Chord Lens
AI Guitar Stem Splitter
AI Guitar Stem Splitter: the guitar on its own
Isolate the guitar in any song: solo it to hear every strum and lick, or mute it and play the part yourself over the band. On a YouTube video with the Chrome extension, or by uploading your own audio in the Studio with the chords in time. Free to try: Free splits a 2-minute part.
Last updated
The short version
At a
glance.
hear it, then play it
Chord Lens splits a song into six stems, one of them the guitar, so you can listen to it alone or take it out and play it yourself. Everything else on this page is the detail.
- The guitar stemone of six from every split
- Solo itevery strum, on its own
- Mute itplay the part over the band
- Chords in timewith the shape for each one
- Slow it downthe pitch stays put
- Loop the riffuntil your hands have it
- Capo and keyshapes you already know
- YouTube or your own filesextension on YouTube, upload in the Studio
- Free to trya 2-minute part on Free
01 / 10 · What it is
The guitar.
On its own.
A guitar part is hard to hear in a full mix: the vocal sits on top, the keys share its notes, the drums cover the strums. Hearing it alone is the fastest way to learn it.
Chord Lens splits the song into six stems, vocals, drums, bass, piano, guitar and the rest, and the guitar gets its own fader, solo and mute, with the chords and shapes in time on screen.
It works from the recording itself, so covers, live takes and new uploads split the same way as hits. Use the Chrome extension on the YouTube video, where it listens to the song as it plays, or upload your own audio in the Studio.
Have the song as a file? The Studio splits MP3, WAV and M4A the same way.
Upload-a-file splitters
Want the song as a file first, then hand back the guitar as a file to load somewhere else.
Split where you play
Splits the song you’re watching and keeps the guitar, the chords and the loop in one place.
02 / 10 · How to
Isolate the guitar
in four steps.
a few presses
Open the song
Add Chord Lens to Chrome and open the YouTube video, or upload your own MP3, WAV or M4A in the Studio.
Split the song
Press Split. On Free, pick the 2 minutes you want.
Solo the guitar
Press S on Guitar to hear it alone.
Or mute it and play
Press M and play the part over the band, chords on screen.
On a Mac? The Chord Lens app runs the same Studio, with the split on your own computer.
Get the Mac app03 / 10 · The six stems
Six stems.
The guitar is one.
Every split gives you the same six stems. The guitar is its own, so you can solo it, mute it or set it under the rest.
- Guitar
- Vocals
- Drums
- Bass
- Piano
- Other
Solo it
Hear every strum and bend alone.
Mute it
Play the part over the rest of the band.
Turn it down
Keep a little as a guide while you play.
Acoustic and electric guitars both land in the Guitar stem. Each stem also has a pan, and a metronome sits under the six with a fader of its own, clicking on the song’s beat.
04 / 10 · Practise it
Loop it.
Slow it. Move it.
the guitar follows
- Loop
- A–B
- Loop the riff and play it until it sits.
- Speed
- 0.75×
- Slow the guitar down to catch a fast run; the pitch stays put.
- Capo
- Fret 2
- Set a capo and the chart shows the shapes to play.
The chart keeps running while the guitar plays alone: the chord on the beat lights up with its shape, and the next one waits beside it. Move the key up to 12 semitones in the Studio or 6 in the extension, and the stems move with it.
To slow a whole song down without the split, see slow down songs.
05 / 10 · On your computer
Split on your
own computer.
The split runs in your browser on your own computer, not in a queue somewhere. The first time, the Studio sets the splitting engine up: it downloads once, about 140 MB. After that a song splits while you watch the progress, and the engine stays ready for the next one.
Splitting needs a computer, in Chrome or Edge. Phones and tablets don’t give a web page enough memory to split a song, so on a phone you still get the chords, the words and the sections, but not the split.
06 / 10 · How clean
Clear enough to learn from.
Honest about the rest.
A lead or rhythm guitar that stands apart in the mix usually comes out clear enough to learn from.
Guitars share space with keys and other guitars, so the guitar stem is harder than drums or bass: two guitars can land in one stem, and some can drift into Other. It’s a practice tool, not a studio stem.
We don’t print a quality score, because no single number is true of every song. The honest test is your own: split a verse, solo the guitar and listen.
Missing part of the guitar?
- Turn Other up: a second guitar often lands there.
- Solo Guitar and Other together.
- Slow it down to hear through the bleed.
- Try a studio version: live takes split less cleanly.
07 / 10 · Compared
Chord Lens vs
other ways to isolate guitar.
Three ways to hear the guitar alone in a song you heard on YouTube.
| Upload-a-file splitters | Guitar lesson videos | By ear | Chord Lens | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works on the YouTube video you watch | No, a file | Only songs covered | Yes | Yes |
| The original guitar | Yes | Re-played | Yes | Yes |
| Chords and shapes in time | No | Sometimes | — | Built in |
| Loop and slow | Another app | The player | — | Built in |
| Works on phones | No | Yes | Yes | Chords yes, split no |
| Cost | Per file | Free or paid | Your time | Free to try |
Working a part out by ear is still the best training there is, and a lesson video shows you the hands. Chord Lens is for the moment in between: you heard the song, and you want the original guitar alone, with the chords there while you learn it.
