Learn a song by ear without the frustration. Load an audio file, drag across the tricky section to loop it, slow it down without changing the pitch, and let Fretnook show you the key, the tuning and the chords as it plays.
Open the Songs tab and press Load song, or drop a file on the waveform. MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG and FLAC files work.
Drag across the waveform to select a section; it starts looping right away. Drag either green edge to fine-tune, or press Set A and Set B while it plays.
The Speed slider runs from 40% to 120% without changing the pitch. Turn on Speed trainer and the loop speeds up by 5% each pass until it reaches full speed.
If the recording is tuned differently, use Key shift (up to 6 semitones either way) and Fine tune in cents, or press Match song to A = 440.
40% to 120% speed, so a fast solo becomes learnable at half speed and still sounds like the right notes.
Drag a section on the waveform, nudge the edges, and zoom in on the loop. Keyboard shortcuts set the loop points.
Start slow and let the loop climb by 5% each time round until you are playing at full speed.
Move the whole song up or down by up to 6 semitones, or nudge in cents; the chord names follow.
After loading, Fretnook shows the likely key, how far the recording sits from A = 440, the most-used chords, and a live chord now/next display.
Put the song on an empty track at full speed, then record your guitar on another track and export the mix.
Load the track, loop just the phrase you are stuck on, and set the speed to about 60%. Play it until it is clean, then turn on the speed trainer and let the loop raise the tempo for you. When you can play the loop at 100%, widen the loop and repeat with the next phrase.
Because the pitch does not change when you slow down, you are always learning the real notes, not a lower version of them.
Many recordings are a half step or whole step down, or slightly off A = 440. A song recorded a whole step down plays along with a standard-tuned guitar at +2 on key shift. If it just sounds slightly flat or sharp, Match song to A = 440 uses Fine tune to line it up with your guitar automatically.
After loading, Fretnook listens to the whole song and shows its likely key and the most-used chords, with a colour-coded chord ribbon under the waveform. It is an estimate: expect the odd wrong chord, and remember a key and its relative minor or major share the same notes, so the card also shows what else fits.
Show on the Ear Trainer sends the key and a scale you pick, such as pentatonic or blues, to the Ear Trainer so the fretboard lights up the notes to solo with.
While the Songs tab is open: Space plays or pauses, ← → jump 5 seconds (hold Shift for 1), L toggles the loop, [ and ] set the loop start and end, and Home goes back to the start.
Fretnook is free and runs in your browser. Your microphone audio and recordings stay on your device.