What note is this? Sing, hum or play into your microphone, or upload a recording, and this free note detector names every note: its letter and octave, where it sits on the staff and on the piano, and the notes in the order you played them. It works for voices and instruments, and nothing is uploaded: files are analysed in your browser.
Note Detector
Sing, hum or play, or upload a recording, to identify each musical note: its name, where it sits on the staff and on the piano, and the notes in the order you played them.
Press Start and allow microphone access, or choose Audio file. Everything is analysed in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Notes in order
0 notesEach note you hold for a moment appears here, in the order you sing or play it.
Settings: note names, mode, A4, sensitivity, microphone, reference tone
How to Find Out What Note Something Is
- Choose an input: Microphone (live) for singing or playing, or Audio file for a recording (MP3, WAV, M4A or OGG, up to 25 MB; the first two minutes are analysed).
- Press Start identifying notes, or choose the file.
- Read the note name (for example C4, middle C), its solfège name, its frequency and cents, and see it on the treble or bass staff and on the keyboard.
- Hold or repeat notes: each note held for a moment is added to Notes in order, so you can read a short melody back.
- Use Play the current note to hear it, or Copy notes to paste the sequence into a message or notes app.
What the Note Detector Shows
- Note name and octave: C4 is middle C; A4 is the 440 Hz tuning note.
- Solfège: Do, Re, Mi… for singers who learned with fixed-do names.
- Staff: the note on a treble clef, or a bass clef for low notes, so you can write it down.
- Piano keyboard: the key lights up, from C2 to C7.
- Frequency and cents: how far the sound is from the exact note.
- Notes in order: the melody you sang or played, one note after another.
Find the Notes of a Song or Melody
To work out a tune by ear, sing or play it slowly, one note at a time, holding each note for about half a second. The detector lists the notes in order; repeat any part that looks wrong. With an audio file, a clear solo voice or single instrument works best: full band mixes and chords contain several notes at once, and the detector follows only the strongest one. Once you have the notes, the music interval calculator names the jumps between them, and the semitone calculator counts the steps for transposing.
What People Use It For
- Learning a song by ear: hum the melody slowly and read the notes back in order.
- Writing down a tune you made up: sing it into the detector before you forget it, then copy the notes.
- Checking a starting note: find the first note of a song before you sing it with an instrument.
- Identifying a sound: a ringtone, a doorbell, a bird call or a hum in the room; the detector names the strongest pitch.
- Checking instrument strings: pluck an open string to see if it is E, A, D, G, B or E.
Reading the Note on the Staff
The staff view shows the note the way it would be written in sheet music. Notes from middle C upwards are drawn on the treble clef, the one used for most melodies and for higher voices. Lower notes are drawn on the bass clef, used for bass and baritone voices, cello and the left hand of the piano. Middle C sits on a short extra line (a ledger line) between the two clefs. Sharps and flats are shown as ♯ and ♭ signs in front of the note. If you are learning to read music, singing a note and watching where it lands is a quick way to connect the sound with the written note.
Why the Octave Sometimes Looks Wrong
Every musical sound contains overtones: quieter tones at two, three and four times the main frequency. On low notes, especially through a small phone or laptop microphone, the first overtone can be louder than the note itself, and any detector may then name the right letter in the wrong octave (for example A3 instead of A2). Men’s voices can also sound an octave lower than women’s singing the same melody, which is correct: that is how people naturally sing together. If a low note looks an octave too high, sing a little louder, move closer to the microphone or check the note on a keyboard.
Sharps, Flats and Tuning
Open Settings to show note names as sharps (C♯, F♯) or flats (D♭, G♭). They are the same keys on a piano; choose whichever your music uses. If your instrument or recording is tuned to A4 = 432 or 442 Hz, change the A4 calibration so the notes are named correctly. Detection mode sets the search range: Voice (60–1,400 Hz) or Instrument (40–4,000 Hz).
Is That a High or Low Note?
| Note | Frequency | Who usually sings it |
|---|---|---|
| E2 | 82 Hz | Bottom of a typical bass range |
| C3 | 131 Hz | Low end of a tenor |
| C4 (middle C) | 262 Hz | Most voices; top of a bass |
| A4 | 440 Hz | Top of a typical baritone; comfortable for sopranos |
| C5 | 523 Hz | Top of a typical tenor (tenor high C) |
| C6 | 1,047 Hz | Soprano high C |
The ranges behind this table are in typical vocal ranges. See every voice type side by side on the vocal range chart, or count how many octaves separate two notes with octave ranges.
Tips for Reliable Note Detection
- One note at a time: a single voice or a single instrument line.
- Hold each note steadily; fast runs and slides may be skipped.
- A quiet room and a medium volume give the cleanest reading; lower the sensitivity if the room is noisy.
- For very low notes, check the octave on a keyboard: overtones can make a low note read an octave high.
Note Detector vs Pitch Detector
Both use the same accurate pitch engine. The note detector is built to answer “what note is this?”: it works with recordings, shows the staff and keyboard and lists the melody in order. The pitch detector is built for live tuning: a needle, cents, pitch history and target-note practice. If you have a number in Hz rather than a sound, the frequency to note converter gives the answer directly. To find your whole singing range and voice type, use the vocal range calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out what note I’m singing?
Start the note detector and sing one steady “ah”. The note name and octave appear within a second.
Can it identify notes from a song file?
Yes, from a recording with one clear melody line. It can’t separate the notes of a chord or a full band mix.
Does it work for piano, guitar and other instruments?
Yes. Choose Instrument mode for a wider range of notes.
Is my recording uploaded?
No. Files and microphone sound are analysed in your browser and never leave your device.