ToMIDITo transpose sheet music, open a MusicXML or MIDI file in the music transposer below and choose how far to move it: by an interval, to a new key, or from one instrument to another, such as concert pitch to B-flat clarinet. ToMIDI rewrites every note, accidental and key signature with the right spelling, shows the original and the transposed score side by side and plays both. Print it, save it as a PDF, or export MusicXML, MIDI and PNG. It runs in your browser, free, with no sign-up and nothing uploaded.
Open a score to transpose
MUSICXML · XML · MXL · MID · MIDIUp to 30 MB, read in your browser
or drop a file anywhere on this cardO open a fileD first demo
Public domain or our own pieces, opened in one click
PDFs and photos of sheet music are not read here. Export MusicXML from MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale or Dorico, or open a MIDI file. Scanning paper scores comes later on the PDF to MIDI and Sheet Music Scanner pages.
Moving a piece up a whole step sounds simple until you do it on paper: every note shifts, the key signature changes, accidentals turn into different accidentals, and a melody that sat nicely on the staff suddenly needs four ledger lines. Transposing music for a clarinet or an alto sax adds a second layer, because those players read different notes from the ones that sound. A music transposer does the counting so you can check the music.
A free music transposer that respects the score you already have, and shows you the result before you print.
Move the music by an interval, pick the key you want and let the tool find the nearest way there, or choose the instrument the part is for: B-flat, E-flat, F, A or an octave instrument.
Notes move by letter and by semitone together, so the transposed music keeps its logic. Prefer sharps or flats when two keys sound the same, and add an octave up or down on top.
In a MusicXML file only the pitches, key signatures, accidentals and chord symbols change. Lyrics, dynamics, articulations, voices and layout stay exactly as they were.
See the original and the transposed score next to each other and play them on sampled instrument sounds, from half speed to one and a half times. Switch between them while it plays and the music carries on from the same beat.
The score is read, transposed, played and exported inside your browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, so unpublished arrangements and exam pieces stay private.
Print the transposed sheet music or save it as a PDF from your browser's print dialog, export a PNG, or download MusicXML for MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale or Dorico and MIDI for your DAW.
How to transpose music online, free, in about a minute, with no transpose music app to install and no account.
Drop a MusicXML file (.musicxml, .xml or compressed .mxl) from MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale, Dorico or Noteflight, or a MIDI file, on the transposer above, or open a demo such as Amazing Grace or Ode to Joy. A PDF or a photo cannot be opened here; see the FAQ for how to get one into MusicXML first.
Pick an interval, a target key, or the instrument the part is for. The new key and the interval name are shown before anything changes.
Prefer sharps or flats, add an octave up or down if the line sits too high or too low, then compare the original and the transposed score side by side and press play.
Print it or save it as a PDF, export a PNG, or download MusicXML and MIDI to keep working in a notation app or a DAW.
Transposing notes is the easy part; getting the key, the spelling and the parts right is what makes transposed sheet music readable.
Shift a song down a minor third for a singer, send a piece from E-flat major to D major with the nearest move, or rewrite a concert pitch part for B-flat trumpet. However you choose, the tool shows the interval by name (a major second up, a perfect fifth down) and the key you land in, so you always know what will happen to the sheet music key before you print.
Choose an IntervalEvery note moves by letter name and by semitones together, the way a musician transposes, so F-sharp up a major second becomes G-sharp and the key signature moves the same distance around the circle of fifths. When two keys sound the same, such as G-flat and F-sharp major, choose the one with fewer accidentals or force sharps or flats. Sheet music key signatures, accidentals and chord symbols all follow.
Respell a KeyChoose the instrument a part is written for and the one it should be written for, and the notes are rewritten so that player reads the right pitch: concert pitch to B-flat for transposing music for trumpet or clarinet, to E-flat for transposing music for alto sax, to F for horn. In a MusicXML file each part also gets the right transposition tag, so notation apps still play it at concert pitch.
Write a PartThe original and the transposed score sit side by side (a switch on phones), so you can check a tricky passage at a glance. Press play to hear the transposed music on sampled instruments, as it sounds or as written, and switch to the original mid-phrase: playback carries on from the same beat. Turn on the range check, pick a voice from soprano to bass or an instrument such as flute or cello, and see how many notes fall outside a comfortable range and which keys fit.
Compare Both ScoresA transposed MusicXML file comes back with everything you put into it: lyrics, dynamics, slurs, articulations, voices and the layout are left alone, and drum and tab parts are not touched. Open it in MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale or Dorico and carry on. Or print the transposed score, save it as a PDF from your browser's print dialog, export a PNG, or download MIDI.
