Learning a Song by Ear – The Challenge
I’m learning a new song for which there is no sheet music available. I can and will
learn the song by ear and write out my own arrangement. That’s what my teacher
wants me to do and what I usually do when I learn a new song. BUT, I like to have sheet music for the original recording in case I get stuck or want to check my work. However, again – there is no published sheet music available for this particular song. Although it was recorded by a well-known band, the song is relatively unknown. Hence no published sheet music.
Software to the Rescue: Introducing Anthemscore
It turns out there is software available that can convert an audio file to sheet music
quickly, relatively easily, with reasonable accuracy, and inexpensively. There are
likely other programs available (I’m no expert), but the software I’m reviewing here is called Anthemscore. With it, you simply upload an audio file to the program and it
automatically transcribes the song and creates sheet music for it. The software will play the song back based on the sheet music it created so that you can compare it with the original recording. I have used it for several songs now and it is relatively accurate and reliable – “relatively” meaning minimal errors. And, in any case, you can edit the sheet music to correct any errors (a learning exercise in its own right).
Anthemscore allows you to add or remove notes, drag notes to new positions, copy and paste notes from one section to another, change tempo, key, time signature, etc. It will also transpose to another key. It captures the harmony between multiple instruments so it can be used for more complex compositions, but not surprisingly it is more accurate with fewer instruments and simpler compositions. I have tried it with solo piano recordings of myself playing and it works best in that situation.
A User-Friendly Interface for Everyone
I’m a techno-dinosaur, but even I found the software easy to use with a comprehensive, intuitive dashboard and cool graphic display. There are straightforward instructions that are well-written and easy to follow. While the song is being transcribed, a spectrogram of the song is displayed in the main window showing a color plot of the energy at different frequencies over time – very cool. The sheet music can be created for treble and bass clefs together, treble only, or bass only. There are more features, but those are the ones I’ve learned so far.
How Anthemscore Works: Downloading and Transcription
You can download Anthemscore for a free 30-day trial at https://www.lunaverus.com/. The trial version has a full set of features, but you cannot save the digital sheet music files you create with the trial version. You can, however, print them. There are three different versions for purchase starting at $20 for the “Lite” version. I bought the “Professional version for $39.99 that has more features. It is a one-time purchase, not a subscription and comes with one year of free software updates. The activation key has no expiration and can be used on four different computers.
The Danger of Distraction: Back to Practice!
I would not likely have discovered this software if I hadn’t been looking for sheet music for a song I wanted to learn. However, this tool can also be useful for beginners like me for getting a head start with their melodic dictation, building composition skills or arranging simple tunes into sheet music. There are probably other uses, but I’m just getting started. I just hope I don’t get too distracted playing with this new toy. I need to get back to practicing piano!!!
