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[ Guide ]

How to slow down a song to learn it on guitar

The short answer

On YouTube, click the gear icon, then Playback speed, and pick 0.5 or 0.75. The pitch stays the same, so you can play along in tune. For an audio file, use Audacity's Change Tempo effect, or a slow-down app on your phone. Then speed it back up in small steps.

The free ways, by what you have

  • A YouTube videoHowGear icon → Playback speed → 0.75 or 0.5Good to knowFree and keeps pitch. No built-in bar looping
  • An audio file on a computerHowAudacity: select the part → Effect → Pitch and Tempo → Change TempoGood to knowFree. Avoid Change Speed, which changes the pitch too
  • An audio file, in VLCHowPlayback → SpeedGood to knowFree. Forum users report it keeps pitch. Check your version
  • A phoneHowA slow-down app, such as Music Speed Changer on AndroidGood to knowA free option. Amazing Slow Downer is a paid one, which some players prefer

When to use a dedicated tool

If you do this every week, the free ways get clumsy, mainly because looping a small part is fiddly. These are built for it:

  • Transcribe! Desktop software that forum players recommend often. It loops at any speed and can suggest notes.
  • Song Master. Windows and Mac, with a free demo, covered by Guitar World.
  • Slomo. A Mac app for $9.99 on the App Store, which saves loops with the song.
  • Songsterr Plus. Speed control and looping for tabs in its library. Compared here.

A simple way to get back to speed

Slowing down only helps if you can get back up. This routine is plain and it works for most players:

  1. Find your clean speed. The speed where you can play the loop with no mistakes, even if that's 50%.
  2. Play it 3 times clean. A mistake restarts the count.
  3. Go up 5%. Repeat. Many apps step in 5s or 10s, and YouTube jumps from 0.5 to 0.75, so use what you have.
  4. If it falls apart, drop back a step. That's normal, not failure.
  5. Stop while it's going well. Pick it up tomorrow at a speed just below yesterday's best.

Slowing down the tab, not the record

Slowing the original helps you hear a part. Slowing a tab helps your fingers learn it, with clean notes and an exact beat. BeatMap does the second: it writes the tab from your audio, then plays it from 25% to 150% speed with a plucked-string synth, and loops any bars you tap. It isn't your original recording playing back, so use one of the tools above for that.

Next: how to transcribe a guitar solo shows what to listen for once it's slow.

Questions

How do I slow down a song without changing the pitch?

Use a tool that changes tempo only. YouTube's playback speed setting keeps the pitch. In Audacity, use Change Tempo, not Change Speed. Most slow-down apps keep the pitch by default.

Does slowing down hurt the sound?

Yes, it gets smeary, especially below half speed. It's still fine for hearing the notes. Forum users say paid apps such as Amazing Slow Downer can sound cleaner when slowed.

Can BeatMap slow down my song?

BeatMap slows the tab, not your recording. It plays the notes it wrote with a plucked-string synth, from 25% to 150% speed, and loops any bars. That's handy for drilling a part, but to hear the original record slowly, use one of the tools on this page.

How fast should I speed back up?

A little at a time, and only after several clean repeats. If you make mistakes, go back a step. Most people go too fast too early.

Want the notes too? Make the tab, then loop it.

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How we made this page

The Audacity steps come from its manual, and the app details from the forums and pages linked below. The YouTube steps come from its standard player. Menus can move between versions. We make BeatMap and don't sell any of the other tools listed. The speed-up routine is our suggestion, not a study result.

By the BeatMap team, who make one of the products mentioned here. Facts last checked November 7, 2026.