How it works
Neural-Fretboard turns any song into notes you can see and play on a real guitar neck. Here's what it does and how to use it.
Getting started
What is Neural-Fretboard?
It's a browser-based guitar visualiser. Drop in a song and every note lights up exactly where your fingers go on the fretboard, in real time. You can slow it down, loop a section, switch between three views, and play along. No tab to read, nothing to install.
What can I drop in?
The Player takes MIDI (.mid) and Guitar Pro tabs (.gp, .gp3 to .gp7, .gpx, MusicXML), both played note-for-note. In the Composer you can also import or record audio (.mp3, .wav, microphone) and have it transcribed to editable notes, a beta feature that runs entirely inside your browser.
Do I need an account?
You can try the Player, Tuner and Chords without one. An account lets you save songs to your library, keep your practice progress, and sync across devices. The Tuner is always free and needs no login.
The three views
What are the three views?
Portrait (vertical neck), Landscape (horizontal neck), and 3D (a rotatable neon fretboard). They all show the same song, so pick whichever helps you see the notes best. Switch any time with the view toggle.
Audio to notes (Composer, beta)
How does turning audio into notes work?
In the Composer, import an MP3/WAV or record with your microphone and an on-device model works out the notes and places them on the neck as editable notes. Two engines are available: Basic Pitch (polyphonic, hears chords - best for guitar and piano) and CREPE (single voice, very precise - best for vocals, bass lines and solos). It works best with clean solo recordings of your own playing; full songs and busy mixes come out rough, so treat the result as a sketch. You get an honest playability verdict so you know how realistic the part is for one guitarist.
What does the full-song stem split do?
The Composer can take a full song and split it into vocals, bass and melody before transcription, so each part becomes its own editable layer. On the timeline you can then show or hide each stem with a checkbox - hiding a stem never recalculates anything, and only the visible stems are played, saved and exported. The split runs entirely in your browser; the first use downloads the separation model (about 170 MB) once and caches it on your device. And to be honest about it: the split works, but transcribing a full mix is still a rough sketch, not sheet music. A clean solo recording always gives the best result.
Is my audio uploaded anywhere?
No. All audio and microphone processing - including the stem split - happens locally in your browser. Your recordings and uploaded files are never sent to us or any third party. Only the resulting MIDI is stored in your library, and only if you choose to save it. See the Privacy Policy.
Composer, chords and tuner
What is the Composer?
A step-sequencer where you place notes and chords on a string-by-time grid to build your own parts. It has a fretboard editor, a piano-roll and a real tab view of the same notes, and it exports a standard MIDI file. You can also import a song and edit it there.
What's in the Chords section?
A library of chords with finger positions, plus a progression builder with strum and fingerpicking patterns and a key highlighter. Click any chord to hear it.
How accurate is the Tuner?
The Tuner uses your microphone and autocorrelation pitch detection to show the note and how many cents sharp or flat you are, with a needle that locks green when you're in tune. It supports standard and several alternate tunings (Drop D, Eb, Open G, Open D). It's free and needs no account.
Practice mode
How does Practice mode work?
Practice is the player in “wait” mode. It freezes on the current note and only advances when you actually play it on your microphone. Single notes and full chords are both detected. It works in all three views. You need a mic; there is no need to plug your guitar in.
Plans and privacy
What's free and what's paid?
Playing is free: player, practice mode, composer, chords and tuner all work without paying. Free accounts get the standard synth sound, 3 saved songs (demo songs never count against that), and 3 video exports per month at 720p with a small watermark. The Creator subscription (€7.99/month or €59/year) adds the real guitar sound, unlimited saved songs, and the full export studio: no watermark, unlimited exports, 1080p/60fps, all looks, advanced effect controls, your own logo and saved looks. Cancel anytime. See Pricing.
Do you use tracking cookies or analytics?
There are no tracking cookies, no ad pixels, and no cross-site tracking. We use only a strictly necessary login cookie and functional browser storage, which is why there's no cookie banner. To count visits we use Vercel Web Analytics, a cookieless service that only gives us aggregated numbers like page views. Details in the Privacy Policy.
Technical
What do I need to run it?
A modern desktop browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari) with WebGL and Web Audio. Microphone features need mic permission and a secure (HTTPS) connection. The audio-AI features download a model file the first time you use them, then run offline in your browser. The full-song stem split uses a larger model (about 170 MB) that also downloads once and stays cached on your device.
Still stuck? Reach us at info@neural-fretboard.com and we'll help.