What Note Is This? How to Identify Any Note You Hear or Sing

To find out what note you are hearing, play the sound next to a piano or keyboard and move up or down the keys until one matches. You can also sing or hum into the free Audio to MIDI converter, which runs in your browser and shows the notes you sang on an 88-key piano. This guide covers both methods, plus how to name notes in a full song.

What is a note?

A note is a sound with a steady pitch. Pitch is how high or low it sounds, and it comes from how fast the sound wave vibrates. Western music uses 12 different notes, which repeat in higher and lower versions called octaves.

The note names are A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Between most of them sits another note, named with a sharp (written #) or a flat (written b). So the full set is A, A-sharp, B, C, C-sharp, D, D-sharp, E, F, F-sharp, G and G-sharp. A-sharp and B-flat are the same note with two names.

Method 1: Match it on a piano

This is the oldest and most reliable way, and it trains your ear.

1. Find a piano or a keyboard app. A free one on your phone is enough.
2. Play the sound again (or sing it) and press keys one by one.
3. Listen for the match. When the key and the sound blend into one, you have the note. If the two sound like they are rubbing against each other, you are close but not there yet.
4. Check the octave. Notes repeat in higher and lower versions, so you may match the name but sit in the wrong octave. Try the same letter higher and lower.
5. Read the name. Most keyboard apps show the note name when you press a key.

Matching a voice or a sound that glides, such as a siren, is harder than matching a held piano note. Slide through the keys until you find the closest one.

Method 2: Use a tuner

A tuner listens through your microphone and shows the closest note, plus whether you are a little flat (too low) or sharp (too high). It works well for guitars, violins, and held notes like a singer's long tone.

A tuner needs a steady sound. Short, fast notes or a lot of background noise make it jump around.

Method 3: Hum it into a converter

If you have a melody stuck in your head, or a short phrase you sang, you can let the computer write down every note. Here is how to do it with the converter:

1. Open the Audio to MIDI converter. There is nothing to install and no sign-in. The recording stays in your browser.
2. Press Record and sing, hum or play your sound into the microphone. Or drop in an MP3, WAV, M4A or FLAC file instead.
3. Choose Vocals / humming. The tool then follows your pitch one note at a time.
4. Press Convert to MIDI. The notes land on an 88-key piano as the recording plays, so you can see which key each note belongs to.
5. Switch between Audio and MIDI to hear your original next to the converted notes. If a note sounds wrong, change the settings and the result updates immediately.

Hum clearly, with a steady pitch and a short silence between notes. If you see tiny stray notes, raise the Shortest note setting. Sliding between notes, as most singers do, is turned off by default. Turn on Keep pitch bends if you want those slides kept.

The tool also detects the tempo, so the downloaded .mid file lines up with your project in a music program. Pick Piano / keys when your source is a keyboard, because that setting keeps chords instead of reading one note at a time.

How to find the notes in a song

Naming a single note is one job. Naming the notes of a whole song is harder, because many instruments play at the same time and their sounds overlap.

The cleanest way is to pull out the one part you care about first.

• For a melody someone sings, use the Acapella Extractor. It gives you a vocal file without the band. Convert that file with Vocals / humming selected.
• For a bass line, the Bass Remover gives you a Bass only file. Convert it with the Bass type.
• For piano or keys, the Piano Extractor gives you a piano-only file.
• For a song you already have as a file, the MP3 to MIDI converter works directly on it, though a full mix will produce more extra notes than one instrument.

Most splitter tools cost 1 credit per minute of song, shown on the button before you run it. New accounts get 5 free credits through Google sign-in. In our own test, a 4 minute 44 second song split into 6 stems in 56 seconds and used 5 credits.

Reading note names

Some people see a note on sheet music and ask what note it is. These basics help.

• The staff. Five lines with four spaces. Higher on the staff means a higher note.
• The clef. The treble clef is for higher notes, and the bass clef is for lower notes.
• The octave number. Scientific pitch notation adds a number to the letter. Middle C is C4. The A above it is A4.
• Sharps and flats. A sharp raises the note by one half step. A flat lowers it by one half step.

Notes and frequencies

Every note has a frequency, measured in hertz (Hz), which is the number of vibrations per second. The standard tuning reference is A4, which is 440 Hz. Middle C is about 261.63 Hz, E4 is about 329.63 Hz, and G4 is about 392 Hz.

Doubling the frequency gives the same note one octave higher. So A5 is 880 Hz, and A3 is 220 Hz.

Why a note can sound wrong or off

Sometimes a sound does not match any key perfectly. A few reasons:

• The instrument is out of tune. It sits between two notes, which is common on a guitar that needs tuning.
• Vibrato or a slide. The pitch moves while the note plays, so no single key fits.
• Several notes at once. A chord is a stack of notes. Try finding the lowest one first.
• Noise or reverb. A room echo blurs the pitch. The Reverb Remover can reduce echo on a recording before you analyze it.

FAQ

What note is this sound?

Play the sound next to a piano and press keys until one matches, or hum it into the Audio to MIDI converter and look at where the notes land on the piano display. A tuner app also works for steady notes.

How can I find the notes of a song?

Isolate one instrument or the vocals first, then convert that file to MIDI. A full mix produces many extra notes. The converter is free, runs in your browser and does not upload your file.

Can I find out what note I am singing?

Yes. Press Record in the converter, sing a note and choose Vocals / humming. You can then see the note on the 88-key piano. Hold the note steady for a second or so for the clearest result.

How long can a recording be?

Up to 10 minutes, for MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG and AAC files, and also for a recording made in the page.

What does it cost?

The converter is free and needs no sign-in. The splitter tools that isolate vocals, bass or piano start at 1 credit per minute of song, and new accounts get 5 free credits.