• Products and Services

    • What services do you offer?

      At Black Note Transcriptions, we offer four main services: Transcriptions, Arrangements, Reductions, and Engraving services. For more information on each of our services, please visit the Our Services page.

    • What products do you offer?

      We have a Sheet Music Vault which is a store full of many of our favorite and most requested transcriptions. You’ll find Piano & Voice transcriptions, lead sheets, string section transcriptions and more! Check it out here.

    • What do I actually get with my notation order?

      You will receive the following: PDF file of all scores and parts (where applicable), MP3 audio file of your project, as exported from Sibelius, XML file, which can be opened on any notation software, and a Sibelius file and MIDI file if requested.

    • Can you help me with Sibelius?

      Absolutely! Visit our blog here, (link to blog page) or our Youtube channel here  for notation software tips and tricks. We put out new articles and videos frequently, so be sure to subscribe to our channel and bookmark our blog for all of our latest tips.

    • How quickly can you finish my project?

      We offer a 96 hour delivery from payment on transcriptions and reductions. Need it sooner? We offer a 24 hour rush delivery option at an additional cost. In case of emergencies, we might be able to provide your service sooner than 24 hours. Arrangement and Engraving delivery times are determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the complexity and length of the request.

    • What services do you offer for teachers?

      We understand the high demands placed on music teachers! There’s always a need for new music, custom arrangements, and replacements for those parts that never make it back to school. We are happy to create custom arrangements for any of your ensembles. As former K-12 music teachers, we can understand the skill level and needs of your students. Whatever your needs are, we can help. We offer a rush 24-hour turnaround time on most jobs, so give us a shout when you’re in a pinch. Contact Us to chat.

    • Do you offer custom services that aren’t listed on your website?

      That depends. If you have an idea and need some help, let us know. If your request fits within the general area of music notation, we can probably help. We’re happy to talk it over with you! Contact Us now to chat

    • What’s the difference between arrangement and reduction?

      Arranging is the art of rewriting a piece of music to fit a new set of standards. Maybe you want to change the key, the style, the instrumentation, the harmony; arrangement covers it all. Reduction is the practice of taking a piece of music and transcribing it accurately, while simplifying the piece for fewer instruments.

    • I just finished my first transcription. Can you proofread it?

      We don’t formally offer this service, but we can proofread or correct your transcription for a custom price. We can either correct any mistakes, or simply mark them so that you know what needs to be fixed.

  • Music Notation Services

    • How do you transcribe?

      Everyone on our team has a different transcribing process! If you’d like to learn some of our favorite tips and suggestions, check out our article “Top 10 Transcription Tips”. Keep in mind that everyone has a different method, so you’ll want to practice until you find what works best for you.

    • How do you know your transcriptions are accurate?

      With many years of experience as musicians and transcriptionists, we are confident in our work. We always proofread our work and have another team member look it over before returning it to you. While we pride ourselves on our accuracy, we understand that mistakes can happen. If you see something on your project that you think is inaccurate, please let us know and we will correct it at no additional cost.

    • How many people are working on your team?

      Currently, we have seven people working on our team, and we keep growing! To read about our awesome musicians, check out our About Us page.

    • Are you hiring?

      We’re always open to add to our team if you are a professional musician and notation specialist! Send Ali an email at ali@blacknotetranscriptions.com with your resumé/CV, an example of your work, and anything else you’d like to share! We’d love to hear from you.

  • The Ordering Process

    • How do I place an order?

      For transcriptions and reductions, you can get an automatic quote from our Quote Request form. With that instant quote, you can order your job immediately. If you have an arrangement or engraving request, or if you’d like to chat before ordering, you can get in touch with us here. We will get back to you within 24 hours to confirm your order and quote you a price. After we send you the quote, you can choose to accept or deny the offer. After you accept the offer and confirm your payment, we will begin working on your project.

    • How long do I need to wait for a confirmation of my order?

      After you send us a special request, we will send you a quoted offer of the project within 24 hours. You can choose to accept or deny the offer. If you accept, you will complete the payment process. As soon as the payment is confirmed, you will receive confirmation of the order. The 96 hour guaranteed turnaround time begins from the moment you receive your order confirmation.

    • I’m not sure which service to choose. Can you help?

      Yes! Contact us here, explain your project, and we will get back to you with what we think will best suit your needs.

    • Can we chat on the phone about my project?

      Absolutely! Contact us here, give us a description of your project, and let us know you’d like to have a phone conversation. We will determine a time for the call together and continue from there. We love discussing our projects over the phone, as we like to get a better idea of who you are and what exactly you need.

    • Do you offer refunds?

      All of our jobs are non-refundable. If you’re unhappy with the work we provide, we will revise it until it suits your needs.

  • Pricing

    • How do you determine pricing?

