If you find yourself in a situation where you need to find the title of a song you once knew or heard but are having trouble doing so, Google Search has a feature that allows you to find a song by humming it without knowing the lyrics of the song so well. This “hum to search” feature was launched in 2020, and the best thing about it is that it understands more than 20 languages, including English and Hindi.

hey google, what's this song?

One of the best things you can do with your phone is to identify songs on your mind, and the Google hum to search song feature now makes that even more straightforward. Simply hum (or whistle) the melody of any part of the song, and Google will display the most relevant results.

Yes, some apps (like SoundHound) can do this, but they can’t match Google’s accuracy. However, there’s no need to install third-party software for Android phones, and using this feature is easy. To make this even easier, we’ve put together this article as a guide to finding a song by humming.

Method 1: “Find a song by humming” feature on Google

An earworm is a “catchy” song that one can’t forget and has been haunting the person for some time. If you can not get a song out of your head and are looking for a way to identify it over the Internet, you can use the “Hum to find the song” feature on Google (Google music search). And this is how it works:

Step 1: Open the Google Assistant app (or Google Search widget) on your Android, iPhone, or iPad and click the microphone icon in the search box.

find a song by humming with google microphone

Note: If you are using Android, the Google Assistant search box is sometimes on the home screen so that you can click the microphone icon from there.

Step 2: On the resulting page, click on the Search a song option at the bottom of the page.

hum to find the song

Step 3: Start humming the melody of the song you want to search till the results come up, which most times takes 10-15 seconds.

Step 4: Google will then show you the list of songs that match the humming, and if the result isn’t included in the first three results, you can click More Results to see other matching results.

search a song by humming-music results

Step 5: If you happen not to find this song, click Try again and hum the song again in a more transparent manner and see if it’ll show up as a matching result

Mostly, as long as your humming sound is clear to some extent, Google will always have a matching result for you.

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Google Song Search: How “Hum to Search” Works?

hum to search

Machine learning models power the Hum to Search feature by Google. It builds on the “Now Playing” feature we first saw in 2017 on Google Pixel phones which could recognize songs playing in the background without being connected to the Internet.

When you hum a tune to find the song, Google converts your humming into a number-based sequence representing the song’s melody. It then compares the sequence to recordings of the audio clip and presents the results, displaying match percentages. Back in 2020, when the feature was first introduced, Google’s database included over 500,000 songs, which has since grown to close to a million.

Method 2: Hum a Song to Find it with SoundHound Mobile App

If you are looking for a music app that can help you find songs through humming or whistling, SoundHound is the perfect option. It uses acoustic analysis to identify the melody of any song and then provides lyrics and playback options.

If you do a decent job with humming, you will find the app really fast at identifying the song. You can engage with other concertgoers across the globe, communicate with fellow music enthusiasts, and even watch live videos. The in-built music player keeps track of your personal playlist and allows you to create and edit playlists.

If you are looking for a convenient way to find songs, SoundHound’s Midomi is the app for you. And the best part is, it is free!

Download SoundHound: iOS | Android

Hey Google What’s This Song

Having discussed how to use the hum to search song features via the Google app, it should be less challenging for you to get the title of songs stuck in your head. Search a song by humming feature works well for all smartphones and is very easy to use. Let us know your view of the feature in the comment section.

FAQs on Google Hum to Search

Thanks to Google, finding a song by humming its melody has been made very easy. All you have to do is follow the procedure on how it's done. However, you can make use of SoundHound to do this, but Google Assistant is the easier option to use. Also, if you make use of one of the new Google Pixel phones, you can make use of a feature called Now Playing built-in with the phone.

Siri can recognize a song that is playing, but it doesn't have the search for a song by humming features. Perhaps Apple will add the option to Siri in the future, but it currently lacks functionality.

While Shazam is amongst the most popular apps to discover new songs, it can't find a song by humming. Apart from Google, just a few apps do this. So, if you're wondering where to find a song by humming, Google is your best bet, and the steps to do so are covered in the article.

If you want to hum search on Google, follow these simple steps:

  1. Open the Google app on your device.
  2. Click on the microphone icon on the search bar.
  3. Next, click on Search a song at the bottom of the page.
  4. Start humming the melody in the best way possible.
  5. Voila! Google will return the closest matches for your humming.

Yes, of course! You can hum into Google to look up the song you are humming or whistling. Just click on the microphone icon in the Google Search widget and click on the "Find a song" option for the hum search to work.

Unfortunately, Google Hum to Search feature doesn't work on computers (Windows/Mac/Linux) and only works on mobile apps - Google app, Google Assistant, or Google search widget.

Yes, the easiest way to find a song by humming is using Google's Hum to Search feature. Just open the Google app on Android or iPhone and click on the microphone icon in the search box. On the resulting page, click on the "Search a song" option at the bottom of the page. Hum, whistle, or sing. And Voila! Google will throw the closest matches!

Related Read: Super Quick Way to Identify Songs on Android Using Shazam

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