Practise guitar, bass or drums with a track without your instrument
2 min read · Updated
Playing along with the original recording is the most motivating way to learn a song, as long as you can hear it slowly, repeat the hard passage and, ideally, play in place of the original instrument. Here is a proven method and the tools to apply it.
In short
- Spot the hard passages and work on them separately, in a loop.
- Start slowly (70%), without changing pitch, then go up step by step.
- Transpose if your tuning or range differs from the original.
- Remove your instrument from the song when possible, to play in its place.
- Play the whole song at 100% only at the end.
Why play without the original instrument
As long as the original plays the same part as you, it hides your mistakes and timing slips. Remove it and you finally hear what you play, in its place in the band.
What the phone can do today
The NAUPLY Stems app splits a song into vocals and instrumental, then lets you change the speed (50 to 125%) without changing pitch, transpose by ±6 semitones and loop an A–B passage without a click. For singers, it's complete. For guitarists, bassists and drummers, speed and loop help learn a part, but their instrument stays in the instrumental.
Tip for transcribing a bass line: each stem's low / mid / high curve (±12 dB) lets you boost the lows of the instrumental to hear it better. More stems for Premium and Pro are coming soon to the phone.
Removing your instrument: on desktop
NAUPLY Stems for desktop splits up to 6 stems in Premium (vocals, drums, bass, guitar, piano, other) and 10 in Pro, down to the drum elements. You mute your instrument, keep the rest, and export a practice track as WAV.
The step method
Set a short loop on the hard passage (two to four bars) and set the speed to 70%. When you can play it three times in a row without a mistake, move to 85%, then 100%. Then make the loop longer and link the passages together.
Slowing down without changing pitch is essential: on a basic player, reduced speed lowers the key and you would learn the part in the wrong key.
Tuning and range
Many songs are played a half-step down, or with a capo. Rather than retuning your guitar, transpose the song a semitone up or down to match your usual tuning.
The NAUPLY Stems app for Android
Vocals and instrumental separated on the phone, nothing uploaded. Free with a NAUPLY account.
Discover the appFrequently asked questions
- What speed should I start at?
- Around 70% for a hard passage, then 85% and 100%. What matters is staying mistake-free at each step.
- Can I remove only the drums on the phone?
- Not yet with the NAUPLY Stems app, which separates vocals and instrumental. More stems are coming soon for Premium and Pro; NAUPLY Stems for desktop already does it.
- Does slowing down degrade the sound?
- A little, mostly at the slowest speeds, where a few artifacts can be heard. For learning a part, it doesn't get in the way.
- Does the A–B loop click?
- Not in the NAUPLY Stems app: a very short fade avoids a click on every repeat.
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