Show HN: Guitoro, a virtual guitar you strum with your keyboard

What is Guitoro? Guitoro is the most realistic and the most complete virtual guitar you can play online, free in your browser. Play it with your computer keyboard, your left hand on the chords and your right hand strumming, or swipe the strings with your finger on a phone or tablet. Choose a steel-string acoustic, a classic guitar, an electric guitar or a four-string bass. It's also a way to learn chords and songs that a chord chart or a video lesson can't show you. Each song plays its best-known part close to the original recording, stroke for stroke. Slow it down to 20% and watch it being played: each string lights up the moment it's hit, the pick swings down and up with the strum, and the neck shows which finger goes where. Then it's your turn. No guitar? Play the song on the keys or the screen, and it waits for you at every chord change. Have a guitar? Pick it up and play along at your own speed, with the strings, the strum and the fingering right in front of you. Every guitar and bass note is a recording of a real instrument. There's nothing to download and no account to create. If you played the Google guitar doodle, Guitoro takes the idea further: six real strings, 15 chords in every key, and 51 songs to play along with. 4 instruments 15 chords in every key 51 songs to play along with 20%slowest song speed 56 strum and picking patterns 15 drum styles Play Play guitar with your keyboard or your fingers No guitar needed. Guitoro is built to be played, not just clicked, on whatever you have in front of you. Computer keyboard Your left hand holds a chord on the letter keys and your right hand strums with H and J, the way you'd play a real guitar. 22 chords sit under your fingers, plus keys for arpeggios, single strings, chucks and palm mutes. Touch screen On a phone or tablet, tap a chord pad and swipe the strings with your finger. Up to five fingers at once, and you can tap the frets on the neck to play single notes. Mouse Drag across the strings. A fast swipe plays louder, a slow drag rolls the notes one by one, and a click plucks a single string. Melodies in Solo On a computer, switch to Solo and every keyboard row becomes a string and every column a fret, with bends and vibrato on the arrow keys. Learn by watching See every string and every stroke, as slowly as you need In a video lesson the hand moves fast and hides the strings, so you can't tell which ones were really hit. Guitar apps teach the basic chords and stop there. Guitoro plays the song's real part on the guitar in front of you, at the speed you choose, and shows exactly what the hands do. Then you play it, on the virtual guitar or on your own. Played like the record Each song plays its best-known part close to the original recording, stroke for stroke. Slow it anywhere from 20% to full speed and the chords, the strum and the band slow down together. See which strings are hit Each string lights up the moment it sounds, then vibrates as it rings. You can see whether a stroke hits all six strings, just the bass strings or only the top three. Watch the strumming hand Over a strummed part, the pick swings down and up like a real strumming hand, once per step of the pattern. Solid swings hit the strings and faint ones miss them, so you see the hand keep moving through the gaps. Fingers on the neck While a chord rings, the neck shows it: finger numbers from 1 to 4, barres, muted strings and the capo. Copy the shape onto your own guitar. No guitar? The song waits for you Play a song's chords on the keys or the screen and it follows you. The keys show its chords in order, the next one lights green, and the song holds until you play it. No score and no rush. Have a guitar? Play along Watch a part slowly, copy it on your guitar, then play along as you raise the speed. On a computer, choose My guitar: the on-screen keys step aside and the song box shows the strum or picking pattern, a chord strip you can click to jump around, and the speed. Realism Why it sounds and feels like a real guitar Most online guitars only let you click single strings or frets, or play a synthesized tone when you click a chord. On Guitoro you strum: swipe across the strings or use the keys, and every string sounds as you cross it, from recordings of real instruments. Recorded, not synthesized Every guitar and bass note is a recording of a real instrument: a steel-string acoustic, a classic guitar with nylon strings, a solid-body electric on its bridge pickup, and a four-string bass. Strums follow your hand Each string sounds as your finger or mouse crosses it. Swipe down or up, fast or slow, and you hear the difference, down to a slow roll across the strings. Real chord shapes Chords use the shapes guitarists