      We have different base prices for each kind of transcription in our Quote Request Form. Our prices start as low as $15/minute of music! We then let you choose the complexity of the project – Beginner (-20% of the base price), Intermediate (price stays the same), or Advanced (+20% of the base price). We have some other add ons, such as chord changes and a faster delivery time. For custom jobs, we evaluate each job’s specifications and match the price accordingly based on how complex the project is and how many hours our professional team members will spend completing it.

    • Do you offer discounts?

      Yes! We have a special discount deal for our Black Note Premium members. All members receive an automatic 10% off the total price of every project while they are members.

    • What’s the referral discount code?

      Every account holder has a discount code in their profile. If you like using Black Note Transcriptions, share your referral code with a friend! If they create an account and use the code on their first project purchase, they’ll get 10% off instantly! As a thank you, a 10% discount will be applied automatically to your next order.

      Friends can only use your code on their very first order.

    • Can I compound my discounts? For example, if 5 friends use my code, can I get 50% off my next order?

      Our referral discounts cannot be used together. However, if you do end up referring 5 friends, you’ll have 10% off applied to your next 5 orders.

  • Black Note Premium

    • What is Black Note Premium?

      Black Note Premium is our exclusive membership program! You can sign up at any time and subscribe either monthly or annually.

    • How much does membership cost?

      To see membership fees in your currency, please view our membership page here.

    • What are the perks? Black Note Premium members get the following perks:

      • Free instant access to all titles in the Sheet Music Vault
      • 10% off all notation services
      • One free transcription or reduction project per year
      • 48 hour turnaround on all jobs generated through the Quote Request Form (not including custom jobs)
    • How soon can I claim my free transcription or reduction project?

      If you are a monthly subscriber, your annual free project will be available after your first 6 months of subscription. If you are an annual subscriber, your free project will be available right away! Your second project will be available on the anniversary date of your first subscription.

    • How big can my free project be? Can I give you a bundle of transcriptions to do and call it one project?

      Your transcription or reduction project can be any job up to 6 minutes in duration. We wouldn’t consider a batch order to be one project – in these terms, we consider a project to be one song or piece.

    • Do my free projects roll-over annually?

      Nope. Make sure you order your project before each new year begins!

    • How do I check out with my free project? Is there a code?

      There is no code to claim your free project. Once your account earns its free project, it will automatically be applied to your next order.

    • Can I use my free project on a custom job where I have to email you?

      As long as your project is a transcription or reduction, yes! We’re always happy to chat before you order, so we can easily apply your free transcription to a custom project that we plan together.

    • What if I need to cancel my membership?

      We’d be sad to see you go, but you can always manage your account settings in your profile here.

  • Sheet Music Vault

    • How can I buy sheet music?

      Browse our Sheet Music Vault here, and add any titles you like to your cart! You can preview the first page of each transcription before purchasing.  If you’re not ready to purchase, you can add items to your wishlist by clicking the heart by each transcription that you love. Just make sure you’re signed in so your wishlist saves for your next visit! 

    • Do you do discounts for large orders?

      We don’t discount large orders of sheet music, however, we recommend signing up for Black Note Premium if you have a large list of sheet music you’d like to buy. Black Note Premium members have full access to all titles in our vault, plus loads of other perks, so it’s much more affordable for you to go down that route and download as many items as you want!

    • I downloaded some sheet music but I lost it on my computer. Can I download it again or do I need to buy it again?

      If you’re a Black Note Premium member, you can download our sheet music as often as you’d like. If you’re not a Premium member, you’ll see a section in your Profile called “My Sheet Music”. All of your purchased titles will be in this section of your profile for you to re-access (for free, of course) in case you ever lose them.

    • I can’t find what I’m looking for. Can I suggest songs for you to add to your Sheet Music Vault?

      Sure! We’re always curious to know what you’re looking for. Send us an email to ali@blacknotetranscriptions.com and let us know what songs you’d love to see in our vault. We don’t guarantee that we will add them, so if you have an urgent need for a specific song, please check out our Quote Request form to generate an instant quote for your project.

  • Technical Questions

    • Do you offer any educational courses?

      At the moment, we do not offer any courses. However, we expect to be launching some soon.

    • I have an idea for an article. Can you write about it?

      Sure! We would love to hear what you have in mind. Send us an email at ali@blacknotetranscriptions.com

    • Why are you teaching people how to do your job? Won’t you lose business?

      You’re right, we don’t want to lose work! While we’ve put a lot of effort into creating this platform and these services, we believe that in a perfect, musical world, this service wouldn’t be needed. If you want to use us for all of your music notation needs, great! We will always be here for you. However, if you want to learn any of the skills we provide, we highly encourage you to do so. The skills required to transcribe, arrange, reduce, and engrave will strengthen your overall musicianship. How could we ever discourage that? We want to be a part of equal access to quality music education. If you’d like to learn more, visit our blog and our YouTube channel.