Many at times we struggle to find a song when we don’t remember the album, movie or lyrics. We all know how frustrating it is when you can’t remember the name of a song or any of the words but the tune is stuck in your head. How to search for a song on Google by humming? Google can now help you figure it out—no lyrics, artist name or perfect pitch required.

Hum to search for a song on Google

Follow these steps to search for a song on Google easily

Using Google App

• On your mobile device, open the latest version of the Google app or find your Google Search widget.
• Tap the mic icon and say “what’s this song?” or click the “Search a song” button.
• Then start humming for 10-15 seconds.

Using Google Assistant

• Say “Hey Google, what’s this song?”.
• Then hum the tune.

Currently this feature is currently available in English on iOS, and in more than 20 languages on Android.

How search for a song on Google works?

After you’re finished humming, Google’s machine learning algorithm helps identify potential song matches. And don’t worry, you don’t need perfect pitch to use this feature.  It’ll show you the most likely options based on the tune. Then you can select the best match and explore information on the song and artist, view any accompanying music videos or listen to the song on your favorite music app, find the lyrics, read analysis and even check out other recordings of the song when available. 

Google have built machine learning models that can match your hum, whistle or singing. When you hum a melody into Search, machine learning models transform the audio into a number-based sequence representing the song’s melody. Models are trained to identify songs based on a variety of sources, including humans singing, whistling or humming, as well as studio recordings. The algorithms also take away all the other details, like accompanying instruments and the voice’s timbre and tone. What we’re left with is the song’s number-based sequence. Then it compares these sequences to thousands of songs from around the world and identify potential  matches in real time.

So next time you can’t remember the name of some catchy song you heard on the radio or that classic jam your parents love, just start humming. You’ll have your answer in record time.