Just how well does Google's Hum song recognition work?

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 24 November 2020

Google recently added a new feature to its mobile search that lets you hum to find a song - we've affectionately dubbed it Google Hum - which sounds perfect if you've got a riff or melody stuck in your head that you just can't name. But how well does it work?

To find out, I put my lack of vocal prowess up against Google's algorithms. Watch me embarrass myself below:

At this stage, Google Hum can recognise over 500,000 songs from around the world in over 22 languages. That's an impressive catalogue, but in our broader testing, we found it may mean it won't recognise a song if it's on the more obscure side. Funnily enough, I had a lot of trouble getting Google to recognise my hummed death metal renditions. Hopefully this library will keep on growing, so I can finally get the praise I need for being able to hum the clean vocal section to Cattle Decapitation's "Prophets of Loss".

Google says Hum focuses on the melody, and can pick-up a song whether it's being sung, whistled, or hummed. This can make it a little tricky when it comes to hip-hop and rap, unless there's a melodic hook that you can pluck out from the song. Mumbling at the right cadence doesn't tend to work, and humming the main sample from "WAP" doesn't either.

Personally, I had more luck with Google recognising my attempts at rock and alternative rather than anything poppy, but that's probably just me not being very good at this. But hey, I'm still impressed that Google Hum worked more often than not. And at the end of the day, it's also a very fun way to kill some time.

Google Hum presently only works on mobile devices. Hopefully we'll see it come to Google Nest further down the line.

How to use Google Hum on Android

To use Google Hum on Android devices, follow these steps:

Open the Google search app or widget
Tap the microphone button
Tap search for a song
Hum the song you’ve got stuck in your head

How to use Google Hum on iPhone

To use Google Hum on iPhone, you'll first need to install the Google app. After, follow these steps.

Open the Google app
Tap the microphone button in the top right hand corner
Tap search a song
Hum the song you’ve got stuck in your head

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

Read full bio