08 / 10 · How players use it
Four ways
players use it.
Learn a solo
Solo the guitar, loop the bars, slow them to 0.75×.
Find the strum
Hear the rhythm part alone to copy its pattern.
Play the part
Mute the guitar and play over the band.
Work out a tone
Listen to the guitar alone to hear how it sits.
Bands use it to learn a cover before rehearsal, each player with their own part soloed. Worship guitarists use it to learn a new song in the key they play it in, with a capo and the stems moved to match.
09 / 10 · What it won’t do
What it
won’t do.
so you know before you split
Not for sharing or publishing
On Free the stems play in Chord Lens. Premium downloads them as MP3 and Pro adds WAV, for your own personal study and practice, not to share or publish.
No split on phones
Splitting needs a computer. On a phone you still get the chords.
No tab
It gives you the guitar audio and the chords, not tablature.
Not one guitar per stem
Two guitars can share the stem; some can land in Other.
Chord Lens is for practising and studying a song yourself: learning it, working out a part, playing along. That kind of personal use is broadly considered fair use under US copyright law, with similar rules elsewhere. Stem downloads on Premium and Pro are for that same personal study, not to share, sell or publish. To publish a cover, use the original audio under YouTube’s licensing, or get a sync license.
10 / 10 · Plans
Free to try.
Free splits a 2-minute part of a song, the part you choose, a few times a day. Premium splits up to 8 minutes of a song and Pro up to 12, which is the whole of most songs, and both download the stems for your own study: MP3 on Premium, WAV on Pro. Chords and the lyrics a song already has stay free on every plan, with no ads. Key and speed are free in Chrome and, once you sign in, in the Studio, for the whole song up to your plan’s song-length limit.
See plans and prices01How do I isolate the guitar in a YouTube song?
Open the video with the Chord Lens extension in Chrome, or upload your own audio in the Studio, press Split, then S on the Guitar stem. You hear the guitar alone, with the chords in time.
02Can I remove the guitar instead?
Yes. Press M on Guitar and the rest of the band plays on without it, so you can play the part yourself. Turn the fader down instead to keep a little of it as a guide.
03Does it split electric and acoustic guitar?
Yes. Both land in the Guitar stem. A heavily distorted guitar or one buried under synths can bleed more, and some of it may land in Other.
04What if there are two guitars?
They usually share the Guitar stem, and one of them can land in Other. The split doesn’t give each guitar its own stem; solo Guitar and Other together to hear both.
05Can I slow the guitar down?
Yes. Play from half speed to double with the pitch left where it is, and loop the bars you’re learning. Every stem follows the speed.
06Does it show the chord shapes?
Yes. The chart shows each chord in time with its guitar shape, and a capo setting shows the shapes you’d play with it.
07Why do I hear other instruments in the guitar?
Guitars share notes and space with keys and other guitars, so a little of them can bleed into the Guitar stem. Slow it down to hear through it, or try a studio version of the song.
08Is it free?
Yes, to try. Free splits a 2-minute part of a song, the part you choose, a few times a day. Chords are free on every plan. Key and speed are free in Chrome and, once you sign in, in the Studio, for the whole song up to your plan’s song-length limit.
09How much of a song can I split on Free?
Free splits 2 minutes of a song, placed where you want it. Premium splits up to 8 minutes and Pro up to 12, which is the whole of most songs.
10Can I do it on my phone?
No. Splitting needs a computer, in Chrome or Edge, because phones don’t give a web page enough memory. On a phone you still get the chords and the words.
11Can I download the guitar track?
On Premium you can download the stems as MP3 from the Studio, and Pro adds WAV. Downloads are for your own personal study, not to share or publish; to publish a cover, use YouTube’s licensing or get a sync license. On Free the stems play in Chord Lens.
12Can I use Chord Lens on my own files, or only YouTube?
Both. The Chrome extension works right on the YouTube video you’re watching, listening to the song as it plays. To split stems, upload your own audio in the Studio (MP3, WAV or M4A, up to 50 MB). Premium exports stems as MP3 and Pro adds WAV, for your own study and practice.
13Does it give me tabs?
No. It gives you the guitar audio on its own and the chords with their shapes, not tablature or sheet music.
14Can I set a capo?
Yes. Set the capo fret and the chart shows the shapes to play there, while the song stays in its key.
15Is this different from the stem splitter?
It’s the same split. The YouTube stem splitter page is about all six stems; this page is about the guitar. Both open in the same Studio.
In short
The whole page
in four lines.
The guitar stem.
One of six from every split.
Solo or mute.
Hear it alone, or play it yourself.
Chords in time.
Loop, slow, capo.
Free to try.
A 2-minute part on Free; the whole of most songs on Premium and Pro.
Keep going
More from Chord Lens.
All toolsYouTube Stem Splitter
All six stems from your own audio.
YouTube to Chords
The chords of a song, in time.
All Chord Lens tools
Chords, stems, practice and singing.
Learning another part? The same split has a page for each: the drum stem splitter, bass stem splitter or piano stem splitter.