play, with open strings, barres and muted strings, so a G sounds like a G on a guitar, not on a keyboard. Guitar techniques Chucks, palm mutes, hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends and vibrato, while the strings vibrate on screen as they ring. Use cases What people use it for Playing without a guitar Strum real chords and play whole songs with your computer keyboard or your fingers, with a backing band behind you. On a train, at the office or on the sofa, a laptop or a phone and headphones are enough. Learning real songs Songs like Wonderwall, Hallelujah and Let It Be come set up with the right key, capo, tempo and the strum from the record. Lead the chords from the keys, or pick up your own guitar and play along at any speed. Getting a strum right Slow a song's strum down, watch which way the pick moves on every beat, then strum it yourself over a drum beat until it feels steady. Learning their first chords See where each finger goes, hear how the chord should sound, then copy the shape on a real guitar. Every chord also has its own page in the guitar chord chart. Checking a chord chart Paste the chords of a song from a chord site and hear how it goes before you sit down to play it. Writing a song Type a chord progression under My songs, loop it with the backing band, and record the idea before it's gone. Teaching Show a class a chord shape or a strum on a big screen, slowed down, with every string and every pick stroke visible. Other musicians Singers, keyboard players and songwriters can hear how guitar chords are voiced and see how a progression lies on the fretboard, without learning to hold a guitar first. Features Everything in the app The most complete virtual guitar online: four instruments, every key, real chord shapes, songs, a backing band and recording, all free in one place. Four real instruments Steel-string acoustic, classic guitar, electric and four-string bass, each built from recorded samples. Pick a recording for the acoustic (Warm, Bright or Mellow) and the classic (Natural or Concert), and presets for the electric, from Clean to Crunch, Classic Rock, Metal, Lead and Ambient. Every key plays its letter Press C for a C chord, G for G, A to G in all. The keys around them hold Am, Em, Dm and the five sharps and flats, the number row Bm, F#m and other minors, Caps Lock makes any chord minor and Tab makes it a seventh. Or pick one of the 24 major and minor keys and the chord keys fill with the 15 chords that fit it. Edit puts any chord you type, like F#m7 or Dsus2, on a key. Chord shapes on the neck While a chord rings, the neck shows finger numbers, barres, muted strings and the capo. Standard is the shape most players learn first, Easy swaps a barre chord for a smaller shape, and Up plays the same chord higher up the neck. Songs at any speed 51 songs and classical pieces come set up to play, from Wonderwall and Hotel California to Canon in D. Slow them to 20%, lead their chords from the keys, or play along on your own guitar. 56 strum and picking patterns 14 everyday strums from Steady downs and the pop staple D DU U DU to shuffle and 6/8, 4 styles (reggae, funk and country), 26 more rhythms drawn from real songs, and 12 picking patterns like Travis and classical p-i-m-a. Choose one and you hear it straight away. A backing band Drums, bass and strings that follow your chords: 15 drum styles, including rock, funk, reggae, bossa nova and cajon, and 25 bass lines. The Band switch next to Play turns them on. Tempo goes from 10 to 220 BPM, with a metronome. Your own songs Paste a song from a chord site or as ChordPro text, pick a strum, and Guitoro plays it with the band. Write "x2" to repeat a line or a part. Lyrics are left out, and your songs stay in your browser. Solo mode Play single notes and melodies on the neck from the computer keyboard, with hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends and vibrato. Amp & FX Overdrive, distortion and fuzz on the electric, plus bass, mid and treble, room or hall reverb, and delay on every instrument. Tunings and capo 10 tunings, from Standard, Drop D and half step down to DADGAD and Open G, D and E, a capo up to fret 10, and a left-handed guitar. Record and export Record takes of up to 10 minutes with the band, replay them and save them as WAV or a small compressed file. Takes stay in your browser. Online tuner A free guitar tuner that listens through your microphone, with pages for drop D, open tunings, the bass and the ukulele. Getting started How to use Guitoro From silence to a song you lead yourself. The first two steps take a few seconds. Choose an instrument Pick Acoustic, Classic, Electric or Bass at the top of the page. On a phone, tap the guitar picture. You can switch at any time. Pick a chord Tap a chord