A note finder tells you which musical notes are in a sound: the letter name, the octave number and how far the pitch is from the exact note. Hum, sing, whistle or play a phrase one note at a time, and this free note finder writes each note on a treble and bass clef staff and a piano keyboard, in order, with its frequency in Hz, how many cents sharp or flat it is, and your lowest and highest note. You can also open a recording to list every note in it.
Note Finder
Sing, hum, whistle or play a phrase one note at a time and see its notes written on a staff and a keyboard, in order. Or open a recording to list every note in it.
What note is this?
– Hz · – cents
Sing, hum or play one note
Microphone off. Nothing is recorded or uploaded: sound is analysed in your browser.
Notes found, in order
0 notes- Each note you hold for a moment is added here, in order.
Notes in the file
| Time | Note | Hz | Cents | Length |
|---|
Settings
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Related Tools
- Vocal Range Test
Find your lowest and highest notes and the voice type they suggest.
- Singing Note Detector
What note am I singing right now? A live cents needle for your voice.
- Vocal Scale Finder
Sing a phrase and see which scales fit its notes.
- Pitch Accuracy Test
Hear a target note, sing it back and get a score out of 100.
- Voice Frequency Test
Measure the pitch of your speaking voice in Hz.
- High Note Test
Find the highest note you can sing and hold.
How to Use the Note Finder
- Press Start and allow the microphone. For the first moment the tool measures the background noise in your room, so stay quiet.
- Hum, sing, whistle or play one note at a time. The big display shows the note name and octave (for example A4), the frequency in Hz and how many cents sharp or flat you are. The note also appears on the staff and lights up on the piano.
- Hold each note for about a third of a second. It is then added to Notes found, in order, as a name and on a staff, with the lowest note, the highest note and the span between them.
- Press Play the notes to hear the phrase back, Copy notes to paste it anywhere, Remove last to undo a wrong note or Clear to start a new phrase.
- Press Hold (or the H key) to freeze the display on the current note. Press any piano key to hear that note.
For singing or humming, open Settings and choose Voice / humming as the instrument. It limits the search to 60–1,400 Hz, roughly the range of the singing voice, which helps avoid octave mistakes.
How the Note Finder Works
Every note has a frequency. The note finder listens about 30 times a second, measures the fundamental frequency of the sound with a pitch-detection method called the McLeod pitch method, and names the nearest note in standard tuning, where A4 = 440 Hz. The distance to that exact note is shown in cents: 100 cents make one semitone, so a reading is never more than 50 cents from the note it names. Within ±5 cents the display says “in tune”.
| Frequency | Note |
|---|---|
| 110 Hz | A2 |
| 220 Hz | A3 |
| 261.6 Hz | C4 (middle C) |
| 440 Hz | A4 (tuning note) |
| 523.3 Hz | C5 |
| 880 Hz | A5 |
Each octave up doubles the frequency. If your choir or band tunes to a different A, such as 432 or 442 Hz, change A4 reference in Settings. A note joins the list once the reading stays on it for about a third of a second, and one or two stray readings an octave away are ignored, which keeps a hummed phrase clean.
Reading the Result: Note Name, Octave and Staff
| You see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Letter (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) | The note name. Sharps (♯) and flats (♭) are the black keys between the letters. |
| Octave number | Which octave the note is in. C4 is middle C. The number goes up at every C, so B3 sits just below C4. |
| Staff | Notes from middle C up are written on the treble clef, lower notes on the bass clef. Middle C sits on its own short line between them. |
| Hz | The frequency of the note. A4 is 440 Hz. |
| Cents | How far you are from the exact note. Within ±5 cents shows as in tune. |
Looking for an octave finder? The number after the letter is the octave. The span under the note list tells you how many octaves a phrase covers: G2 to G4 is two octaves. See what counts as a good octave range for singers.
Hum a Tune and See Its Notes
Humming is one of the easiest ways to use a note finder, because a steady hum has a clear pitch. Hum or sing the tune slowly, one note at a time. Each note appears in order as a name and on the staff. To repeat the same note, leave a short pause of about a third of a second between the two; without a pause the tool hears one long note.
The lowest and highest note of the phrase show whether a melody fits your voice. Compare them with the notes in your vocal range, check which voice types sing a range like yours, and read about tessitura to see where a tune feels comfortable rather than just possible. Choosing a song? See how to choose songs that fit your voice.
Find the Notes in an Audio File
Open the Audio file tab and choose a recording: MP3, WAV, M4A or OGG, up to 30 MB and 5 minutes. The note finder lists every note it finds with its start time, name, Hz, cents and length, gives the number of notes with the lowest and highest, and puts the first notes on the staff. Press play and the display follows the recording. Download CSV saves the list for a spreadsheet. Which formats open depends on your browser; if one fails, try MP3 or WAV.
