The short answer
Drop the song on the pitch changer below, press +1 or -1 until the semitone counter shows the change you want, and press Change pitch. Listen to the result in the player and compare it with the original. If it fits, choose MP3, WAV or M4A and download it. Keep tempo stays on, so the song keeps its length and speed.
If you know the key of the song, choose it in Song key: the tool then shows the new key, for example C to D when you go up two semitones.
Try it here: Pitch Changer
Open the full tool pageSemitones and keys
Western music divides the octave into twelve semitones: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A# and B, then C again. Moving every note of a song by the same number of semitones is called transposing. The melody, the chords and the relations between them stay the same; only the overall pitch changes.
Use this table to see where a song ends up. Find the original key in the first column and move right by the number of semitones.
| Original key | +1 | +2 | +3 | -1 | -2 | -3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | C# | D | D# | B | A# | A |
| D | D# | E | F | C# | C | B |
| E | F | F# | G | D# | D | C# |
| F | F# | G | G# | E | D# | D |
| G | G# | A | A# | F# | F | E |
| A | A# | B | C | G# | G | F# |
Finding the right key for your voice
If a song feels too high, the chorus usually shows it first: you strain or your voice cracks on the highest notes. Try two or three semitones down. If it feels too low and you mumble in the verses, go up by the same amount. Sing the highest and the lowest part of the song with each version before you decide; the best key is the one where both feel comfortable.
Male and female singers often cover the same song about four to five semitones apart. Choirs and karaoke versions commonly use shifts of one to three semitones.
Why the tempo can stay the same
Playing a recording faster raises its pitch, which is what happens to a record or a tape running too fast. To change only the pitch, the pitch changer uses a phase vocoder. It cuts the sound into short overlapping slices of about 90 milliseconds, measures the exact frequency of each component, stretches the sound in time while keeping those frequencies, and then resamples it back to its original length. The result has the new pitch and the original length.
Phase locking keeps the harmonics of each note together, which removes most of the hollow, phasey sound simple pitch shifters produce. If you untick Keep tempo, the tool only resamples: speed and pitch change together like a record, and the sound stays perfectly clean.
Keeping the sound natural
Shifts of one to three semitones sound natural on almost any music. Larger shifts are audible in a few typical ways: drum hits lose a little sharpness, and voices change character because the resonances of the throat and mouth, the formants, move together with the pitch. A voice raised by five semitones sounds smaller and brighter, lowered by five larger and darker.
For the best result, start from a good quality file, such as a WAV or a high bit rate MP3, and keep the change as small as your voice allows. Save as WAV if you want to edit the file further, as MP3 for the widest compatibility or as M4A for Apple devices.
Fine tuning in cents
Some recordings are not tuned to the usual A4 = 440 Hz. Old tape recordings may run slightly fast, and some music is tuned to 432 Hz. If your instrument sounds a little off against such a recording even in the right key, use the Fine tune control: one cent is a hundredth of a semitone. A song at 432 Hz needs about +32 cents to match 440 Hz, and the other way round about -32 cents.
Playing along with a recording
Transposing also helps instrumentalists. A song in E flat played by a guitarist in half step down tuning can be moved up one semitone to E, so you can play along in standard tuning. Horn players often move recordings into keys that suit their instrument for practice. Use the online tuner to check the tuning of your instrument before you compare it with the recording.