pad, or press its letter on the keyboard: C plays C, G plays G, D plays D. Hold Caps Lock for a minor chord. Strum on chord key starts on, so the chord strums itself. Strum it yourself Turn Auto off, then swipe down across the strings for a downstroke and up for an upstroke. On a keyboard, H strums down and J strums up. Choose a pattern Open the Strum menu and pick a strum or picking pattern. You hear it once on your chord. With Auto and Loop on, it keeps playing while you hold a chord key. Play a song Open Songs & recordings and pick a song. Press Play to hear it, or press the chord key that lights green to lead it yourself. The tempo button next to Play slows it down. Add a band Turn on the Band switch next to Play. Its edit button opens Backing band, where you choose the drums, the bass line and the strings. Record a take Open Songs & recordings, choose Recordings, and press Record. Play, then use Stop next to the recording timer. Your takes stay in Recordings. Keyboard Play guitar with your computer keyboard Your left hand holds the chords and your right hand strums, just like on a guitar. Chord keys play the letter printed on them, QWERTZ and AZERTY included, the other keys keep their place on a US QWERTY keyboard, and every key on screen shows its letter. Chords H down, J up, K down when pressed and up when released, N hard down, M slow down Y arpeggio, U bass note, I O P the top three strings L chuck, ; palm mute, right Shift hard strum, Alt slow strum The chord keys show the song's chords in order and the next one lights green. With My guitar on, Space plays and pauses the song Each row is a string and each column a fret. Left and Right arrows move up and down the neck, Up bends, Down adds vibrato Learn chords How to learn guitar chords with Guitoro Start with G, C, D and Em Press G, C and D, then Z for Em: together these four chords play hundreds of pop and folk songs. Press each one and watch the neck: the numbers are your fingers, from 1 for the index to 4 for the little finger. An X marks a string you don't play, and a bar across the strings is a barre. Listen to the difference Play C, then Am. The chord name above the guitar tells you which is major and which is minor, and your ear learns the bright and the sad sound. Do the same with the sevenths: hold Tab as you press a chord. Copy the shape on a real guitar Put your fingers where the dots are, strum, and compare your sound with Guitoro's. A buzzing or dead string usually means a finger is too far from the fret or touching the next string. Many barre chords have an Easy version for while your hand gets stronger. Change chords in time Open Songs & recordings and pick a song, or paste one under My songs. Press each chord key as it lights green: the song waits for you at every change. Start slow, then raise the speed a little at a time. Try other keys, the capo and tunings Switch the key to hear the same chords higher or lower, or in a minor key. Put a capo on in Settings and the same shapes sound higher, which is how guitarists play in keys like A or B with easy open chords. Drop D and Open G show how a tuning changes the whole sound. G C D Em Low E string on the left. Numbers are fingers, O is an open string, X is a string you don't play. Learn strumming How to learn strumming patterns Strum patterns are written with D for a downstroke and U for an upstroke, and x for a muted chuck. The trick is to keep your hand moving down on every number and up on every "and", even when it misses the strings. In Guitoro you can watch the pick do exactly that. The pop staple D DU U DU Counted "1, 2 and, and, 4 and": the down on beat 3 is left out, but the hand still moves. 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & Listen first Choose a pattern from the Strum menu and you hear it once on your chord. The menu shows each pattern as a grid of downs and ups. Watch it slowly Open a song with the strum you want and slow it to 50% or less. The pick swings down on the numbers and up on the "and"s: solid when it hits the strings, faint when it misses. The strings light up to show which ones each stroke hits. Play it yourself Turn Auto off, turn on the Band switch or the metronome, and strum along with H and J or by swiping the strings. Record and listen back Record a take and listen for uneven strokes. When it sounds steady, speed up. Build up in order Steady downs, then Down-up eighths, then the pop staple, then 6/8 ballad and Shuffle. After that, open songs like Wonderwall, Hallelujah and Knockin' on Heaven's Door and strum their own patterns. Songs Play along with a song Each song page has its chords with diagrams and its strum or picking pattern written out, and sets the guitar up for you: key, capo, tempo and chords. The easy guitar songs page