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Sheet Music to MusicXML

Turn a page of printed music into an editable score. Optical music recognition reads a scanned PDF or image and writes MusicXML you can open, edit and re-engrave in MuseScore, Sibelius or Dorico, with no re-typing the notes by hand.

Free plan available · Runs in the browser · PDF, PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP up to 50MB

Optical music recognition scanning sheet music and PDF scores into editable MusicXML

Read a printed page into an editable score.

Upload a PDF or image. Optical music recognition identifies the symbols and writes MusicXML that keeps the spelling, voices, bars and lyrics intact.

Upload a score & export MusicXML

Step by step

Upload the score
PDF, PNG, JPG, TIFF or BMP up to 50 MB. Straight, engraved pages read best.
Run the recognition
Staves, symbols, key and time signatures, voices and lyrics are structured as notation.
Export and proof
Open the .musicxml in MuseScore, Sibelius or Dorico and correct any misreads.

Reading a printed page into an editable score

The goal here is different from simply hearing a score played back. You want to change the music (transpose it, fix a wrong note, add a part, re-lay it out) and for that you need the notation as structured data, not just a stream of playback events. MusicXML is that structured form: it stores the actual symbols on the page, so your notation program can rebuild an editable, engravable score.

The recognition engine locates each staff, strips the staff lines, and identifies note-heads, stems, beams, rests, clefs, accidentals, time and key signatures, and lyrics. Crucially, it preserves how each of those should be written (a dotted crotchet stays a dotted crotchet, an F sharp stays an F sharp in the key's spelling) and encodes all of it into a MusicXML document rather than flattening it to timing.

That structural fidelity is the whole point. Because the output already speaks the language of notation, opening it in your app feels like opening a native file: the barlines, voices and lyrics are in place, and you edit from there instead of reconstructing the score from scratch.

Where an editable score wins

Transposing: change the key of a part for a different voice or instrument in a click.
Arranging: add, remove or rework parts on top of an accurately captured original.
Re-engraving: turn a messy or faded page into a clean, modern layout.
Correcting errors: fix mistakes in an old edition and reprint a corrected version.

Honest note on what needs checking: OMR to MusicXML saves the hours of manual note entry, but it is not a hands-off conversion. Accidentals that carry through a bar, multiple voices sharing a staff, tuplets, and lyrics under melismas are the usual sources of misreads. Always compare the recognised score to the source and correct before you rely on it.

Frequently asked questions

Why convert to MusicXML instead of MIDI?

If you want to edit and re-engrave the score, MusicXML is the right target. It carries the written notation (clefs, key and time signatures, note spelling, lyrics and layout) so your notation app reopens an editable score rather than reconstructing one from bare timing data.

How much cleanup should I expect?

That depends entirely on the source. A clean, engraved PDF may need only a few corrections; a faded photocopy or handwritten page will need more. OMR does the tedious bulk of the note entry, and you finish the details in your notation software.

Does it keep lyrics and multiple voices?

MusicXML supports lyrics, multiple voices and multiple staves, and the recognition attempts to capture them. Dense scores with overlapping voices are harder, so verify those passages after import.

What source produces the cleanest MusicXML?

A born-digital PDF or a flat, high-resolution scan of engraved music. Straight pages, strong contrast and no shadows give the engine the clearest symbols and the most accurate result.

Ready to edit that score?

Upload a PDF or image and get editable MusicXML in minutes.

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