Transpose sheet music online and hear it in your key
The song is in E♭ and you sing it in C. The chart is in concert pitch and you play a B♭ trumpet. The guitarist has a capo on the third fret. Transposing sheet music used to mean rewriting it – or doing the maths in your head while you play. Duly Noted reads the page and plays it in whatever key you choose, so you hear the piece in your key and play along.
How to transpose in Duly Noted
- Upload the music – a PDF, a photo of the page or a MusicXML file – and let it read. The notes, chord symbols and playing order are recognised; see how optical music recognition works.
- Open Sound and settings under the piece and set Transpose: the number of semitones up or down, from −12 to +12.
- Press play. Melody, chords and bass all sound in the new key. The tempo does not change, and neither does anything else you set up – loops, muted parts, corrections.
The page on screen is your own sheet music, as printed. The playback moves; the picture does not. That is the point for most people: you keep reading the chart you were given, and hear it where you need it.
B♭, E♭ and F instruments: how many semitones
A transposing instrument sounds in a different key from the one it reads. If you play a concert-pitch chart as written on your instrument, set the playback to match what comes out of it:
| Set transpose to | Instrument | Sounds |
|---|---|---|
| −2 | B♭ trumpet, clarinet, soprano and tenor sax, flugelhorn | a whole tone below written |
| −3 | A clarinet | a minor third below written |
| −7 | Horn in F, English horn | a fifth below written |
| −9 | E♭ alto and baritone sax | a major sixth below written |
| +3 | E♭ clarinet | a minor third above written |
| +12 | Piccolo | an octave above written |
| −12 | Guitar, bass, double bass | an octave below written – or leave it at 0: the octave rarely matters for practice |
The other way round – you have a part written for your instrument and want to hear it with the piano or the band at concert pitch – uses the same numbers: a B♭ trumpet part played at −2 sounds the pitches the trumpet actually plays.
Singers and guitarists
- Too high or too low? Move it a semitone at a time until it sits in your voice – a song in E♭ at −3 is in C. Then mute the melody and sing it over the chords and the bass.
- Capo. A capo on fret n raises the guitar by n semitones. To play along from the original chord shapes with a capo on the third fret, set the playback to +3.
- Choir parts that sit uncomfortably in rehearsal: take the piece down a semitone or two while learning the notes, and bring it back up when it is secure.
Practising in the new key
Transposing is one setting among the practice tools. In the new key you can still slow the piece down without the pitch drifting, loop the bars that give you trouble, mute the melody, the chords or the bass, and follow the highlighted bar on your own page. If a chord symbol was misread you correct it by clicking the bar, and the corrected chord is transposed with the rest.
Learning a piece in a new key by ear? Mute the chords and the bass, play the melody alone at a slow tempo, and copy it. Then add the comp back and play it yourself.
Common questions
Does it rewrite the notes in the new key?
No. Duly Noted plays the music transposed; the sheet music on screen is your original image. If you need a transposed page, export the piece as MIDI and open it in a notation program, or use the notation program's own transposition.
Are the chord symbols transposed too?
In the sound, yes: the accompaniment and the bass follow the transposition. The printed symbols on your page stay as they are.
Can I transpose by a key rather than by semitones?
The setting is in semitones, −12 to +12. From E♭ to C is −3; from G to B♭ is +3.
Is transposing in the free piece?
Your first piece of up to 4 pages is read and played for free, with no card needed. Transposing, tempo changes and loops come with a pack of 3 pieces for €3 or a subscription from €5 a month – see pricing.