# How to play a sound from the macOS command line

> Learn how to play a sound from the macOS command line with the built-in afplay command, control the playback rate, and make your Mac talk with say.

Author: Flavio Copes | Published: 2023-02-07 | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/how-to-play-a-sound-from-the-macos-command-line/

Use the `afplay` built-in command:

```javascript
afplay file.mp3
```

Here are some more options from [tldr.sh](https://tldr.sh)

```javascript
afplay

  Command-line audio player.
  More information: https://ss64.com/osx/afplay.html.

  - Play a sound file (waits until playback ends):
    afplay path/to/file

  - Play a sound file at 2x speed (playback rate):
    afplay --rate 2 path/to/file

  - Play a sound file at half speed:
    afplay --rate 0.5 path/to/file

  - Play the first N seconds of a sound file:
    afplay --time seconds path/to/file
```

You can also make your Mac talk using the `say` command

```javascript
say "test"

say -v Fred "Isn't it nice to have a computer that will talk to you?"
```