Chord Lens
AI Piano Stem Splitter
AI Piano Stem Splitter: the piano on its own
Isolate the piano in any song: solo it to hear the voicings under the vocal, or take the keys out 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 and their piano shapes in time. Free to try: Free splits a 2-minute part.
Last updated
Piano demo: “Moil” by Ruskerdax, CC0
The short version
At a
glance.
hear it, then play it
Chord Lens splits a song into six stems, one of them the piano, so you can listen to the keys alone or take them out and play the part yourself. Everything else on this page is the detail.
- The piano stemone of six from every split
- Solo itthe voicings, on their own
- Mute itkeys out, you take the part
- Chords in timewith the piano shape for each one
- Slow it downthe pitch stays put
- Loop the barsone hand at a time
- Change the keythe shapes are re-spelled
- 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 piano.
On its own.
A piano part is hard to hear in a full mix: the vocal sits on its melody, the guitars share its chords, and pads fill the space around it. Hearing it alone is the fastest way to learn the voicings.
Chord Lens splits the song into six stems, vocals, drums, bass, piano, guitar and the rest, and the piano gets its own fader, solo and mute, with each chord and its piano shape in time on screen.
Take the keys out and the band plays on without them, so you can play the part yourself. Use the Chrome extension on the YouTube video, 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 piano as a file to load somewhere else.
Split where you play
Splits the song you’re watching and keeps the piano, the chords and the loop in one place.
02 / 10 · How to
Isolate the piano
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 piano
Press S on Piano to hear the keys 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 piano is one.
Every split gives you the same six stems. The piano is its own, so you can solo it, mute it or set it under the rest.
- Piano
- Vocals
- Drums
- Bass
- Guitar
- Other
Solo it
Hear the voicings, then learn them one hand at a time.
Mute it
Keys out: you take the part over the band.
Turn it down
Keep a little as a guide while you play.
Synth keys, organ and pads often land in Other rather than Piano, so solo the two together when a keyboard part seems to be missing. 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 piano follows
- Loop
- A–B
- Loop the bars and learn them one hand at a time.
- Speed
- 0.75×
- Slow the piano down to hear each voicing; the pitch stays put.
- Key
- −2
- Move the song to a key you play in; the chords and shapes are re-spelled.
Set the chart’s diagrams to Piano and each chord shows its keys as it lights up on the beat, with the next one waiting 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 piano that leads the arrangement, in a ballad or a worship song, usually comes out clear enough to learn the voicings from.
Piano is harder than drums or bass: it shares space with guitars and pads, so some of them can bleed in, and synth keys, organ and electric piano often land in Other instead. 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 piano and listen.
Missing part of the keys?
- Turn Other up: synth keys and pads often land there.
- Solo Piano 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 piano.
Three ways to hear the piano alone in a song you heard on YouTube.
| Upload-a-file splitters | Piano tutorial videos | By ear | Chord Lens | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works on the YouTube video you watch | No, a file | Only songs covered | Yes | Yes |
| The original piano | Yes | Re-played | Yes | Yes |
| Chords and piano 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 |
A tutorial video shows you the hands, and working a part out by ear is still the best training there is. Chord Lens is for the moment in between: you heard the song, and you want the original piano alone, with the chords there while you learn it.
08 / 10 · How players use it
Four ways
players use it.
Learn the voicings
Solo the piano, loop the bars, slow them to 0.75×.
Play the part
Mute the piano and play over the band.
One hand at a time
Loop a bar and learn the left hand, then the right.
Play in your key
Move the key and the shapes follow.
Worship keys players use it to learn a new song in the key they lead it in, with the stems moved to match. Teachers use it to show a student how the piano part sits under a chorus.
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 sheet music
It gives you the piano audio and the chords with their shapes, not notation.
Not every keyboard
Synth keys, organ and pads often land in Other, not Piano.
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 piano 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 Piano stem. You hear the piano alone, with the chords in time.
02Can I remove the piano instead?
Yes. Press M on Piano and the band plays on without the keys, so you can play the part yourself. Turn the fader down instead to keep a little of it as a guide.
03Does it split synth and organ too?
Not reliably. The Piano stem is made for piano; synth keys, organ and pads often land in Other. Solo Piano and Other together to hear them all.
04How clean is the piano stem?
A piano that leads the song usually comes out clear enough to learn from. It’s harder than drums or bass, because guitars and pads share its space and can bleed in.
05Can I slow the piano 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 piano chords?
Yes. Set the chart’s diagrams to Piano and each chord shows its keys in time with the song.
07Why do I hear guitar in the piano?
Piano and guitar often play the same chords in the same range, so a little of one can bleed into the other. 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 piano 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 sheet music?
No. It gives you the piano audio on its own and the chords with their piano shapes, not notation or sheet music.
14Can I change the key?
Yes. Move the song up or down, up to 12 semitones in the Studio or 6 in the extension. The stems move with it and the chords and shapes are re-spelled.
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 piano. Both open in the same Studio.
In short
The whole page
in four lines.
The piano stem.
One of six from every split.
Solo or mute.
Hear the keys alone, or play them yourself.
Chords in time.
With piano shapes; loop, slow, change the key.
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 guitar stem splitter, drum stem splitter or bass stem splitter.