Songscription blog & music transcription resources
Explore Songscription’s guides to music transcription, sheet music, MIDI, piano roll, and AI-powered music learning, plus product updates and company announcements from the Songscription team.
Everything about getting notation you can read, edit, and print: making sheet music from a song, simplifying and arranging it for your level, and exporting a clean score to PDF or MusicXML.
Sheet music
96 articles- Resources6 min readWhat is concert pitch?Concert pitch is the shared reference that lets a band play in tune together, and the reason a trumpet and a piano reading the same note do not match. Here is what concert pitch means, which instruments play at it, and why transposing instruments do not.Resources · · 6 min read
- Tutorial8 min readHow to arrange a song for guitarArranging a song for solo guitar means fitting the melody, the harmony, and a bass line onto six strings and two hands. Here is how to arrange any song for guitar, from choosing a guitar-friendly key to balancing chord-melody and fingerstyle, starting from a transcription you can edit.Tutorial · · 8 min read
- Tutorial8 min readHow to arrange a song for a string quartetA string quartet gives you four voices (two violins, a viola, and a cello) that can carry almost any song. Here is how to arrange a song for strings, from splitting melody and accompaniment across the parts to writing in each instrument’s range and clef.Tutorial · · 8 min read
- Tutorial8 min readHow to arrange a song for choir (SATB)Arranging a song for choir means turning it into singable parts for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, each in a comfortable range. Here is how to arrange any song for an SATB choir, from setting the melody and harmony to handling the words, starting from an editable score.Tutorial · · 8 min read
- Tutorial7 min readHow to edit sheet music after you make itA transcription is a starting point, not a final answer, which is why getting an editable score matters more than getting a picture. Here is how to edit sheet music after you make it: fixing notes and rhythms, changing the key, reassigning hands, and exporting a clean copy.Tutorial · · 7 min read
- Resources7 min readHow to get sheet music for Christmas and holiday songsEvery December the same problem returns: the holiday song you want to play is in the wrong key, the wrong difficulty, or has no sheet music at all. Here is how to get any carol or modern holiday song as editable sheet music, then fit it to the player.Resources · · 7 min read
- Resources7 min readWedding songs to sheet music: Play any song for the ceremonyThe song that matters most at a wedding is often the one with no sheet music, or only a version in the wrong key for the singer or instrument playing it. Here is how to turn any song into a part for the ceremony, from the processional to the first dance.Resources · · 7 min read
- Resources6 min readWhat is a Guitar Pro file (.gp and .gpx)?A Guitar Pro file holds tab, standard notation, and playback together in one editable document, which is why so many guitarists prefer it to a flat PDF. Here is what is inside a .gp or .gpx file, how to open one, and how to get a Guitar Pro file from a recording.Resources · · 6 min read
- Resources7 min readTransposing instruments explained (with a full chart)A transposing instrument reads its music in a different key than it sounds, which is why a trumpet and a piano playing the same written note do not match. This guide explains what makes an instrument transposing, why it happens, and gives a full chart of the B-flat, E-flat, F, and concert-pitch instruments.Resources · · 7 min read
- Tutorial6 min readHow to transpose a song for trumpetHand a trumpet player a concert-pitch part and it comes out a whole step too low. The trumpet is a B-flat instrument, so it reads in a different key than the piano. Here is the interval the trumpet needs, why a concert-pitch part sounds wrong, and how to get a part in the right key without doing the math.Tutorial · · 6 min read
- Tutorial6 min readHow to transpose a song for clarinetThe B-flat clarinet reads a major second above concert pitch, so a piano part handed straight to a clarinetist sounds in the wrong key. Here is the interval the clarinet needs, how its registers affect the result, and how to get a part in the right key without transposing by hand.Tutorial · · 6 min read
- Tutorial6 min readHow to transpose a song for french hornThe French horn in F reads a perfect fifth above concert pitch, a different interval from the B-flat and E-flat band instruments. Here is exactly how far to move a part for horn, why concert pitch comes out wrong, and how to get a readable part without working out the interval yourself.Tutorial · · 6 min read
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