Notation
Sheet music notation app that runs in the browser
Most notation software asks to be installed before it shows you anything. This one opens in a browser: place a note and it sounds, add a melody and chords are suggested underneath it. Nothing to download, nothing to update, the same screen on any machine.
This page is part of the guide to reading sheet music.
No install
Runs in the browser on Windows, Mac and Linux alike. Your scores live in your account, not on one particular computer.
MIDI keyboard input
Plug one in and play — the notes land on the staff. Mouse and computer keyboard work too, whichever is nearer.
Chords as suggestions
Put down a melody and candidate chords appear under it. You choose, bar by bar, as often as you like — generation is a draft, not a verdict.
What you can do here
Place notes and rests, set the time signature and key, add lyrics under the staff. Input works three ways: mouse, computer keyboard, or a MIDI keyboard. Whatever you write plays back immediately, at any tempo, and you can loop a passage while you fix it. Scores can be printed.
The usual way through is melody first, chords after. Unlike a progression generator, which hands you a ready-made sequence to fit a tune onto, this works the other direction: the chords are chosen to sit under the notes you actually wrote. That is why the same melody often gets several different and equally valid harmonisations.
Browser app or desktop notation software?
Desktop programs still win where engraving matters: fine control of page layout, house fonts, part extraction, large orchestral scores. If your output is a printed edition that has to look a particular way, that is what those tools are built for, and it is not a close contest.
A browser app wins on the other side of the work: getting an idea into sound quickly and changing it. No installation, no version to maintain, the same file open from any machine you sit at. Writing a piece and engraving a piece are different jobs, and choosing by which job you are doing today makes the decision easy.
How much is free
You can open the editor, place notes and hear them without an account. Keeping a score, coming back to it and carrying several pieces around needs an account — but trying the actual work of writing costs nothing, which is the part worth testing before committing to any tool.
It is fair to say what is missing too. There is no deep engraving control, no orchestral part management, no plugin ecosystem. This is a tool for writing melodies and harmony and hearing them; work outside that shape belongs in a desktop program, and pretending otherwise would waste your afternoon.
From MIDI to notation
Connect a MIDI keyboard and what you play becomes notes on the staff. Durations are fitted to the beat, so small unevenness in the performance is rounded rather than transcribed literally, and you tidy the rest by moving notes afterwards. In practice this is a fast way to capture a draft, not a way to engrave a performance.
Once the notes are down, transposing is one action: move the melody to another key and the chords move with it. Useful when a song sits badly for a voice, and when writing for a transposing instrument that reads in a different key from the one it sounds.
Writing your first piece here
Eight bars is enough to start. Set the time signature and key, put down a melody, play it, fix only what sounds wrong. The speed of that loop is what decides whether a piece progresses — paper does the same job, but every judgement waits until you can hear it.
When the melody stands up, add chords. The suggestions occasionally include a placement you would not have reached on your own; if you dislike one, swap it bar by bar. The tool proposes and you decide, which is the only arrangement in which a generator is useful rather than annoying.
Where to go next
Writing music and reading it are two halves of the same skill: sight reading is the other one. If you are noting down a song rather than a score, the chord chart is the faster format.
Common questions
Do I need to install anything?
No. The editor runs in the browser on Windows, Mac and Linux, and your scores live in your account rather than on one particular computer.
Can I write sheet music online for free?
You can open the editor, place notes and hear them without an account. Saving a score and returning to it needs an account, but trying the actual writing costs nothing.
Can I use a MIDI keyboard?
Yes. Play and the notes land on the staff, with durations fitted to the beat. Mouse and computer keyboard input work as well.
How does this compare to desktop notation software?
Desktop programs are better at engraving: page layout, fonts, part extraction, large scores. A browser app is better at getting an idea into sound quickly and changing it. Different jobs.
Does it add chords automatically?
It suggests chords that fit the notes you wrote, and you choose bar by bar. Unlike a progression generator, it does not hand you a sequence to fit your tune onto.
Open it and write eight bars
The studio opens straight into an empty staff. Put down a melody, hear it, and see whether the loop between writing and listening is fast enough for you.