how to write sheet music
writing sheet music comes down to a short list of decisions made in the same order every time: which staff and clef, which key, which time signature, then the notes and their lengths, bar by bar.
- pick the staff and clef
- write the key signature
- set the time signature
- choose note lengths
- place the notes and stems
- add the markings a player needs
- check it by playing it
what do you need to write sheet music?
you need only staff paper and a pencil, or a notation editor on a computer, plus three pieces of theory: how the clef names the lines, how a key signature works, and how note lengths add up to fill a bar. everything else on this page builds on those three, one step at a time.
1. pick the staff and clef
a staff is five lines and four spaces. the clef at the start tells the reader which pitch each line stands for. the treble clef (also called the G clef) curls around the second line from the bottom, which makes that line the G above middle C. use it for violin, flute, trumpet, guitar, the right hand of the piano and most high voices. the bass clef (the F clef) puts its two dots around the fourth line, which makes that line the F below middle C. use it for cello, bass, trombone, tuba and the piano's left hand.
piano music uses a grand staff: a treble staff and a bass staff joined by a brace, with middle C sitting on a short ledger line between them.
2. write the key signature
the key signature comes straight after the clef and lists the sharps or flats that apply all the way through. sharps are always written in the order F, C, G, D, A, E, B, and flats in the reverse order: B, E, A, D, G, C, F. so a key with two sharps (D major or B minor) shows F♯ and C♯, never C♯ alone. if your piece is in C major or A minor, leave the key signature empty.
3. set the time signature
the time signature is two stacked numbers. the top one says how many beats are in each bar, and the bottom one says which note gets one beat: 4 means a quarter note, 8 means an eighth note. 4/4 is four quarter-note beats per bar, and 3/4 is three, which is what a waltz uses. 6/8 has six eighth notes per bar, but it is usually felt as two beats, each one a dotted quarter long.
4. choose note lengths
every bar has to add up to exactly what the time signature says. this table gives each note value in 4/4, where the quarter note is one beat. each rest has the same length as the note it is named after.
| note value | beats in 4/4 | how it looks | fits in one 4/4 bar |
|---|---|---|---|
| whole note | 4 | open oval, no stem | 1 |
| half note | 2 | open oval with a stem | 2 |
| quarter note | 1 | filled oval with a stem | 4 |
| eighth note | 1/2 | filled, stem, one flag or beam | 8 |
| sixteenth note | 1/4 | filled, stem, two flags or beams | 16 |
| dotted half note | 3 | half note with a dot | 1, plus one beat |
| dotted quarter note | 1 1/2 | quarter note with a dot | 2, plus one beat |
a dot adds half of the note's own value, so a dotted quarter is one beat plus half a beat. a tie joins two notes of the same pitch into one longer sound, and it is how you carry a note across a barline.
5. place the notes and stems
- notes below the middle line take a stem going up on the right side of the note head.
- notes on or above the middle line take a stem going down on the left side.
- beam eighth and sixteenth notes together within a beat, so the reader can see where each beat starts. in 4/4 you can also beam four eighths across beats 1 and 2, or 3 and 4, but not across the middle of the bar.
- an accidental (♯, ♭ or ♮) lasts until the end of the bar it appears in, then the key signature takes over again.
6. add the markings a player needs
a tempo marking above the first bar (a word like "andante" or a number such as ♩ = 96), dynamics below the staff (p for soft, f for loud, with hairpins for getting louder or softer), and articulations on the note heads (a dot for staccato, a line for tenuto, an accent mark for a stronger attack). put a double barline at the end, or repeat signs if a section is played twice.
7. check it by playing it
read it back, or play it on an instrument, before anyone else sees it. count each bar against the time signature and check that every accidental is cancelled where you meant it to be. most mistakes in handwritten sheet music show up as a bar with one beat too many or too few.
on paper or on screen
if you are learning, writing by hand teaches you the rules faster. our free staff paper generator makes a printable PDF with as many staves per page as you want, in treble, bass or grand staff.
if you want playback and clean output, a notation editor does the counting and spacing for you. in notei you enter notes from the computer keyboard (for example, press 5, then type c e g), with the mouse, or from a MIDI keyboard, and play the score back with sampled instruments. it runs in the browser with nothing to install, and you can export MusicXML, MIDI or PDF. the PDF carries a watermark on the free tier. see everything the notebook does.
guides in this series
this page is the starting point. each guide below takes one part of writing music further.
- write sheet music online: what to look for in a browser notation editor, and which export format to use.
- how to make a lead sheet: melody, chord symbols and lyrics on one staff.
- how to write a chord progression: Roman numerals, cadences and progressions people already know.
- how to harmonize a melody: choosing chords under a tune, with a worked example.
- how to voice chords: close, open, shell, rootless and drop 2 voicings.
- how to write a walking bass line: roots, chord tones and approach notes.
- sheet music for songwriters: lead sheets, chord charts and changing the key.
- writing for band and choir: transposed parts and SATB ranges.
- transposing instruments: why a trumpet part is written in a different key.
- music notation glossary: every term on these pages in plain words.
- does ChatGPT understand music theory? and can AI write sheet music?: what AI gets right and wrong.
- how to open an MSCZ file online and MSCZ to PDF: working with MuseScore files.
- music notation on a Chromebook: writing music on a computer you can't install software on.
- the best free music notation software and the best online music notation software: ranked lists of the programs, with notei's place disclosed.
free tools: staff paper, the transposer, the circle of fifths and the chord identifier.
common questions about writing sheet music
can I write sheet music without knowing music theory?
yes, if you start small. you need the clefs, the key signature and how note lengths fill a bar, which steps 1 to 4 above cover. a notation editor with playback helps, because you can hear a mistake even when you can't yet see why it is one.
is it better to write sheet music by hand or on a computer?
by hand is better for learning, because you have to count every bar yourself. a notation editor is better for anything other people will read, because it spaces the notes, checks the beats and plays the music back. many people sketch on paper and finish on screen.
what is the easiest time signature to write in?
4/4, four quarter-note beats in every bar. it is the most common time signature in pop, rock and much classical music, and most beginner exercises use it. 3/4, with three beats, is the next to learn.
how do I know if a bar has the right number of beats?
add up the note and rest values in the bar and compare the total with the top number of the time signature. in 4/4 a quarter note is one beat, a half note two and an eighth note half a beat; a dot adds half of the note's own value.
sources
- Open Music Theory: introduction to Western musical notation
- Open Music Theory: notating rhythm (stems, beams and note values)
- Open Music Theory: simple meter and time signatures
- Wikipedia: key signature (the order of sharps and flats)
notei publishes this guide series, and notei is our product. written and checked by the notei team. how these guides are written and corrected.