How to Convert YouTube to MP3 to Sheet Music Directly
Posted by sevagh on 9 March 2025
Category: announcements
An in-depth guide to extracting audio from YouTube and turning it into printable, editable sheet music — all from your browser!
Table of contents
- Introduction
- Getting audio or music files from YouTube
- Using audio and music files in this website
- Tips and Caveats
- Conclusion
Introduction
This blog post dives into a hotly requested feature: how to take a YouTube video, convert it to MP3 (or another audio format), and automatically generate sheet music from it.
If you’ve ever searched for “convert mp3 to sheet music” or “YouTube to sheet music,” you’re not alone. These are popular — and sometimes controversial — topics, because automated transcription has become easier than ever. Our platform aims to simplify this workflow by giving you direct MIDI and MusicXML outputs from your audio files.
However, before we dive in, it’s essential to understand both the technical steps and the ethical implications of converting YouTube content into printable sheet music.
This tutorial is provided for educational purposes only. Converting copyrighted content without permission is illegal and unethical. We discourage the misuse of these tools to infringe upon anyone’s intellectual property rights.
Getting audio or music files from YouTube
Below are two common approaches for extracting the audio from YouTube.
Low effort: scammy websites 🚫
If you prefer a more straightforward, no-installation approach, you can explore various browser-based converters. Simply search for “YouTube to MP3” on your preferred search engine, and you’ll find multiple services that can do the conversion. While convenient:
- Be cautious about ads, pop-ups, and malware that may appear on some third-party sites.
- Check the legality of using these websites to ensure you’re not violating any copyright terms or local laws.
You’ll notice these websites have a lot of pop-ups and ads, which can be annoying and potentially harmful. They also may not offer the best audio quality or file formats. However, they are a quick and easy way to get the job done if you’re in a hurry.
Medium effort: yt-dlp ✅
For users comfortable with the command-line, yt-dlp is a powerful and frequently updated tool. It offers more customization options and can handle complex tasks, such as downloading entire playlists or extracting higher-quality audio formats.
Yt-dlp is an alternative of youtube-dl, which is no longer maintained. It offers the same functionality and more, making it a popular choice for downloading YouTube content.
Image courtesy of Spacebar.news
Installing yt-dlp is straightforward if you know how to install Python libraries. You can use pip (Python’s package manager) to install it:
$ pip install yt-dlp
Alternatively, visit the yt-dlp GitHub page for platform-specific instructions. There are also a bunch of thirdparty guides and resources on how to install and use yt-dlp, which may be useful if you’re on Windows, macOS, or Linux:
Once yt-dlp is installed, open your terminal and run:
$ yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 <YouTube-Video-URL>
This command downloads the video from the given URL and automatically extracts the audio as an MP3 file. Replace
Note that you can use any audio file format like WAV, FLAC, or AAC by changing the --audio-format flag. Our website supports most known audio codecs and file formats.
Using audio and music files in this website
After you have an MP3 file (from either yt-dlp or a browser-based tool), you are ready to upload it to our platform for stem separation, MIDI conversion, and automatic transcription.
Visit our demixer app to get started. You can upload your MP3 file directly from your computer or cloud storage, or paste a link to a YouTube video to extract the audio. The selection wizard should guide you.
If you need more help, we have written a variety of blog posts and tutorials on how to use our platform. Follow any one of them:
- Beginner’s guide to stem separation on our website
- MIDI music transcription feature
- Sheet music feature
Tips and Caveats
- Quality Matters: Videos with poor audio quality or complex arrangements can lead to less accurate transcriptions.
- Single Instrument is Best: For clean results, use recordings of a single instrument or solo voice. Full-band or orchestral pieces can be more challenging for automated tools. This is why we recommend stem separation first.
- Expect Edits: Automatic transcription isn’t perfect. You may see rhythm inaccuracies, missing ornaments, or chord notations that need refinement in a dedicated score editor.
Conclusion
Converting YouTube videos to MP3 and then generating sheet music is surprisingly straightforward with the right tools. Whether you use yt-dlp or a browser-based service, our automatic music transcription feature can transform your audio into workable scores in just a few clicks.
While this process showcases the power of modern audio-to-score technologies, please be mindful of copyright laws and respect the original creators’ rights. Use these methods for your personal learning, practice, or educational pursuits, and refrain from infringing on any intellectual property.
Happy transcribing, and enjoy exploring new musical possibilities!
Go to the demixer app on our home page to get stems, MIDI, and sheet music from your audio!
