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Nothing is quite so frustrating as having a song you can't remember the name of stuck in your head. If you only know a couple of lyrics or can hum a brief song bar, all is not lost. Utilize search engines or music recognition websites to find your lost song. If you heard the song on a radio station, check music charts for a possible match.
Steps
Running Online Searches
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1Search any lyrics you can remember. Close your eyes, and concentrate on any words you can remember from the song. Maybe you remember the phrase "destiny is calling me" or "wish we could turn back time." Use quotation marks around specific phrases to narrow your search. Remembering more lyric phrases increases your likelihood of finding the song.[1]
- Avoid excessively searching common words like "the," "and," "or," "but," and so on. These can clog up your search with unrelated results.
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2Add context to your search terms. Perhaps you heard this song on a specific TV show or movie. Search for "song playing during the credits of Grey's Anatomy, season six" or "song featured on The Voice in February 2017." Check movie soundtracks or scores for instrumental music.Advertisement
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3Try alternate spellings. The song you're looking for might repeat a specific name. If the way you're spelling it isn't bringing up results, retry your search with less common spellings. You might try "Kjiersten" instead of "Kiersten," or "Zach" rather than "Zack."[2]
- Make sure none of your searched words are misspelled.
- Sometimes pop songs intentionally misspell/abbreviate words like "tonite" instead of "tonight" or "2" instead of "to."
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4Use advanced search options. Most search engines offer advanced settings, if general searches aren't offering any results. You can limit your search to pages released within a certain year, or find pages containing all of the words included. You can also eliminate certain words or lyric phrases, if the popular results aren't what you're looking for.[3]
Using Apps and Websites
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1Ask around on music forums. Enlist the help of music enthusiasts to find the song. Look in music forums for specific genres, like metal or instrumental. Make a post including as many details about the song you can remember. Include lyric phrases, any relevant context, and anything else you remember.
- WatZatSong and Name My Tune are both general music finding sites.
- The popular social news site Reddit hosts a forum called "r/tipofmytongue," where users can ask for help identifying unknown songs.[4]
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2Download music recognition apps. If the song is currently playing while you're in a restaurant or book store, some apps allow you to record the song and upload it. The app will then match the recording to songs in their database and offer the most likely match. Some well-known music recording apps include Shazam and MusicID.[5]
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3Enter the melody into a searchable music site. Music recognition apps might not aid your search if the song's already ended. If you have a microphone, some music websites allow you to sing the melody or tap the rhythm of the song and upload the recording online. Try singing or tapping the melody into your microphone. The website will then compare your recording to their song database and return with possible matches.[6]
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4
Browsing Music Charts
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1Look up the most recent music charts for new songs. If you've heard this song on a "Top 40" or "Greatest Hits" channel, you might have luck checking top music charts. Check music charts from your city or country for the best results. Popular charts include Billboard, Official Charts, and BBC Radio 1.
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2
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3Find music charts from past decades. You might have heard an "oldies" song popular ten or more years ago that newer charts won't list. If you know the approximate time period it might have been released, search for music charts from earlier generations.
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4Contact your local radio station. Call or email the radio station you heard the song on, and ask whether they know which songs they played on a certain date or time. Include any relevant information you can remember. Some radio stations also post their schedules online, which you can peruse on your own.
- When traveling, you can use a radio locator to find info about a specific station.[9]
An other way is to use an app Use the app Shazam to find songs, just have a recording of the songs that you maybe got of tik tok and set in in the app. Now you’ll now the name!
Community Q&A
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QuestionWhat's the best way for me to find the name of a song I don't know?
Community AnswerType some of the lyrics into Google and there's a good chance the song will pop up. -
QuestionHow can I find out the name of a song with no lyrics?
Community AnswerTry to figure out who wrote it based on the instrumentals. For example: decide if it's instrumental rock, country, hip hop, rap, etc. and try to listen to the tone and look for the song. -
QuestionHow can I find a song of which I only remember the video clip?Community Answerif you remember what was happening in the video clip, try to search for what action that was taking place in the video or the location where the video was made.
References
- ↑ http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/20-tips-use-google-search-efficiently.html
- ↑ http://www.allbutforgottenoldies.net/help/name-that-tune.html
- ↑ https://www.google.com/advanced_search
- ↑ http://pigeonsandplanes.com/news/2016/01/subreddit-help-find-a-song
- ↑ http://www.ubergizmo.com/how-to/identify-songs/
- ↑ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-a-song-title-just-by-humming-the-lyrics/
- ↑ http://www.billboard.com/charts
- ↑ http://billboardtop100of.com/336-2/
- ↑ https://radio-locator.com/
About This Article
To find a song you don't know the name of, start by visiting a music recognition website, like Midomi or Tunebot. Then, sing or hum the melody of the song into your computer's microphone and wait for the website to match the melody with a song in its database. If you know some of the lyrics to the song, try entering them into an advanced search option on a search engine, or post them on a music forum, like Name My Tune, and ask if anyone knows what song it is. To learn how to find a song using music recognition apps on your phone, scroll down!
