Learn your favorite songs without tabs or sheet music
The best musicians train their ears by learning the songs they love. Capo makes this possible by analyzing any song in your music library to reveal its beats, chords, and key. No curated lessons, no prescribed curriculum—just you, your favorite music, and a tool that helps you hear what's really happening.
I have been wishing for this software for years. It's incredibly useful, whether I'm charting my own songs for the players who join me, or discovering exactly what is being played on a recording I love.
Quite simply the best and only app you need to learn how to play a song. Useful, easy to understand and packed with features, Capo is the secret weapon for figuring out how a song is played. It gets my vote for sure.
I am a devout Capo user for a couple of years now- it's the GREATEST of all, especially since it makes a library of your tunes you work on, sonically great, etc. It's my go-to music learning app!
Capo is a fantastic way to analyze & learn music quickly; I love how clean the pitch algorithm is even at 1/4 speed. Capo is a great teaching & learning tool whether you're a rank beginner or a seasoned professional.
Guitarist/Singer for Sugarland
Guitarist for Billy Idol
Bassist for David Letterman
Guitarist for Living Colour
Essential tool for musicians
Capo has replaced all of my older "slow downer" applications for audio. The visual interface lets me use the features - pitch, key, speed, etc. - quickly to work out songs and guitar breaks. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it syncs between my Mac, iPad and iPhone. I can prepare a track on my Mac and use it when teaching on my iPad.
BradPDX - US
Capo for macOS
Such a valuable tool!!
I grew up dropping the needle over and over to learn guitar parts and solos. It was painstaking and difficult but that was the way we did it. Today, Capo makes the process of learning parts seamless and so easy — input the source material, take control of tempo, key, etc and set up regions for looping, all of which takes seconds to do. Amazing. Also a great tool for developing original music.
jazbeaux - US
Capo for iOS
Apple Design Award
Mac Developer Showcase
Winner 2011
Best of Mac App Store
Best Apps of the Year
2011
iMore Best of 2014 Award
Audio App of the Year
2014
“Whether I go to learn a song myself or teach someone how to play a song, I bring it up in Capo.”Read about Capo's use in Education ›
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Capo different from other music practice apps?
Capo is built for musicians who want to work out songs by ear from the recordings themselves, not follow a lesson plan. That means:
- Capo works with any song you already own—no searching a catalog, no hoping the track you want made it through a licensing deal.
- Chords are detected automatically and stay fully editable—you're never stuck with a result you disagree with.
- Everything runs on-device, so Capo is just as fast in a practice room as it is on stage.
- Nothing gets uploaded—for most apps that's step one. Your music stays on your Mac or iPhone.
Which instruments does Capo support?
Despite the name, Capo isn't just for guitar! If you play piano, piccolo, harmonica, or violin—you wouldn't be the first person using Capo to learn songs for your instrument by ear.
If you play guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo, or mandolin, Capo can show you chord diagrams for various tunings, and it even shows left-handed shapes for all you southpaws. The diagrams also adjust when you place a virtual capo on any fret.
Piano players will appreciate the simple piano diagrams that make it easy to find all the keys you can build your own chord voicings from.
How accurate is Capo's chord detection?
For most songs, it's incredibly accurate. When Capo does struggle, it's usually because the recording is wildly out of tune, chords change too quickly, or there isn't enough harmonic information in the mix.
But here's the thing: Capo gets you about 90% of the way there, and you can edit any chord to match what you're hearing. You might also want different voicings, or need to adjust chords for your band or a solo performance. Capo gives you all the tools to customize the detected harmony and build on it as you need.
Does it handle complex music, or just simple pop and rock?
Capo's chord recognition works with a wide range of musical styles including jazz, fusion, metal, and classical—not just what you hear on the top 50 pop charts.
Most chord recognition systems only detect 24 chords—12 major and 12 minor. So if the song plays an Emin7, you just get Em. D/F#? That's just a D.
By contrast, Capo's neural network was trained on a massive library of songs to recognize 168 different chords—12 notes times 14 chord qualities including major 7, minor 7, suspended, augmented, and more. On top of that, Capo can also recognize inversions like D/F#, which expands the number of possibilities even further.
Do I need to know music theory to use Capo?
You don't need music theory to play an instrument, and you certainly don't need it to use Capo. Even if you don't know what a chord is or how to play them by name, Capo is incredibly powerful as a tool for listening carefully and repeating the notes you hear on your instrument—you can even turn off the chord display if you don't want to see it.
Does Capo work with Spotify or Apple Music?
Capo works with audio files you own—MP3, WAV, AIFF, M4A, FLAC, and DRM-free purchases from iTunes. It can't access streaming tracks from services like Spotify or Apple Music, since those are protected and not stored as files on your device.
If you don't already own a track, Capo for iOS makes it easy to buy a DRM-free copy directly from iTunes. On the Mac, you can right-click any song in the Music app and click "Show in iTunes Store" to grab it.
Does Capo work without an internet connection?
Yes. Capo processes everything locally on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad—chord detection, slowing, looping, and note transcription all work without an internet connection. That makes it reliable for practice rooms, tour buses, or anywhere else you might have spotty Wi-Fi.
Does Capo upload my music anywhere?
No. Your music never leaves your device, and all processing happens locally. That's faster than shipping your song off to a server and waiting—and it means no copy of your library lands in someone else's data center. Your music is your business: we don't track what songs you learn or how you acquired them.
What devices does Capo work on?
Capo is available for macOS and iOS, so it works on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. If you use Capo on more than one device, it synchronizes the Projects you save in iCloud Drive—start working out a song on your Mac, and pick up right where you left off on your iPad or iPhone.
Is Capo available on Windows or Android?
No, and we have no plans to build Capo for Windows or Android at this time. We have extensive Apple platform expertise, and our focus is on offering the best possible experience on the Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Are there feature differences between Mac and iOS?
A few of the advanced tools are exclusive to the Mac: the spectrogram-based Tabbing view for note-by-note transcription, MIDI export of notes and chords, and the lead sheet export. Chord detection, editing, slowing, and looping work the same on both platforms.
Can Capo export lead sheets or PDFs?
Yes. On your Mac, Capo builds a clean, publication-quality lead sheet straight from your song's detected chords and the sections you add. Bring it to band practice or hand one to a student to learn at home.
Is there a free version?
You can get the Free Edition of Capo from the App Store for macOS or iOS. It includes full access to chord detection, slowing, looping, and many other features. The Free Edition just won't save your edits to chords and beats, export audio, or—on the Mac—export MIDI and create lead sheets.
For many people, the Free Edition is a complete toolkit for learning songs.
Unlike many other apps, Capo doesn't mess around with 7- or 14-day trials that trick you into a subscription. You can use the Free Edition for as long as you'd like, and purchase only when you're ready.
