Downstep
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Downstep

How to slow down a song without changing the pitch

You need an app that does time-stretching: it changes the speed of the audio and keeps the pitch where it is. With Downstep you import the song, move the Speed slider, for example to 70%, and the key stays the same. It's free, for Mac and Windows.

Why a slower song usually sounds lower

If you play a record or a tape slower, the pitch goes down with the speed. At half speed, a song sounds one octave lower. That's not useful when you want to learn a part: you hear the right rhythm, but the wrong notes.

Time-stretching keeps the two things apart. The audio is split into very short pieces, which are spread out in time (or packed closer), so the song gets slower or faster but the notes stay the same. Downstep uses Bungee, an open source library made for this.

Step by step with Downstep

  1. 1
    Download and open Downstep

    It's free, for Mac and Windows.

  2. 2
    Import the song

    An MP3, M4A, WAV or FLAC file, or a YouTube link (only for content you have the rights to). The song is saved on your computer.

  3. 3
    Lower the speed

    Move the Speed slider, or use the buttons to go down 5% at a time. You can go from 25% to 200%.

  4. 4
    Leave the pitch at 0

    The key doesn't change. If you want a different key too, move the Pitch slider: the two settings are independent.

Downstep remembers the speed of each song, so next time you find it as you left it.

How slow should you go?

Slow enough to play the part without mistakes. Then go up 5% at a time, until you reach 100%. It's better to play it clean at 60% than with mistakes at 90%: at full speed the mistakes are only harder to hear.

At very low speeds every time-stretch sounds less natural: drums lose some attack, and long notes can sound a bit "watery". To learn the notes, it's usually not a problem.

Practice the hard part only

Slowing down works best together with a loop: you repeat only the hard passage, not the whole song. Here is how to learn a part by ear with an A-B loop.

If you want to practice away from the computer, you can export the song to MP3 with your speed and pitch applied.

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