Music / 04
Online Piano
Play a real-sounding grand piano in your browser with the mouse, touch, your computer keyboard, or a MIDI keyboard, switch to electric piano, organ, strings, synth, or 8-bit sounds, and record what you play as WAV or MIDI.
Online Piano: The grand piano uses recordings of a Yamaha C5 from the Salamander Grand Piano set, loaded only when you start playing; the other sounds are synthesized in your browser. Several notes can sound at once, louder playing is brighter, and the sustain pedal holds notes after you let go. A recording keeps every note's timing and loudness, so it can be rendered to WAV or saved as a standard MIDI file for music software. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
- Category
- Everyday tools
- Runs
- In your browser
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up
- Availability
- Ready to use
Runs entirely in your browser
Play with the mouse, touch, or the keyboard: Z to M and Q to P for two octaves, Space for the sustain pedal, and the arrow keys to change octave. No sound on an iPhone? Turn off the silent switch.
Grand piano samples: Salamander Grand Piano V3 by Alexander Holm, licensed under CC BY 3.0, in the MP3 set prepared by the Tone.js project and pitch-shifted between sampled notes. CC BY 3.0
Finding your way around the keys
The black keys come in groups of two and three. The white key just left of each pair of black keys is C, and middle C, C4, is the one nearest the middle of a full 88-key piano. From C the white keys run C D E F G A B, or Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si, before the pattern repeats an octave higher.
Turn on note names to learn the layout, then switch them off to practise reading from music. Keeping steady time matters as much as the right notes: the metronome gives a beat to play along with.
The sounds
The grand piano is sampled, recorded note by note from a real instrument, and each recording is shifted slightly in pitch to fill the notes between. The electric piano uses FM synthesis, the method behind classic digital electric pianos; the organ adds pure tones in fixed ratios like an organ's drawbars; and the strings and synth shape bright waveforms with a filter.
A real piano or guitar drifts out of tune; to check an acoustic instrument against these notes, use the guitar tuner, which listens through your microphone.
How to use it
- Click or tap the keys, or use your computer keyboard: Z to M and Q to P cover two octaves.
- Choose a sound, the key labels, and the octave; hold Space or the on-screen pedal to sustain.
- Press Record, play, then play it back or download it as WAV audio or a MIDI file.
Privacy & limitations
Everything plays in your browser; nothing you play is uploaded. Your sound and label choices are remembered in this browser.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I play the piano with my computer keyboard?
The bottom letter row is the lower octave, Z for C up to M for B, with S, D, G, H, and J as the black keys. The Q row is the octave above, with the number keys as black keys. Arrow keys move the keyboard up or down an octave, and Space works as the sustain pedal.
Can I connect a MIDI keyboard?
Yes, in Chrome, Edge, Opera, and Firefox: plug in the keyboard, press Connect a MIDI keyboard, and allow access. Notes play with the keyboard's velocity, and a sustain pedal plugged into it works too. Safari does not support Web MIDI.
Why is there no sound on my iPhone?
iPhones mute web audio when the silent switch is on. Turn it off and raise the volume. The first tap also has to start the sound, which browsers require.
Why is there a slight delay?
Browsers add a few milliseconds of audio latency, more on some Android phones and with Bluetooth headphones. Wired headphones or the device speaker give the quickest response.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required