For piano teachers

Sheet music to MIDI: turn a piano page into a file your software can play

You have the notes on paper or in a PDF, and you need them as MIDI: to drop into a DAW, drive a digital piano, build a backing track or hear the piece at a slower tempo. Typing every note into a piano roll takes an evening. Reading the page does most of that work for you, as long as you check the result before you build on it.

PlayableNotes reads a photo, screenshot or PDF of piano music into a real score. You listen to it, fix anything that's wrong, and download MIDI with the right and left hands on separate tracks, each on its own channel. The whole thing usually takes a few minutes.

Convert your first page →

50 free reading credits for new accounts. No card needed, no subscription.

What you get

• A MIDI file of the whole piece, not just the first few bars. Downloading MIDI is free, as often as you like.
• The hands on separate tracks. The right hand and the left hand come out as separate tracks, each on its own channel, so you can give them different sounds, levels or effects in your production software. See the worked MIDI handoff, where the right hand was turned down to half level in LMMS and the left hand was left alone.
• A score you've already heard. Before you export, you hear the reading on a sampled piano while the notes light up, and you click any wrong note to fix it.
• The other formats too. The same checked score also downloads as MusicXML, for notation software, and as a printable PDF in Letter or A4. If notation is what you're really after, see converting a piano PDF to an editable score.

For the reading step itself, see how sheet music OCR works. From a photo, see image to MusicXML.

How to convert sheet music to MIDI

1. Upload the page

Take a photo (one page per photo), grab a screenshot or upload a PDF. You see the pages, in order, before anything is read, along with the number of credits the reading will use. Reading usually takes a minute or two.

For a clean reading: photograph each page flat, sharp and evenly lit, with the whole page in the picture. A crisp PDF from a publisher or a public-domain site is usually the easiest input.

2. Listen and check

Press play. The notes light up as they sound, so you can follow along against your original. Music recognition can make mistakes, so this step matters more than it looks: a MIDI file plays whatever is in it, wrong notes included, and errors are much harder to spot in a piano roll than on a page.

Listen for:

• Wrong pitches, especially accidentals and notes high above or low below the staff.
• Rhythm drift, where a bar sounds a beat too long or short.
• Repeats and endings, so the form plays the way the page intends.
• Notes shared between the hands, which can land in the wrong track.

If a bar is wrong, click the note to correct it, ask the AI to fix the passage, or retake the photo. A reading that fails costs nothing.

3. Download MIDI

When it sounds right, download MIDI. Open it in your DAW or notation app, assign sounds and check the tempo.

From photo to checked MIDI usually takes a few minutes, plus however long you spend listening.

What MIDI keeps, and what it doesn't

MIDI is a performance format. It records which notes play, when and for how long. It isn't a printed score, so some things on the page don't survive the trip:

In our worked MIDI handoff, the fingerings and the French tempo word "pas vite" weren't represented in the MIDI. That's normal for MIDI, not a fault of the reading. If you need a printable, editable score, download MusicXML as well. It's free.

Who converts piano sheet music to MIDI, and why

Producers and arrangers. You got a piano part as a PDF and need it in a session. Separate hand tracks let you voice the melody and the accompaniment differently. The worked example follows a Schumann piece from PDF to an editable LMMS session, with the downloadable files.

Piano teachers. A MIDI file gives a student a practice track to play along with, or something to load into a digital piano. For most teaching, though, a free practice link is simpler. Your student opens it in a browser without an account, plays it, and can slow it down and loop bars. The Bach Invention example shows one set up for hands-separate practice.

Accompanists and singers. Turn the piano part into a rehearsal track, then slow it down in your player. If the key is wrong for the singer, transpose the piece in PlayableNotes before you export. Transposing is free.

Anyone who just wants to hear a page. You don't need MIDI to listen. PlayableNotes plays the score in the browser. See scanning piano sheet music and hearing it play.

Make a different version before you export

Because the page becomes a real score first, you can change it before you download the MIDI. Type the request in plain English:

• "Put it in a key with no sharps or flats."
• "Make the left hand easier, but keep the right hand exactly as it is."
• "Take out the octaves."

Each change usually takes about a minute and is saved as its own version, with the original always one click away. Every version downloads as MIDI separately. In the Minuet worked example, the original, a simpler left-hand version and a version in C each have their own MIDI file.

What it costs

Reading a new page is the only thing that uses credits: 1 credit per line of music (the treble and bass staves together, from the left edge to the right). A typical piano page has 5 to 7 lines.

You see the credit count before reading starts, and you're never charged more than that. MIDI, MusicXML and PDF downloads, playback, editing, transposing, practice links and up to 100 AI changes a day are free. Importing MusicXML you already have is free too. Credits never expire, and unused credits from a purchase can be refunded within 30 days. Credits are sold to US billing addresses only, for now. See full pricing →

Need a classic piece? The library of 321 public-domain piano pieces is free to open, play and arrange. No reading credits needed.

Turn your page into MIDI →

Upload a page. Your first 50 lines are free.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert sheet music to MIDI?

Upload a photo, screenshot or PDF of the piano music to PlayableNotes. It reads the page into a score in a minute or two. Listen, fix any wrong notes, then download MIDI. The download is free.

Can I convert a PDF of sheet music to MIDI?

Yes. Upload the PDF, check the pages and their order, and PlayableNotes reads them. You see the credit count before reading starts.

Can I convert a photo of sheet music to MIDI?

Yes. Upload one page per photo. For the best result, photograph each page flat, sharp and evenly lit, with the whole page in the picture.

Is the MIDI split into right and left hand?

Yes. The MIDI has the right hand and the left hand on separate tracks, each on its own channel.

Is it free?

New accounts get 50 free reading credits, enough for roughly 7 to 10 typical piano pages. Reading uses 1 credit per line of music. Downloading MIDI, MusicXML and PDF is free. More credits come in one-time packs from $10 for 100, with no subscription.

How long does it take?

Usually a few minutes: reading takes a minute or two, and any change you ask for takes about a minute. Leave time to listen before you export.

Will every note be right?

Don't assume so. Music recognition can make mistakes. Listen through and compare with your original before you build on the MIDI. Click a wrong note to fix it, ask the AI to fix a passage, or retake the photo.

Does it work for guitar, choir or orchestra scores?

No. PlayableNotes reads piano music only: a treble and a bass staff played together.

Can I use any sheet music?

Upload only music you own or have permission to copy and adapt. PlayableNotes is a tool for music teachers, and its terms ask you to use the results to prepare material for your teaching. Your uploads stay private to your account. Read the terms.