Have you ever had a song looping in your mind that you just can’t identify? Really frustrating. You can ask other people if they know it or hope you’ll come across it again but still be bothered by that earworm. You might not even remember where you first heard it, which only adds to the annoyance.
Back in the day, you’d have to wait and hope to catch it on the radio again. Thankfully, now we have tools that can recognize songs for us by playing a snippet, humming, or even whistling. In this article, we’ll explore how.
Google’s Hum-to-Search: Find a Song by Humming on iPhone & Android
Google was one of the first to introduce a feature that lets you hum a melody to identify a song. Here’s how you can use it on your mobile device:
- Launch the Google app or access your Google Search widget.
- Press the microphone icon and say, “What’s this song?” or hit Find a Song button.
- After that, hum, whistle, or vocalize the melody for 10-15 seconds.
You can also use Google Assistant by saying, “Hey Google, what’s this song?” and then humming the tune.
After you finish humming, Google’s algorithm will suggest potential song matches. You don’t need a perfect pitch, as the algorithm will display the most probable matches based on your melody. You can then pick the best match, get details about the song and artist, watch music videos, listen to the track on your chosen music app, read the lyrics, or explore other versions of the song if available.
Read also: How to Find a Song From a Video in the Camera Roll
How Does It Work?
In simple words, a song’s melody has a unique fingerprint. Machine learning models compare your humming, whistling, or singing to this audio fingerprint.
These models are designed to recognize songs from different sources (including singing, whistling, humming, and studio recordings). They strip away extra details like instruments and voice tone, and focus only on the melody’s numerical pattern. This pattern is then matched against thousands of songs worldwide to find possible matches instantly.
This technology was first introduced on Google devices as the Now Playing feature on the Pixel 2 in 2017, and it used deep neural networks for low-power music recognition. In 2018, Google integrated this technology into the Google app’s SoundSearch feature and broadened its scope to include millions of songs.
YouTube Music
Earlier this year, the YouTube Music app on Android rolled out a Shazam-like tool that allowed users to hum or sing a song to search for it.
For the tool to work, complete these steps:
- Update to the latest version of YouTube Music on your Android device. You can do this directly through the Play Store.
- Once updated, open the YouTube Music app.
- Open to the Home page, tap the search button (magnifying glass icon) in the upper right,
- Tap the sound wave icon.
- YouTube Music will then prompt you to hum, sing, or play the song you’re trying to identify.
In testing, the feature performed well with simple, recognizable tunes like The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army, The Cranberries’ Linger, and The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony. However, it struggled with more complex songs like Black Sabbath’s Children of the Grave and Death Grips’ Get Got.
SoundHound and Midomi (iPhone, Android, Online)
If you don’t want to use built-in tools, you can try third-party apps like SoundHound.
Here’s how to find a song by humming on iPhone or Android with it:
- Download SoundHound from the Apple App Store or Google Play and open it.
- Tap the icon in the center of the screen.
- Hum the melody of the song.
- The app will show a list of possible matches.
If you see the song title you were looking for, tap it to play. Otherwise, go through the list and play each one until you find the right song.
If you’re looking for how to find a song by humming on your computer, there’s a browser-based tool called Midomi, powered by SoundHound. It works similarly: click the icon, hum the melody, and wait for the tool to find the song.
Can I Use Siri to Find a Song by Humming It?
You can ask Siri to identify a song on most Apple devices, like your iPhone or Apple Watch. But it can only work if you play the original song. Siri can’t figure out a song just from your humming or singing. For that, you’ll need a different app.
Can I Hum a Song on Shazam?
No, similar to Siri, Shazam works by listening to the actual audio of a song, not your humming or singing. It can only identify songs when you play the original track.
TikTok’s Sound Search
TikTok is introducing a new feature called Sound Search to compete with YouTube Music and Shazam. This feature will allow users to find a song by humming, singing, or playing it. Currently, it is available to select users in specific regions but has not yet been widely released.
Sound Search should provide a fresh way to discover content on TikTok, especially in a platform where music trends shift quickly. Unlike Shazam, which only identifies songs when you play them, TikTok’s tool identifies songs from humming or singing.
Sound Search also shows videos using those tracks. In testing, popular songs like Rihanna’s Umbrella were recognized quickly, and TikTok showed related videos moments after. However, less popular songs didn’t have accurate results. For instance, even though the tool technically identified Hilary Duff’s song Fly, it showed generic results instead of specific videos featuring the song.
Despite some glitches, the tool looks promising. If you have access to it, you can find it by going to your search bar in the app, clicking the microphone icon, and selecting Sound Search.
How Well Do Apps Identify Songs From Humming?
There isn’t any exact data on how accurate these apps are at matching songs. However, there are several factors affect their performance:
- Melody complexity — Apps are better at recognizing simple, well-known melodies compared to complex or obscure ones.
- Humming quality — The clearer and more accurate your humming is, the better the app can identify the song. Background noise and pitch accuracy also affect performance.
- Song popularity — Apps are more accurate with popular songs that are frequently searched or used in media. As shown in tests, search tools struggle with less common tracks and newly released songs.
If one app isn’t giving you the results you want, you can always try another app for better results. For instance, TikTok’s new feature might take some time to match the performance of established tools. However, the company has a track record of rapidly adapting and refining its technology, so improvements are likely on the way.
Does Spotify Have a Search Tool?
Unfortunately, we won’t teach you how to find a song by humming on Spotify because it doesn’t have that feature. But there is another feature for those who can’t quite pinpoint the song’s name.
If you remember a few key lyrics from the song, you can search for it directly on Spotify. Enter at least three words from the song’s lyrics into the search bar. Songs containing those lyrics will appear in the search results with a lyrics match label.
The next time you forget a song’s name, just hum it into one of these tools we’ve just talked about — the Google app, YouTube Music, TikTok, SoundHound, or the Midomi website. You’ll find the answer quickly.
