LumaFretsHow to Remove the Guitar From a Song
Published 12 October 2026.
Playing along with a record is good practice, but the guitarist on it is always louder and tighter than you. Take their part out and you hear the band, with a gap where you come in. This page explains how that works and how to do it in LumaFrets.
How Taking the Guitar Out Works
A finished song is one mixed recording, so you can't just switch the guitar off. A separation model listens to the mix and splits it into parts. LumaFrets uses Demucs, an open-source model, in its six-part version (htdemucs_6s), which gives vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano and the rest (Demucs on GitHub).
The split isn't perfect. Some guitar can stay in the other parts, and the guitar part can pick up a little of the other instruments. In LumaFrets, whatever the model leaves out goes into the "other" part, so with every part turned up you hear the song exactly as it is.
Removing the Guitar in LumaFrets
- Play along with your own audio file of the song: use Audio file…, or drop it into the window.
- Open Mix. LumaFrets separates the song into vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano and the rest.
- Mute the guitar to play the part yourself, or solo it to hear exactly what's being played.
The separation runs on your computer, and nothing is uploaded. It works from your own audio file, not from a YouTube video.
Practising With the Guitar Gone
The rest of the practice tools still work with the guitar muted. You can slow the song down anywhere from 25% to full speed with the pitch kept, loop a section, and use the speed trainer to build it back up. A count-in and click help you come in on time.
Plug your guitar into an audio interface and you can play through the built-in amp, cabinets and pedals, so your part fills the gap. A tuner follows the tab's tuning.
What It Costs
LumaFrets is free to download and use on Mac, Windows and Linux. Splitting songs into parts and soloing or muting them is part of Pro, a one-time $39 with no subscription. Pro also plays your own VST3 and Audio Unit plugins, amp captures and impulse responses.
Learning from a tab file? See how to play Guitar Pro files over the real song, or compare options in Rocksmith alternatives and Songsterr alternatives.