Slow Down Music Without Changing the Pitch

How to slow down a song for practice

1. Drop an mp3, wav, flac, m4a, or mp4 onto the page. It opens in a few seconds. You don't need to split the song to change its speed.
2. Drag across the waveform to set an A–B loop around the phrase you're learning.
3. Lower the speed until you can play the phrase cleanly. The pitch doesn't move. The slider runs from half speed to one and a half times the record.
4. Turn on the count-in if you need four clicks to get your hands back on the instrument before the loop comes round again.

This page does not start the separation download. Speed and pitch work on the original mix. When you also want the parts pulled apart, press Split this song too. That button is what starts the download.

Why the pitch stays the same

On a tape machine or a turntable, slowing a record down also drops the pitch, which is why a slowed solo sounds like it's in a different key. Here the speed and the pitch are separate controls. The player stretches the audio in time and leaves the notes where they are, so a phrase at a slower speed is still the phrase you'll play at full speed, in the same key and on the same frets.

The same works the other way round: you can move the pitch without touching the speed. That has its own page, with tips for singers and for tuned-down records.

A slow-practice routine that works

Most players slow a song down once, play along a few times, and jump back to full speed too early. A routine that gets better results:

• Keep the loop short. Two bars are usually enough. A whole verse at a slow speed is mostly waiting.
• Start where you can play it clean, not where it's slightly hard. Slow and right builds the movement; slow and sloppy builds the mistake.
• Raise the speed in small steps. Let the speed trainer step the tempo up after a few clean passes. If a step falls apart, go back one. It adds a small step after four loops, and it will not go past one and a half times.
• Stop short of full speed, then come back to it. Leave it for a day if you have to. The jump to the record's tempo is easier tomorrow than after an hour of repetition.
• Play it in context. When the loop is solid, widen it to the bars before and after, so you practice getting into and out of the phrase.

Slow it down with your part removed

Slowing down helps you hear a part; removing it lets you play it. If you want both, split the song first. The vocal remover, guitar remover, drum remover, and bass remover each start with one part muted, and the same speed control works on the split. A slowed backing track without your part in it is about as close as you get to a patient band.

Speeding up

The speed control goes up as well as down, as far as one and a half times the original. Playing a passage slightly faster than the record for a few loops makes the real tempo feel comfortable. Some players also use it to check a cover: if your version drags at the record's speed, it shows up quickly at a faster one.

What slowing down can't fix

At very slow settings, sharp attacks start to smear. Drums and strummed chords lose some snap, and cymbals can sound watery. That's the cost of stretching audio. For learning notes it's fine. For checking exact timing, use a moderate setting and loop more often. Slowing down also won't separate parts that are buried in the mix; that's what the stem split is for.

Saving a slowed-down version

Export writes the mix as WAV or MP3 at your current speed and pitch, so you can practice from your phone without the computer. A single stem, once you have split the song, exports as WAV. Nothing is sent anywhere to make the file.