Change the Key of a Song Without Changing the Speed

How to change the key of a song

1. Drop an mp3, wav, flac, m4a, or mp4 onto the page. You don't need to split the song to transpose it.
2. Move the pitch up or down one semitone at a time. The speed stays where it is. The control stops at twelve semitones either way.
3. Play or sing along to check the new key, and loop the highest or lowest phrase to be sure.
4. Export the mix as WAV or MP3. The file keeps the new key.

Changing the key does not start the separation download. Press Split this song too only when you want the parts separated as well.

How many semitones?

A semitone is one fret on a guitar, or the next key on a piano, black or white. Some moves come up again and again:

If you don't know the original key, the BPM and key finder gives you a starting point. Keep in mind that the key it shows describes the file as you opened it, so add or subtract your semitones yourself.

For singers: finding your key

Loop the highest phrase in the song, usually the last chorus, and sing it at the original pitch. If you strain, lower the record one semitone and try again. Then loop the lowest phrase, often the first line of the verse, and make sure it is still there in your voice. The right key is the one where both ends feel easy. When you have found it, tell your band the number of semitones, not just "a bit lower". It saves a rehearsal.

If you want the backing without the original singer, use the vocal remover first and transpose the instrumental the same way.

For guitar and bass: tuning and capo

A lot of rock and metal records are tuned down a half step or more. Instead of retuning every time a song comes up, raise the record to meet your guitar. The same goes for bass. If a song was played with a capo and you want to use the shapes you know, lower the record by the capo's fret number and play open. Twelve semitones is the furthest the control will go.

For horns, strings, and keys

If you play a transposing instrument, or just know a song in a different key than the record, shift the record to the key you read in instead of rewriting the part. Keyboard players can use it to practice the same tune in several keys back to back. That is a quick way to stop relying on one set of shapes.

Change the key and mute your part

Transposing works on the original mix, and on a split song too. Split the song, mute your instrument with the guitar remover, bass remover, or drum remover, then move the key. You get a backing track in your key, without your part, at the original tempo. Export it and it plays the same way anywhere.

How far you can shift before it sounds processed

Small shifts, one to three semitones, sound natural on most material. Larger shifts start to show. Voices change character first: shifted up a long way they sound small and bright, shifted down a long way they sound thick. Drums and bass tolerate more. For practice that rarely matters. On an instrument only the key matters, not the octave, so −7 and +5 land in the same key, and the smaller move usually sounds better. Both sit inside the twelve-semitone limit. Singers don't get that shortcut, because the octave decides whether you can reach the notes.