Drag the mouse across the strings to strum, or press Z X C V B N on the keyboard for the six open strings. Each string vibrates while it rings out.
What Is the Google Guitar Easter Egg?
Google Guitar turns the logo into a playable instrument. Six strings sit across the fretboard, you strum them with the cursor or the keyboard, and each one sounds a real note through the browser’s audio engine. You can record what you play and hear it back.
The strings are tuned to standard guitar tuning, low E to high E, so anything you know on a real guitar transfers directly.
How the Google Guitar Doodle Started
Google published it on 9 June 2011 for the 96th birthday of Les Paul, the guitarist and inventor behind the solid-body electric guitar. The logo became a set of strings you could strum, with a record button that let you capture a short clip and share it by link.
People spent so long playing with it that Google kept it up for an extra day, then moved it into the doodle archive where it still works.
How to Play Google Guitar
- Drag the pointer down across the strings for a downstroke, and up for the return.
- Press Z, X, C, V, B or N to pluck a single string.
- Use the chord button to hear several strings ring together.
- Press record, play something short, then play it back.
- Strum slowly. The gap between strings is what makes it sound like a guitar rather than a block chord.
FAQs
Is the Les Paul doodle still playable?
Yes, through the Google doodle archive. The recording feature works there too.
Why can I not hear anything?
Browsers block audio until you interact with the page, so click a string or a button first. Check the tab is not muted.
What tuning are the strings in?
Standard EADGBE, low to high, matching an acoustic guitar with no capo.
Which other doodles can you play?
The Pac-Man doodle is the other big interactive one, and it is also still online.
