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- Tutorial8 min readHow to make a Nashville number chart from any songThe Nashville Number System lets a band read a song in any key, but every charting app makes you type the numbers in by ear first. Here is how to get the chords automatically and turn them into a number chart.Tutorial · · 8 min read
- Resources7 min readHow to get chords and sheet music for spontaneous worship songsThe most powerful moments in a worship set are often the spontaneous ones, and they never come with a chart. Here is how to capture a spontaneous song or a brand-new release the publishers have not caught up to yet.Resources · · 7 min read
- Tutorial7 min readHow to transpose a song for alto or tenor saxHand a sax player concert-pitch music and it comes out in the wrong key. Here is how transposing instruments work, the interval each saxophone needs, and how to get a part in the right key without the math.Tutorial · · 7 min read
- Tutorial7 min readHow to transpose a song to fit your voiceIf a song sits too high or too low, change the key instead of straining to reach it. Here is how to find a key that fits your range and get the sheet music and chords in that key, not just a pitched-up recording.Tutorial · · 7 min read
- Tutorial8 min readHow to arrange a song for harpHarpists arrange constantly, because most of the songs people request were never published for harp. Here is how to arrange any song for harp, from picking a harp-friendly key to handling pedals, levers, and glissandi.Tutorial · · 8 min read
- Resources7 min readHow to find sheet music for a song you can’t find anywhereSome songs were never published, and the score you need does not exist online. Here is a practical order of operations for finding sheet music for any song, and what to do when nothing turns up.Resources · · 7 min read
- Resources7 min readWhat is a piano reduction?A piano reduction takes music written for many instruments and condenses it onto two staves a single pianist can play. Here is what that means, how it differs from an arrangement, and how to make one.Resources · · 7 min read
- Resources6 min readWhat is a fake book?A fake book is a thick collection of lead sheets, one song per page, melody and chords only. Here is what a fake book is, where the Real Book fits in, and how to build your own from the songs you play.Resources · · 6 min read
- Resources7 min readDo you need to read music to play piano?Plenty of great pianists do not read a note. Here is an honest answer to whether you need to read music to play piano, when reading actually helps, and the ways to learn songs without it.Resources · · 7 min read
- Resources7 min readWhat is tablature (guitar tab)? A plain-English guideTablature shows you where to put your fingers instead of which notes to play. It is the fastest way for guitarists to read music, with one big trade-off. Here is how it works.Resources · · 7 min read
- Resources7 min readWhat is transposition in music?Transposing a song means moving every note up or down by the same amount to land in a new key. Here is what that means, why musicians do it, and how to do it without rewriting everything.Resources · · 7 min read
- Resources6 min readWhat is a time signature?The two numbers at the start of a piece tell you how to count it. Here is what the top and bottom mean, how 4/4, 3/4, and 6/8 actually feel, and how to find any song’s time signature.Resources · · 6 min read
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