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Chord finder free, find the chords of any song

Drop in a song and get its chords bar by bar, lighting up in time as the music plays. We take the vocals and drums out first, so the chords are read from the instruments alone. Transpose it, set a capo, and download the chord sheet as text or PDF. Free, no account.

By ShinobiTools Team · Last updated: September 2026

How to find the chords of a song

  1. Drop in your song: MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC or a video file, up to 15 minutes free.
  2. We split it on our own GPU and take the vocals and drums out, usually in under a minute.
  3. The chords are read from what is left (guitar, piano, keys, strings) and laid out bar by bar, with the key and the tempo.
  4. Press play: the current chord lights up and the next one is shown. Tap a bar to jump there.
  5. Transpose up or down, pick a capo, and download the chords as a .txt file or print them to PDF.

Your song plays from your own browser. The upload itself is deleted as soon as it is split, and the separated parts are cleared after 45 minutes (24 hours with a pass).

Why we take the vocals and drums out first

A chord finder that listens to the whole mix hears everything at once: the sung melody with its notes that are not in the chord, and every drum hit. StemGrab separates the song first and reads the chords from the bass, guitar, piano and other instruments only, with the vocals and drums set aside.

The tempo and the bars come from the full song, drums included, so the chord grid follows the real beat. The key is the same reading our key finder gives for the same file.

What it gets right, and what it does not

We tested it on nine songs we made ourselves, so we knew every chord, and ran them through the tool exactly as you would (28 September 2026). It named the right chord 134 times out of 140 (96%), counting each bar once, and each half bar in the song with two chords per bar:

Test songChords right
Pop, C G Am F, piano and bass16 of 16
The same with drums and a melody on top16 of 16
Rock in D minor, distorted guitar15 of 16 (Dm read as D)
Ballad in 3/4, picked guitar15 of 16
Two chords per bar, electric piano16 of 16 (8 bars)
Jazz sevenths (Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 A7), read as Dm G C A16 of 16
Strings in F# minor, slow11 of 12
Inversions, the bass on the third (C/E)16 of 16
A loud lead melody over a quiet piano13 of 16

Our test melodies were played by a synthesizer, and the separation treats a synthesizer as an instrument, not a voice. So these tests say nothing about how much taking out a real singer helps; they do show where it goes wrong: a loud lead line and distorted guitar. Real recordings are messier than test songs, so treat the result as a good first draft and check it by ear.

Transpose, capo and key

Transpose moves every chord up or down a semitone at a time, to fit your voice. Capo keeps the song where it is and shows the shapes you play with the capo on: with capo 2, a song in A shows G shapes. Sharps or flats follow the key, so a song in F shows Bb, not A#.

Want to hear the song itself in another key? The key changer shifts the audio. Just need the tempo? The BPM finder reads it in about two seconds.

What is free

Common questions

Is this chord finder free?

Yes. Songs up to 15 minutes are free, 10 songs a day, with no account and no watermark. A ShinobiTools pass raises it to 20 minutes per song for chords, with more songs per day.

How do I find the chords of a song?

Upload the song here. We take out the vocals and drums, read the chords from the instruments and show them bar by bar, in time with the music.

Can I get chords from an MP3 or other audio file?

Yes: MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG and video files all work. You upload the file itself; links from YouTube or Spotify are not supported.

How accurate is this song chord detector?

On nine test songs we made ourselves it named the right chord 134 times out of 140 (96%). It reads major and minor chords; a loud lead melody or distorted guitar trips it up most, and the most common slip is a minor chord shown as major (Dm as D). Real recordings are harder than test songs, so check it by ear before you perform.

Does it find seventh or jazz chords?

No. Sevenths, sus and extended chords come back as their basic major or minor chord: G7 shows as G, Cmaj7 as C.

Can I transpose the chords or use a capo?

Yes. Transpose moves every chord a semitone at a time, and the capo setting shows the shapes to play with the capo on.

Can I download the chords as a PDF?

Yes. Download them as a .txt file, or press Print / save as PDF and choose Save as PDF in your browser.

Does it show the key and the tempo?

Yes, both, above the chords. The key is the same reading as our key finder gives.

What happens to my song?

The upload is deleted as soon as it is split. The separated parts are cleared after 45 minutes (24 hours with a pass). The song plays from your own browser. See privacy.