Piano audio to sheet music
Piano recording to sheet music both hands, free
Record yourself, upload an MP3 or paste a link to a piano video. ScoreStarling writes both hands and the sustain pedal on a grand staff you can play beside the recording, correct and print.
Drop a piano recording or video here
MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, AIFF or a video, up to 95 MB, or a link from YouTube, Bilibili and other sites. Choose Solo piano; it is free, up to five minutes a piece.
ScoreStarling turns solo piano audio into sheet music for both hands, with the sustain pedal, bar lines and time signature, for free. Upload a recording or paste a video link; each piece can be up to five minutes long.
What goes in and what comes out
You bring
- A phone recording of your own playing
- An MP3, WAV or other audio file of a piano piece
- A link to a piano video on YouTube, Bilibili and other sites
You get
- A grand staff: both hands, chords and the pedal
- A PDF to print, in staff notation or jianpu, free
- MP3 or WAV of the score, free
- MusicXML and MIDI once the score is unlocked
How it works
- Choose the recording or paste the link above. The workspace opens with it, after sign-in if needed.
- Choose Solo piano. When a recording has chords, the workspace asks whether it is solo piano.
- The score opens in a few minutes. Play it beside the recording, loop a bar to hear it again, and fix any note you hear wrong.
- Download the PDF, or unlock the score for MusicXML and MIDI to finish it in MuseScore or a DAW.
What solo piano works out for you
- Which notes go to the right hand and which to the left.
- The sustain pedal, written under the staff.
- The beat, bar lines, a pickup bar and the time signature: 4/4, 3/4, 6/8 or 12/8.
- A piano tuned away from A440 is retuned before it is read, so an old upright still lands on the right notes.
What gives a good result
- The piano alone, close to the microphone, in a quiet room.
- A steady tempo. If you know the beats per minute, type them in More options.
- Less pedal than you would use on stage: blurred harmony is harder to read.
Good to know
- The first five minutes are written out; split a longer piece into movements or sections.
- Fingering and phrasing slurs are not written in; add them in your notation app.
- The score is a first draft. Listen to it beside the recording before you rely on it.
Questions and answers
Is there a free way to turn a piano recording into sheet music?
Yes. Solo piano is free on every account: up to three recordings a day, five minutes each, with free PDF, MP3 and WAV downloads. MusicXML and MIDI need the score unlocked for 15 credits, once.
Does it separate the left and right hands?
Yes. Solo piano writes a grand staff, right hand above and left hand below, with chords and the sustain pedal, and finds the beat, bar lines, pickup and time signature in the playing.
Can it make sheet music from a YouTube piano video?
Yes. Paste the link; only the sound is used, so a tutorial with falling notes or a camera on the hands works the same. Private, members-only and DRM-protected videos can’t be fetched.
Can I get it in jianpu?
Yes. Choose Jianpu in More options, or switch the open score to Jianpu, then download the jianpu PDF. See sheet music to jianpu.
Can I play it in another key?
Yes. Transpose the whole score by an interval in Score settings, or ask Starling to, then print it in the new key. See transpose sheet music.
What about a piano with singing or a band?
Solo piano expects the piano alone; a voice on top is read as more piano notes. For a song with the piano accompanying, choose one instrument or voice for the melody, or Band or several instruments for every part on its own staff.
How accurate is it?
Clean solo piano gives a usable first draft. Fast passages, heavy pedal and a poor upright recording add mistakes, so play the score beside the recording and fix what you hear.