- Chord Detector
- Song key finder
Song key finder
Find the key and BPM of any song
Upload a track or paste a YouTube link. The key, tempo and time signature of the whole song show up without an account, with the first minute of chords next to them.
MP3, WAV, OGG, M4A or FLAC · up to 50 MB · 15 minutes
First full song free with an account No card required First 60 seconds without signing up
- Key
- Tempo in BPM
- Time signature
- Chords
Song key finder at a glance
- Whole songKey, BPM and time signature describe the full track, not a clip
- 60 sof chords included without an account
- 15 minlongest track, from YouTube or a file up to 50 MB
- $0to see the key and tempo, no card asked
The short answer
In short
A song key finder listens to a recording and names the key it is in, such as C major or F# minor, plus the tempo in beats per minute. Drop a file or a YouTube link into the box above and Chord Detector shows the key, BPM and time signature of the whole song, usually within a minute.
The result
What a song key finder gives you
Three numbers decide how a song is played, and they appear together on the result page. The key tells you which chords and notes belong. The tempo sets the speed you practise at. The time signature tells you how the beats group into bars, so you know where to count “one”.
Because the key comes from the chords of the entire recording, the answer is not a guess from the intro. Guests see all three values for the full track straight away. The chords themselves are shown for the first 60 seconds, and a free account unlocks the rest of your first song, with lyrics.
Need the chord chart as well? The same upload feeds the chord detector, which puts every chord change above the words of the song.
Opening chords
How it works
From a link to a key in four steps
No plugin, no tapping, no scale charts. The analysis runs on our servers and the result opens in your browser.
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Paste a link or upload a file
A public YouTube video up to 15 minutes, or an MP3, WAV, OGG, M4A or FLAC file up to 50 MB.
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The chords and the beat are read
A trained chord model reads the full frequency spectrum of the mix, and a beat tracker finds every beat and the first beat of each bar. The bar lines give the time signature, and the spacing of the beats gives the BPM.
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The key is worked out from the chords
Each note is counted for as long as it sounds in the chords, roots counted twice. That profile is compared with the Krumhansl-Kessler major and minor key profiles in all 12 positions, and the best match wins.
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You read it on one page
Key, BPM and time signature sit at the top of the song page. Below them are the chords and, once you sign up, the lyrics.
Why it matters
Why musicians look up the key first
Knowing the key turns a song from a pile of chords into something you can sing, solo over and move around.
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Singing
If the original sits too high or too low, you need the key to pick the one that fits your voice.
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Transposing
The song page has a transpose control, so once you know the key you can shift every chord to one you like.
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Soloing and jamming
The key names the scale. Play its notes over the chords and you will not land on a wrong one.
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Mixing and producing
Two tracks in the same or a related key blend without clashing, and a matching BPM lets you line up the beats.
Terms
Key, BPM and time signature in plain words
- Key
- The set of notes a song is built on, and the chord it keeps returning to, called the tonic. “G major” means G is home and the notes of the G major scale supply most of the chords.
- BPM
- Beats per minute: how many steady pulses fit in sixty seconds. 60 BPM is one beat a second, 120 BPM is two. It is the number to set a metronome to.
- Time signature
- How many beats make a bar. We report the beats per bar over 4, so 4/4 is four beats to the bar and 3/4 is the waltz count of three.
- Relative major and minor
- Pairs such as C major and A minor share exactly the same notes. Which one is the key depends on where the song feels at rest, which is why the chords matter more than the note list.
By ear
How to find the key of a song by ear
You can check the tool, or do without it, with a guitar or keyboard and a few minutes.
- Listen for the chord that feels like home. Songs usually end on it, and verses often start on it.
- Play the final bass note of the song and hum along. The note that feels settled is usually the key note.
- Decide major or minor. Play the major chord and the minor chord on that note. The one that sounds like the song is the mode.
- Test it against the other chords. Most chords in a song belong to its key. If most of them appear in the table below, you have the right key.
Shortcut: a song with the chords C, F and G, plus Am or Dm, is almost always in C major. Three major chords a fifth and a fourth apart are the fingerprint of a major key.
Chords that belong to the most common keys
Every major key has three major chords and three minor chords, plus one diminished chord you rarely meet in pop. Find your song’s chords in a row and you have its key.
| Key | Major chords | Minor chords | Relative minor |
|---|---|---|---|
| C major | C, F, G | Dm, Em, Am | A minor |
| G major | G, C, D | Am, Bm, Em | E minor |
| D major | D, G, A | Em, F#m, Bm | B minor |
| A major | A, D, E | Bm, C#m, F#m | F# minor |
| E major | E, A, B | F#m, G#m, C#m | C# minor |
| F major | F, Bb, C | Gm, Am, Dm | D minor |
| Bb major | Bb, Eb, F | Cm, Dm, Gm | G minor |
Got a handful of chord names and no idea what they add up to? Put them into the chord progression finder to see them as Roman numerals in a chosen key, or name an unknown shape with the chord identifier.
Accuracy
Where the key and BPM are solid, and where to check
Detection is automatic, so treat the key as a strong first answer and confirm it with your ears, especially when a song is unusual.
Works well on
- Pop, rock, folk, country and singer-songwriter tracks built on a clear chord loop.
- Full mixes with vocals, drums and bass, which is what most uploads are.
- Recordings that are slightly off standard pitch: the chord model corrects for tracks not tuned to A4 = 440 Hz.
- Songs with a steady beat, where the BPM stays the same from start to finish.
Check by ear when
- The song modulates. You get one key for the track, the one the chords support most.
- It is modal, say Dorian or Mixolydian. Those are reported as the nearest major or minor key.
- There are few chords at all: a cappella, ambient pieces or a lone drum track.
- The tempo drifts, as in live or rubato recordings, or the pulse reads as half or double speed.
More tools
Go from the key to the whole song
FAQ
Song key finder questions
Is the song key finder free?
Yes for the key, tempo and time signature. Without an account you get those three values for the whole song plus the chords of the first 60 seconds. Signing up unlocks your first full song with lyrics for free, and after that a $5 pack gives you 10 credits (one full song each) or Pro costs $9.99 a month after a 7-day free trial.
Does it find the key of a song from a YouTube link?
Yes. Paste a public YouTube video up to 15 minutes long. Private, age-restricted or region-blocked videos cannot be fetched, so upload the audio file for those instead.
How does it work out the key?
It first recognises the chords of the whole track. It then totals how long each note is sounded in those chords, with extra weight on chord roots, and compares that profile with the Krumhansl-Kessler major and minor key profiles in all 12 positions. The best match is reported as the key.
Can it tell a major key from its relative minor?
Usually, because it looks at which chord the song treats as home, not only at which notes appear. Relative keys such as C major and A minor share every note, though, so a song that circles both can be read either way. If the result feels wrong, check which chord the song resolves to at the end of a verse.
Why does the BPM look double or half of what I expected?
Tempo trackers follow the beat they hear most clearly, and a slow song with busy drums can read as double speed. Tap along to the track for a few bars: if your taps match half or double the shown number, that is the same pulse counted differently.
What if a song changes key?
You get one key for the whole track, the one the chords support most, which is the key a singer would call the song's key. A late modulation up a tone or semitone is not reported separately, but the chord chart on the song page shows every chord, so you can see where the song moves.
Run your song through the song key finder
Paste a YouTube link or upload a file and read the key, BPM and time signature in about a minute. The first 60 seconds of chords come with it, and no card is needed.
Detection is automatic. Check the result by ear before you perform.