Fretnook is a guitarist's practice rack that lives in your browser — real-time scale & key detection, a precision tuner in every common tuning, and a complete pro recording suite with a 24-track recorder, mixer and mastering, an AI backing band that listens to your take and plays drums, bass, keys and horns to match, looper, vocal tools, song practice, and a music video maker. Completely free, installable offline, and it fits in a tab.
Every module below runs on the Web Audio API in real time — no plugins, no DAW install, works offline once loaded.
Listens through your mic and shows the key/scale you're playing in live, with an in/out-of-scale readout as you drift. Fretboard maps for Standard, Drop D, Whole Step Down, and Open G / D / E.
Chromatic tuner with a cents-accurate needle, string-by-string targets and reference tones for every tuning above.
Load a song, loop the hard part, slow it down without changing pitch, shift the key, and see its key, tuning and chords as it plays.
Retune a vocal note by note or snap it to a key, change voice colour, and clean up noise, breaths and harsh “s” sounds.
Plug in a USB audio interface or effects pedal, and map a MIDI footswitch or knob to loops, record, drums, and more.
Arm, overdub, and mix a full band's worth of takes. Record from a laptop or an iPhone, start and stop any track from its own button, and let quiet takes boost themselves. Per-track Sound Models, live monitoring, pitch transpose and stem export.
6-voice, 16-step drum machine — kick, snare, hats, clap, and bass, synthesized live with a rock/blues character.
Record a take and Fretnook works out its tempo, key and chords, then builds drums, bass, keys and a horn section to match. Pick a style, preview it with your track, and bounce each part to its own track.
4 independent live loop pedals, Boss RC-style — record, overdub, and bounce to a track.
Lay out song sections and automate level, pan, and sends over time with drawable curves.
Per-track EQ, comp, gate, reverb, delay, distortion & chorus, plus a master limiter and one-click WAV export.
Pop/noise repair, fades, reordering, and a finishing pass before you bounce the mix.
Film yourself playing, cut between takes that stay locked in sync, and export an MP4 music video with your mastered mix as the soundtrack.
Short, practical guides that use the free tools above.
By-ear tricks, plus live key detection.
Drums, bass, keys and horns for any progression.
Tap tempo, count-in and beats per bar.
Gear, levels, layering and fixing mistakes, step by step.
Levels, panning, EQ, compression and streaming loudness.
Film your playing, auto-sync it, cut between takes, export MP4.
How Fretnook compares with GarageBand, BandLab and Soundtrap.
Open the app, tap any tab with a small lock (or Subscribe free at the top), and enter your email. That's it — the DAW, Songs and MIDI & Gear unlock on that device and stay unlocked.
It gives us an honest count of how many people use Fretnook, so we can size the servers properly as it grows. We may send the occasional update; unsubscribe any time.
No payment, ever, for anything in the app. Small labelled ads and optional tips help cover hosting.
Mic input and recordings are processed in your browser. See the privacy notice for exactly what we store.
Ear Trainer and Tuner are open to everyone. Every other module unlocks with a free email sign-up — no payment, no card, no password. If it's useful to you, here are two optional ways to help keep it going.
A one-time or recurring tip goes toward hosting and keeps development moving. No perks attached — just a thank-you.
Tip JarShopping for an interface, cable, strings, or a mic anyway? These go through affiliate programs — same price to you, a small cut to us.
Fretnook may earn a commission on purchases made through these links.