MusicXML is an

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing data. It defines a set of rules for encoding electronic document, documents in a format that is both human-readable and Machine-r ...

-based

file format A file format is a Computer standard, standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary format, pr ...

for representing Western

musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...

. The format i
open
fully documented, and can be freely used under the

W3C The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations that maintain full-time staff working together in ...

Community Final Specification Agreement.

History

MusicXML was invented by Michael Good and initially developed by Recordare LLC. It derived several key concepts from existing academic formats (such as Walter Hewlett's

ASCII ASCII ( ), an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for representing a particular set of 95 (English language focused) printable character, printable and 33 control character, control c ...

-based MuseData and David Huron's Humdrum). It is designed for the interchange of scores, particularly between different

scorewriter A scorewriter, or music notation program is software for creating, editing and printing sheet music. A scorewriter is to music notation what a word processor is to text, in that they typically provide flexible editing and automatic layout, and p ...

s. MusicXML development was managed by MakeMusic following the company's acquisition of Recordare in 2011. MusicXML development was transferred to the

Music Notation Community Group in July 2015. Version 1.0 was released in January 2004. Version 1.1 was released in May 2005 with improved formatting support. Version 2.0 was released in June 2007 and included a standard compressed format. All of these versions were defined by a series of document type definitions (DTDs). An

XML Schema Definition XSD (XML Schema Definition), a recommendation of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), specifies how to formally describe the elements in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document. It can be used by programmers to verify each piece of item cont ...

(XSD) implementation of Version 2.0 was released in September 2008. Version 3.0 was released in August 2011 with improved virtual instrument support, in both DTD and XSD versions. Version 3.1 was released in December 2017 with improved support for the Standard Music Font Layout ( SMuFL). Version 4.0 was released in June 2021 and resolved multiple issues. The MusicXML DTDs and XSDs are each freely redistributable under the W3C Community Final Specification Agreement.

Support

, over 270 notation programs have at least some MusicXML interchange capability. These programs include: * Most scorewriting programs, including Finale, Dorico, Sibelius, and

MuseScore MuseScore Studio (branded as MuseScore before 2024) is a Free and open-source software, free and open-source music notation program for Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, and Linux under the Muse Group, which owns the associated online score-s ...

* Most optical music recognition programs, including SmartScore, PhotoScore and Audiveris * Most

music sequencer A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling Musical note, note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open ...

programs, including

Cubase Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-do ...

, Logic Pro, Digital Performer, and

SONAR Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

Additionally, web support is possible through the use of the

HTML5 HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5) is a markup language used for structuring and presenting hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. It was the fifth and final major HTML version that is now a retired World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommend ...

canvas element The HTML canvas element allows for dynamic, scriptable rendering of 2D shapes and bitmap images. Introduced in HTML5, it is a low level, procedural model that updates a bitmap. The element also helps in making 2D games. While the element ...

and

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior. Web browsers have ...

resulting in the rendering of legible music within a

web browser A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...

. Features include key and

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

clef A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff. Placing a clef on a staff assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines or four spaces, whic ...

s, beaming information,

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

directions, slurs,

ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Ornamental turning *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals tha ...

, barlines, and written repeats, though the support differs between programs.

Example

Like all XML-based formats, MusicXML is intended to be easy for automated tools to

parse Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is a process of analyzing a string of symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar by breaking it into parts. The term ''pa ...

and manipulate. Though it is possible to create MusicXML by hand, interactive score writing programs like Finale and

greatly simplify the reading, writing, and modifying of MusicXML files. MusicXML C Whole Note

The following example is a score consisting of a single

whole note A whole note (American) or semibreve (British) in musical notation is a single note equivalent to or lasting as long as two half notes or four quarter notes. Description The whole note or semibreve has a note head in the shape of a hollow ov ...

middle C C or Do is the first note of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequency has d ...

in the key of

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

on the

treble clef A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff. Placing a clef on a staff assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines or four spaces, whi ...

Music

1 0 4

G 2 C 4 4 whole

The textual representation listed above is verbose; MusicXML v2.0 addresses this by adding a compressed zip format with a suffix that can make files roughly one-twentieth the size of the uncompressed version.

References

External links

*
MusicXML 4.0 Final Community Group ReportW3C Music Notation Community GroupMusicXML viewer
a
SoundsliceIEEE 1599
at IEEE.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Musicxml XML-based standards Industry-specific XML-based standards Music notation file formats Musical markup languages Computer-related introductions in 2004 World Wide Web Consortium standards

History

Support

Example

See also

References

External links