Free tool
Instrument range checker
Type the lowest and highest notes of your melody. See who can play it, and how to move it if they can't.
How to read the table
- Comfortable means an average amateur plays it with a good sound. Aim for this for most of a piece.
- At the edge fits the full range of the instrument but sits at its extremes. Fine for a climax, tiring for a whole song.
- Best shift is the smallest move into the comfortable range. Octave moves come first, because they keep the key. If you also enter the song key, the tool shows the new key.
- Written part is what goes on the player's page. Trumpet and clarinet in B♭, alto and tenor sax, horn in F, guitar, bass and tenor voice all read different notes from the ones that sound.
Click a row to see that instrument's range on the keyboard.
Ranges used
Ranges are concert pitch with middle C as C4. They are practical ranges for school, church and amateur groups, not the extreme notes a professional can reach. The instrument ranges cheat sheet explains how transposing instruments work.
Questions
What does "concert pitch" mean?
It is the note that actually sounds, the one you would find on a piano. Enter the melody the way it sounds and the tool works out the written notes.
How do I find the lowest and highest note of a song?
Play or sing through the melody slowly and note the extremes, usually the end of a verse (low) and the top of the chorus (high). Medley Writer does this automatically from the recording.
The melody fits nobody. What now?
If the range is wider than the instrument's comfortable range, split it: give the verse to one instrument and the chorus to another, or take part of the melody down an octave.
Is it free?
Yes, free and in your browser.
Making a medley? Let Medley Writer write it.
Upload the recordings, pick the parts and the order, and get every instrument's part with the key changes and transitions written in. Free during the beta.
Join the waitlist