The Well-Tempered Ear

Google can now identify music if you hum, whistle or sing it

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By Jacob Stockinger

You know how frustrating it feels when you can recall a tune but can’t identity the composer or the piece?

It eventually gets to be an ear worm, an obsessive unknown you can’t quite recall, and can be very unsettling. The longer it doesn’t come to mind, the more you want it to.

Now Google has just developed an app that allows you to hum or whistle or sing a melody into your phone — even off-key — and then it identifies what piece of music it is and who composed it.

It is called “Hum to Search” and also uses the vast musical offerings of YouTube, which is owned by Google. (Apple’s popular Shazam app and Siri cannot identify music by humming.)

The new app is available on both iOS iPhones/iPads and Android systems and phones.

Here is a link to the story — and a test run with the popular Puccini aria “O mio babbino caro” — provided by the British radio station ClassicFM:

https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/google-hum-sing-search-song/

And here is a guide from Google, with background, about how it works and how to use it:

https://blog.google/products/search/hum-to-search/

Will you try it? Find it useful?

Have you already tried it on your own? How well did it work?

Is it good for instrumental and orchestral music?

Classical as well as pop, rock and jazz?

The Ear wants to hear.

The Ear also wants to know if you have ever used one of the other apps like Shazam and SoundHound where you hold the phone next to music — live or recorded — and it identifies the composer and composition.

Do they work well?

Which one is especially good for classical music?