Export the ScoreReal output: the opening of the Minuet in G (Petzold, public domain), transposed with the same spelling rules the music transposer uses and engraved by the same notation engine. Pick an instrument, an interval or an octave and listen.
Minuet in G · right hand, bars 1 to 8
Petzold · public domain · 3/4
Original · G major
Clarinet in B♭ · A major
What you are looking at
The top staff is concert pitch, what the audience hears. The lower staff is what the chosen player reads: a B-flat clarinet reads a major second higher, in A major, an E-flat alto sax a major sixth higher, in E major, and an F horn a perfect fifth higher, in D major. Press play: both staves sound the same, which is the whole point of transposing instruments.
Transposing music means moving every note up or down by the same interval, so the piece keeps its tune and harmony in a new key. Singers do it to fit their range, and bands do it because of transposing instruments: a B-flat trumpet playing a written C sounds a concert B-flat, a whole step lower. So the part on the trumpet stand is written a whole step higher than the piano part. The chart on the right is the transposition chart music teachers pin to the band room wall; the two tables below give a full music transposition chart for every common instrument and key.
A band transposition chart for the instruments people ask about most, from the trumpet to the alto and tenor sax transposition chart: the key each one is in, how its written notes relate to concert pitch, and what it reads when the band plays a concert C. This transposing instruments chart works as a concert pitch transposition chart in both directions.
| Key | Written vs sounding | Plays a concert C from | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trumpet, clarinet, soprano sax | B-flat | Written a major second higher | Written D |
| Tenor sax, bass clarinet | B-flat | Written a major ninth higher | Written D, an octave up |
| Alto sax, E-flat clarinet | E-flat | Alto sax: a major sixth higher. E-flat clarinet: a minor third lower | Alto sax: written A. E-flat clarinet: written A, a minor third below |
| Baritone sax | E-flat | Written an octave and a major sixth higher | Written A, an octave up |
| French horn, English horn | F | Written a perfect fifth higher | Written G |
| Clarinet in A | A | Written a minor third higher | Written E-flat |
| Guitar, bass guitar, double bass | C | Written an octave higher | Written C, an octave up |
| Piccolo | C | Written an octave lower | Written C, an octave down |
| Flute, oboe, bassoon, violin, trombone, piano | C | Not transposing: written as it sounds | Written C |
A concert key transposition chart for band parts: find the concert key in the first column and read across for the key a B-flat, E-flat or F player sees. Use this transposing music chart as a key transposing chart, or let the transposer do it for you.
| B-flat instruments | E-flat instruments | F instruments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concert C major | D major | A major | G major |
| Concert F major | G major | D major | C major |
| Concert B-flat major | C major | G major | F major |
| Concert E-flat major | F major | C major | B-flat major |
| Concert A-flat major | B-flat major | F major | E-flat major |
| Concert D-flat major | E-flat major | B-flat major | A-flat major |
| Concert G major | A major | E major | D major |
| Concert D major | E major | B major | A major |
Three ways to transpose sheet music, from each product's own pages as of November 2026. MuseScore Studio is the free transpose music software to choose when you want to edit the score in depth; ToMIDI is the quick way when you only need it in another key or for another instrument.
| This siteToMIDI | MuseScore Studio | Songscription transpose tool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | In your browser, nothing to install | Desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux | In your browser |
| Price | Free: transpose sheet music with no account | Free and open source | MusicXML upload and transposing free; PDF and photo reading on paid plans |
| Opens | MusicXML (.musicxml, .xml, .mxl) and MIDI | Its own scores, MusicXML, MIDI and more | MusicXML, MIDI, recordings; PDFs and photos on Plus and Pro (page) |
| Transpose by | Interval, target key or instrument, plus an octave | Key, interval or diatonic steps (handbook) | New key or interval |
| Transposing instruments | Yes: B-flat, E-flat, F, A and octave instruments | Yes: set per staff, with a Concert pitch toggle | Reference table of instrument offsets |
| Exports | MusicXML, MIDI, PNG, PDF by print | PDF, MusicXML, MIDI, PNG, SVG, audio | PDF, MusicXML, MIDI |
| Your file | Stays on your device | Stays on your computer | Uploaded to their service |
Anyone with a score in the wrong key or for the wrong instrument, who would rather not spend an evening transposing sheet music by hand.
Move a song down a minor third so the top note sits in your range: the range check shows which keys fit your voice. Print it for the pianist, and hear it first. To change the key of a recording instead, use the song key changer.
Got a concert pitch part or a piano score? Write it for your B-flat trumpet, E-flat alto sax or F horn and read it straight off the page, without transposing in your head.
