Blank Sheet Music: Printable Manuscript Paper
Classfern’s free manuscript paper maker prints blank sheet music in your browser: treble, bass or grand staves, guitar tab or percussion, on A4 or US Letter, with 6 to 14 staves per page in four sizes. Press Print, or save it as a PDF. A simple note writer below lets you write a tune on the stave and hear it.
Updated · By the Classfern Music Department
Works in the UK and the US. This version uses UK music words (bar, semitone, crotchet, stave); the US version uses measure, half step, quarter note and staff. · US version of this page
Key facts
- Manuscript paper (also called blank sheet music or music paper) is paper printed with empty staves for writing music.
- A stave has 5 lines and 4 spaces; guitar tab has 6 lines, one per string.
- Piano music uses the grand stave: treble and bass clef joined by a brace.
- Classfern’s maker prints A4 or US Letter with 6 to 14 staves per page, in four sizes.
- Sizes are the height of one stave from bottom line to top line: 6, 7.5, 9 or 12 mm.
- Free, no sign-up; print it or save it as a PDF from the print window.
Printable manuscript paper maker
Choose the paper, the kind of stave and how many per page. The preview changes as you go; press Print and choose your printer, or “Save as PDF” to keep a file.
The page is drawn in your browser and printed from it. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
How do I print blank sheet music?
To print blank sheet music, choose the paper size, the kind of stave and how many staves you want in the maker above, then press “Print or save as PDF”. In the print window pick your printer, or choose “Save as PDF” to keep a file you can print again later.
For the neatest result, set the print scale to 100% (or “Actual size”) and turn off headers and footers in the print window. If your printer cuts off the edges, choose the Small size or fewer staves per page. Children starting to write music find the extra-large stave with 6 per page easiest.
What kinds of manuscript paper are there?
The main kinds of manuscript paper are single staves with a treble or bass clef (for melodies and single instruments), grand staves for piano, blank five-line staves with no clef, six-line guitar tab, and percussion staves with a neutral clef. You can also add bar lines to help young writers.
| Kind | Best for |
|---|---|
| Treble clef | Melodies, songs, recorder, flute, violin, right-hand piano |
| Bass clef | Left-hand piano, cello, bassoon, trombone, bass guitar |
| Grand stave | Piano and keyboard music, both hands |
| Five lines, no clef | Theory exercises and writing your own clefs |
| Guitar tab | Guitar music written as string and fret numbers |
| Percussion | Drum kit and untuned percussion rhythms |
| With bar lines | Young children and dictation, so each bar has its own box |
Simple note writer
Write a short tune on the stave: choose a note length, then press note names. Each note sounds as you add it, and Play plays the tune at 90 beats a minute. It is drawn with the same stave as Classfern’s reading course.
No notes yet. Choose a length, then press a note.
Self-assessed Play it back: does it sound like the tune in your head? Count the beats shown under the stave: 4 crotchet beats fill one bar of 4/4.
Sounds are made in your browser. This tool never uses the microphone, and nothing is recorded, saved or sent.
How do you write notes on a stave?
To write notes on a stave, draw the clef first, then the time signature, then each note as an oval head on a line or in a space: higher notes sit higher on the stave. Add a stem for notes shorter than a semibreve, and draw a bar line each time the beats add up to the time signature.
- Clef. Treble clef for high notes, bass clef for low notes.
- Time signature. 4/4 means four crotchet beats in each bar.
- Note heads. On the treble stave, the lines are E G B D F and the spaces F A C E (see our piano notes chart).
- Stems. Notes below the middle line have stems going up on the right; notes on or above it, stems going down on the left.
- Bar lines. Count the beats and draw a line across the stave when they add up.
| Note | Beats | Looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Semibreve | 4 | Open oval, no stem |
| Minim | 2 | Open oval with a stem |
| Crotchet | 1 | Filled oval with a stem |
| Quaver | ½ | Filled oval, stem and one flag (or a beam) |
Is there a free alternative to music notation software?
Yes. For writing notes by hand, printable manuscript paper is free and quick. For writing on screen, free options include MuseScore (free, open-source desktop software), the free basic plan of Noteflight (in the browser) and Classfern’s simple note writer above. GarageBand is mainly a recording app, with a basic score view for software instruments on a Mac.
| Tool | Runs on | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Printable manuscript paper (this page) | Paper | Sketching ideas, theory homework, dictation |
| Classfern note writer (this page) | Any web browser | A few bars of melody, with sound, for beginners |
| MuseScore | Windows, Mac, Linux (download) | Full scores with many parts, printing and playback |
| Noteflight (free basic plan) | Web browser (account needed) | Writing scores online and sharing them |
| GarageBand | Mac, iPhone, iPad | Recording and loops more than notation |
Classfern is not connected with or endorsed by MuseScore, Noteflight, Apple or GarageBand; product names are used only to compare. For a guided path into composing, use write your own music, or make a tune first in the song maker.
What size manuscript paper is best for children?
Young children (about ages 5 to 7) write most easily on large staves, about 12 mm from bottom line to top line, with 6 per page and bar lines drawn in. From about age 8, a 9 mm stave with 8 to 10 per page works well; older pupils and adults usually use 7.5 mm or smaller.
Classfern’s free manuscript paper maker and note writer are part of the Classfern Music Department at lessonplanner.info. Teachers can print a class set in a minute, with the same layout every time.
Quiz: the stave and note lengths
Marked by Classfern 4 multiple-choice questions on the Classfern lesson engine. Your answers stay on this device.
More music tools
Spotted a copyright problem with any music here? Report a copyright problem and we will check it quickly.