It reads one voice or instrument at a time. Chords, harmonies and songs with a backing track have no single note to read, so use a voice memo, a solo melody or an isolated vocal; how to isolate vocals from a song explains how to get one. Very short notes, under about 0.08 seconds, are skipped.
The 12 Musical Notes and Do-Re-Mi Names
Western music uses 12 notes in each octave: C, C♯/D♭, D, D♯/E♭, E, F, F♯/G♭, G, G♯/A♭, A, A♯/B♭ and B. Each black key has two names; choose sharps or flats under Note names. A piano runs from A0 (27.5 Hz) to C8 (about 4,186 Hz); the note finder’s keyboard shows C2 to C7, which covers the singing voice. If you learned music with solfège, choose Do Re Mi. The tool uses fixed do, where Do is always C:
| Letter | C | D | E | F | G | A | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do-Re-Mi | Do | Re | Mi | Fa | Sol | La | Si |
Note Finder for Trumpet, Clarinet, Saxophone and Horn
Transposing instruments read different notes from the ones they sound. Choose your instrument under Settings and the note finder shows the written note from your part, with the concert pitch underneath.
| Instrument | Key | Written note vs sounding note |
|---|---|---|
| Trumpet, clarinet | B♭ | Written a whole step (2 semitones) higher: concert B♭ is written C |
| Tenor saxophone | B♭ | Written a major ninth (14 semitones) higher |
| Alto saxophone | E♭ | Written a major sixth (9 semitones) higher: concert C is written A |
| French horn | F | Written a perfect fifth (7 semitones) higher |
| Voice, piano, guitar, violin, flute | C | No change: the written note is the note you hear |
Note Finder vs Singing Note Detector
Both tools listen to your microphone, but they answer different questions:
| Tool | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Note Finder (this page) | The notes of a phrase written on a staff and piano, in order, with lowest, highest and span; notes in an audio file with CSV; transposing instruments and Do-Re-Mi | Working out the notes of a tune, a hum or a recording |
| Singing Note Detector | The note you are singing right now, with a live cents needle, an optional reference tone and a log of held notes | “What note am I singing?” and holding one note in tune |
| Pitch Accuracy Test | A target note to sing back, scored out of 100 | Practising singing in tune |
| Vocal Scale Finder | The scales that contain the notes of your phrase | Finding the scale or key of a melody |
All of them are in Related Tools above.
What Key Am I Singing In?
A note finder names single notes; a key is the set of notes a melody uses. Hum the tune into the note finder and look at the list: the note a melody keeps returning to, and usually ends on, is often the home note (the tonic). If the tune sounds bright, try that note’s major key; if it sounds sad or dark, try its minor key. For a quicker answer, the Vocal Scale Finder takes the notes of a sung phrase and ranks the scales that fit them.
Tips for Accurate Results
- Use one sound at a time. The note finder reads single notes, not chords or two voices at once.
- Use a quiet room and keep the microphone 20–50 cm from the sound. In a noisy room, set Room to Noisy room.
- Hum on “mm” or sing an open vowel such as “ah”, and keep it steady. Whispering, a breathy tone and vocal fry often give no reading.
- On piano or guitar, let the note ring for a moment: the first attack is noisy.
- If a note shows an octave too high or too low, choose your instrument, or Voice / humming, in Settings.
- Warm up before you hum very high or low notes. A short routine from vocal warm-ups for beginners is enough.
Microphone and Privacy
- The microphone needs your permission and a secure (https) page. If your browser blocks it, the Audio file tab still works.
- Sound from the microphone and any file you open is analysed in your browser. The tool does not record it or upload it.
- The tool saves only its settings (instrument, note names, A4 reference and room) in your browser, so they are ready next time.
- Read the privacy policy for the wider site, and how our vocal range test works.
Note Finder FAQ
What note am I humming?
Press Start and hum one steady note. The big letter and number show the note, for example E3, and the matching piano key lights up. Hold it for about a third of a second and it is added to the list.
How do I find the octave of a note?
Read the number after the letter. C4 is middle C, and the number goes up by one at every C. The staff shows the same thing: treble clef above middle C, bass clef below it.
Can it find all the notes of a song?
Yes, if the song is one voice or instrument playing one note at a time: hum it into the microphone or open a recording in the Audio file tab. It cannot pick notes out of chords or a full mix with backing music.
Why does it show the wrong octave?
Some voices and instruments have overtones that are stronger than the note itself, which can make a reading jump an octave. Choose your instrument, or Voice / humming, in Settings, and hold the note steadily. Short octave jumps of one or two readings are already ignored.
Is the note finder accurate?
In tests with computer-generated, voice-like tones it named the right note every time, within 1 cent. With added noise the cents reading was less exact, up to about 13 cents off, but the note was still right. Real rooms, microphones and voices add more variation, so treat the cents as a guide.
Is my voice recorded or uploaded?
No. The microphone sound and any audio file you open are analysed in your browser and are not recorded or uploaded by the tool.