groups them by how many chords they have. Iris (Goo Goo Dolls) Blackbird (The Beatles) Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) (Green Day) Wonderwall (Oasis) Gymnopédie No. 1 (Satie) Perfect (Ed Sheeran) Canon in D (Pachelbel) Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley) I'm Yours (Jason Mraz) Hotel California (Eagles) Ode to Joy (Beethoven) Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan) Für Elise (Beethoven) Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley) Let Her Go (Passenger) Morning Mood (Grieg) Creep (Radiohead) Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven) Riptide (Vance Joy) Greensleeves (traditional) Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd) Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver) Habanera (Bizet) House of the Rising Sun (The Animals) Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) Shallow (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper) In the Hall of the Mountain King (Grieg) Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin) Thinking Out Loud (Ed Sheeran) Spring (Vivaldi) Nothing Else Matters (Metallica) Toccata and Fugue in D minor (Bach) Photograph (Ed Sheeran) Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart) Tears in Heaven (Eric Clapton) Don't Look Back in Anger (Oasis) Rondo alla Turca (Mozart) Hey There Delilah (Plain White T's) Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude (Bach) Love Yourself (Justin Bieber) Wake Me Up When September Ends (Green Day) Yellow (Coldplay) Minuet in G (Petzold) Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Bourrée in E minor (Bach) Zombie (The Cranberries) Dust in the Wind (Kansas) Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles) Let It Be (The Beatles) Lágrima (Tárrega) Fast Car (Tracy Chapman) A Horse with No Name (America) Stand By Me (Ben E. King) Tools Playing a real guitar along? The free online guitar tuner listens through your microphone, with pages for drop D, half step down and open tunings. There is a free ukulele tuner too. Guitar chords Every major, minor and seventh chord in all 12 keys, with finger charts and an easier version where there is one: the guitar chord chart. Search any chord there, hear it strummed, and open it on the guitar. FAQ Questions Is Guitoro free? Yes. It runs in your browser with no download and no sign-up. How is it different from a video lesson? A video shows a teacher's hand from one angle, at one speed, and the hand hides which strings it hits. Guitoro plays the song's part close to the original recording on a guitar you can see whole: each string lights up as it's hit, the pick shows every down and up stroke, and you set the speed. Then you play it yourself and the song waits for you. Which songs can I play? 51 songs and classical pieces, from Wonderwall, Hotel California, Let It Be and Perfect to Canon in D and Für Elise, each with its key, capo, tempo and strum or picking set up. See them all on the easy guitar songs page, or paste your own from a chord site. Does it work on phones and tablets? Yes. Tap a chord pad and swipe the strings. In portrait, the enlarged neck sits below the strings with four frets per page. In landscape, the neck and strings sit side by side. Tap the frets to play single notes. Solo mode and My guitar need a computer. Can I play guitar with my computer keyboard? Yes. The left side of the keyboard holds 22 chords and the right side strums, picks and mutes. See the table above. How do I slow a song down? Press the tempo button next to Play and drag the speed, from 20% to full speed. The chords, the strum, the pick on screen and the band all slow down together. Can Guitoro teach me to play a real guitar? Yes, as a guide next to your guitar. It shows you what to play and how it should sound: the chord shapes and fingers, which strings each stroke hits, which way to strum, and whole songs at any speed. Watch it slowly, copy it on your guitar, then play along. It can't hear you or check your hand, so listen to yourself and compare with Guitoro. Can I play along on my own guitar? Yes, on a computer. Pick a song and answer "Yes, my guitar", or switch to My guitar at the top of the page. The on-screen keys step aside, the speed goes down to 20%, and Space starts and stops the song. Tune up first with the online tuner. Why can't I hear anything? Browsers only start sound after you touch the page, so tap a chord pad or a string first. Then check the device volume and the tab's sound. Bluetooth headphones can add a delay, and wired headphones or speakers fix it. Where are my songs and recordings saved? In this browser, on this device. Export the takes you want to keep as WAV or a compressed audio file before you clear browser data or switch devices. Back to the guitar