Sheet music to audio
Hear your sheet music before you play it
Open a PDF or a picture of printed music, or a score file. ScoreStarling reads the notes, plays them while the score follows along, and saves the sound as MP3 or WAV.
Drop a PDF or a picture of sheet music here
Clean printed staff notation reads best: up to 12 PDF pages, or a picture. MusicXML, MIDI and ABC files work too. Reading and listening are free.
No file handy?
ScoreStarling turns sheet music into audio for free: it reads a PDF or a picture of printed music, or a MusicXML, MIDI or ABC file, plays the score while it follows along on the page, and downloads it as MP3 or WAV.
What goes in and what comes out
You bring
- A PDF of printed staff notation, up to 12 pages
- A PNG, JPEG, WebP, TIFF or GIF picture
- Or a MusicXML, MIDI or ABC file
You get
- Playback in the browser, following the score
- MP3 or WAV of the score, free
- A score you can correct, transpose and print
- MIDI and MusicXML once the score is unlocked
How it works
- Choose the file above. The workspace opens with it, after sign-in if needed.
- The notes are read from the page, so there is nothing to choose and no fee.
- Press play. Loop a bar you are learning, change a part’s sound, or transpose the whole piece.
- Download MP3 or WAV to practise with away from the screen.
Good for
- Hearing a piece before you buy it or start learning it.
- Students checking rhythms they are not sure of.
- Choir members who read slowly and want to hear how it goes.
Good to know
- Playback plays repeats once and lasts up to ten minutes.
- Phone photos, handwriting and jianpu pages read poorly; check the notes against the page.
- The sound is the score played with instrument sounds, not a recording of musicians.
Questions and answers
Can a photo of sheet music become audio I can hear?
Yes, when it is a clear, straight picture of printed staff notation. The notes are read, then played. Handwriting, crooked phone photos and jianpu pages read poorly; an AI assistant that can see images can try to write those out first.
Is it free?
Yes. Reading sheet music, listening, and the MP3 and WAV downloads are free. MIDI and MusicXML need the score unlocked for 15 credits, once.
Can I download an MP3?
Yes. Download the score as MP3 or WAV: the notes played with instrument sounds.
Can I change the instrument sound?
Yes. Each part can play with any of the 128 General MIDI sounds, from piano and strings to flute or trumpet.
Can it read handwritten music?
Not reliably. The reader is built for printed staff notation; a clean PDF exported from notation software reads best.
Does it play the repeats?
Repeats are played once, as written. To hear a passage again, loop it.