Hand every section a part in its own key, check a student's transposition, music theory homework and band arrangements in one place, and keep a transposition sheet for the whole band.
Shift a hymn or a lead sheet to the key the group plays in, with the chord symbols moved too, then find the key of anything new with the key finder.
Straight answers, including the files this tool cannot open.
Open the score as a MusicXML or MIDI file in the music transposer at the top of this page, choose an interval, a target key or an instrument, check the spelling and the octave, then print it, save it as a PDF or export MusicXML, MIDI or PNG. Your browser does the work; nothing is uploaded.
Yes. If you were looking for a sheet music transposer free online, this is one: no sign-up, no watermark, files up to 30 MB, and every export is the full score. This free sheet music transposer also works in a phone browser, so you do not need an app that transposes music.
Not here: this tool opens MusicXML and MIDI only, because a PDF is a picture of the notes, not the notes themselves. To scan and transpose sheet music free, first turn the page into a file with PDF to MIDI or the sheet music scanner, check it, then open that file here. If the score came from MuseScore, Sibelius, Finale or Dorico, export MusicXML from the app instead; that keeps everything.
Not one that edits the PDF itself: every tool first has to read the notes, the way a scanner does, and mistakes in that step carry into the transposed score. The reliable route is MusicXML from the program that made the score; if all you have is a PDF, scan it to MusicXML or MIDI, fix any misread notes, then transpose.
To move every note of a piece up or down by the same interval. The melody and harmony stay the same; only the key changes. You transpose to suit a voice, to make a part easier to play, or to write a part for a transposing instrument.
Decide the interval (say a major second up; the interval calculator names any distance), move the key signature by the same interval (C major becomes D major), then move each note by that interval: same number of letter names, same number of semitones. Accidentals move with their notes: a B-flat becomes a C, an F-sharp becomes a G-sharp. A computer program to transpose music does exactly this, which is why it never forgets a sharp.
One whose written notes are not the notes that sound. A B-flat clarinet reading C sounds a B-flat; an E-flat alto sax reading C sounds the E-flat below it; an F horn reading C sounds the F below. Parts for these transposing musical instruments are written that way so a player can use the same fingerings on every size of the instrument family.
No. The bassoon reads at concert pitch, in bass and tenor clef, like the cello and the trombone. So do flute, oboe, violin and piano. The double reed you are most likely to meet that does transpose is the cor anglais, or English horn, in F.
In any transposition chart, alto sax is an E-flat instrument: it reads a major sixth above concert pitch. So concert C is written A, concert B-flat major is written G major, and concert E-flat major is written C major. The alto saxophone transposition chart applies to the baritone sax too, an octave lower. The tenor saxophone transposition chart is different: it is in B-flat, so add a major ninth, and concert C is written D, a ninth up.
Both are B-flat instruments, so the trumpet transposition chart and the transposition chart for clarinet are the same: write everything a major second higher. Concert C becomes D, concert F becomes G, concert B-flat becomes C. The clarinet in A reads a minor third higher instead.
The horn in F reads a perfect fifth above concert pitch, so the F horn transposition chart turns concert C into G, concert F into C and concert B-flat into F. The same horn transposition chart applies to the English horn, which is also in F.
Yes: the two tables on this page are a transposing music chart for instruments and for keys, and you can print this page from your browser. A chart covers the common cases; for any other key, a part in A or a piece that changes key halfway, open the score here and transpose sheet music in one step instead.
It does not need to. Transposing is exact: every note moves by the same interval, so an AI music transposer gains nothing over a rule-based one, and the rules never guess. Where AI does help is reading a PDF or a photo into notes, which is a different step and can make mistakes you should check.
In a MusicXML file, chord symbols move with the music and everything else stays in the download: lyrics, dynamics, articulations, voices and layout. Drum and tab parts are left as written. The on-screen preview is simpler (one voice per staff, no grace notes), but the file you download is your own score, transposed. A MIDI file stores no spelling, lyrics or dynamics, so its notes are spelled from the key and its MusicXML is written from the preview. For more layouts from a MIDI file, use MIDI to sheet music.
Yes, with other tools: to hear a recording in another key, use the song key changer. To get a score from a recording first, use audio to sheet music, then transpose sheet music here.
No. The music transposer opens, transposes, plays and exports the file inside your browser tab. Nothing is sent to a server, and closing the tab clears it.
No MusicXML yet? Make one from a recording, a MIDI file or a printed page, or start with our free audio to MIDI converter.
After you transpose sheet music: find the key, check intervals, hear it or edit the notes.
Open a MusicXML or MIDI file in the free music transposer above and transpose sheet music to any key or instrument in a minute: in your browser, nothing uploaded.