Wood engraving by Thomas Bewick of a fiddler playing on a stool in front of bushes, with a dog at his feet

Keep track of the tunes you play

Write down each tune's key, the tuning on each instrument, the chords and who you got it from. Record the lesson or jam you learned it at, and slow it down later. See which tunes you haven't played lately, make sets and a setlist for the band, and send a class the tunes you're teaching in one link.

Free for up to 50 tunes. Everything is turned on for your first 30 days, and I don't ask for a card.

Who makes this

Hollow Log is made by me, Erik Pendleton. I play guitar and clawhammer banjo, and I first built it for myself. I could never remember all the tunes I've learned or what keys or tunings they're in without digging through a pile of random recordings and notes.

It is paid for by people who subscribe. There will never be ads, your tunes are yours, and nothing gets sold or used to train AI models. If Hollow Log ever closes, you get 60 days' notice and your export keeps working. The terms say so.

If something is broken or missing, write me at support@hollowlog.app.

A tune list under the Tunes, Practice, Record, Sets and Setlists tabs, with filters for instrument, tuning and key: Black Eyed Susie, King of the Fairies, Spotted Pony, La Danse de Mardi Gras and more, each with its key, type, tradition and instruments (banjo, fiddle, guitar, flute, accordion, singing), and a Played button

What you can write down for a tune

The key, the tuning on each instrument, who you learned it from, a chord chart and anything else worth remembering. Pull up everything you play in double C or cross A. It installs on your phone like an app, and your whole list opens with no signal. To start, tick the tunes you play from a list of common jam tunes, or bring in a list or spreadsheet you already keep.

A tune's page: an old time reel in D, the banjo in aDADE, where it was learned, and its chord chart drawn in bars, with A and B parts and repeat signs

Recording a lesson or a jam

Press Record at a lesson or a jam and the recording is kept with the tune, even with no signal. Later, slow it to 75%, loop the B part until you have it, or move it into the key you play it in. Keep TablEdit tabs, photos and PDFs beside it. Recording is part of the paid plans, and of everyone's first 30 days.

A recording on a tune page, Banjo tuning: aEAC#E, playing at 0.75x speed and looping from 0:06 to 0:11, with a picker for its key beside the speed, buttons to move each end of the loop, and Upload file and Record buttons beneath

What needs practice

Tap Played whenever you run through a tune. The Practice page lists the ones you haven't played in a while, longest ago first, and picks three to play next.

The practice page, open in the main navigation: three tunes to play next, Buckskin Reel, Greasy Coat and Tipping Back the Corn, then the ones going stale, Fanteladda and Zeeto the Bubbleman

Sets and setlists

Put tunes into sets, and sets into a setlist for the night. Send the band its link, with the chords under each tune if you like, to read on a phone or print. Send a class a set's link, with your notes and the recordings you choose, or your whole list to a jam's group chat. Nobody needs an account to open any of them.

A setlist on a phone: Contra dance at the Grange, opening with Double D tunes, the first tune's chord chart under its key and tunings

What it costs

Free for up to 50 tunes, for as long as you like, with a tuner, import and export included. To go past that, record, or keep tabs, photos and PDFs with your tunes, it's $3 a month, $24 a year or $59 once. A new account gets everything for the first 30 days, with no card. Anyone you send a link to opens it for free.

Not sure yet? See a sample list, see the plans, or read the FAQ.