On Easter Day in the middle of carrying food and decorations down to the 8th floor recreation deck for my Easter brunch, I received a phone call in the elevator. It was Kathy Hallman, daughter of organist Nyle Hallman, who said to me, “Kathy, you’re probably in the middle of Easter cooking, but Mom and I can’t remember the name of a piece,” and she hummed a few bars.

At that moment, my arms were full and how I managed to even answer my phone was a miracle. I’m afraid I did not give the right answer, although I recognized the melody.

Too bad I didn’t just tell them how to Google it! Yes, if you type “identify a song by humming,” you’ll receive this answer:

Tap on the mic icon and say “what’s this song?” or click the “Search a song” button. Then start humming for 10 to 15 seconds. On Google Assistant, say, “Hey Google, what’s this song?” and then hum the tune. Perfect pitch is not needed.

The answer is even on the Google support page, “Song stuck in your head? Just hum to search.”

It was way back last October 2020 that Google announced: Do you know that song that goes, “da daaaa da da daaaa na naa naa ooohh yeah”? Or the one that starts with the guitar chords going, “da na na naa”? We all know how frustrating it is when you can’t remember the name of a song or any of the words but the tune is stuck in your head. Today at Search On, we announced that Google can now help you figure it out—no lyrics, artist name or perfect pitch required. 

Starting today, you can hum, whistle or sing a melody to Google to solve your earworm. On your mobile device, open the latest version of the Google app or find your Google Search widget, tap the mic icon and say “what’s this song?” or click the “Search a song” button. Then start humming for 10-15 seconds. On Google Assistant, it’s just as simple. Say “Hey Google, what’s this song?” and then hum the tune. This feature is currently available in English on iOS, and in more than 20 languages on Android. And we hope to expand this to more languages in the future.

What they won’t think of next!

Years ago at a choir party, I hosted a “Guess that song” quiz and played snippets of choir anthems we had sung that season. I played 20 musical examples, some of which contained only three or four chords. You’d be surprised at how many people did poorly on my test!

Now when you can’t remember the name of a song, you can just Google it!