs import MusicXML.
Why is my rhythm wrong?
The rhythm depends on the tempo. If it was detected at double or half speed, untick Detect the tempo and type it in; a coarser shortest note also simplifies the rhythm.