How to play piano online with your computer keyboard
Open the piano, press any letter key, and it sounds. The bottom row of letters is the lower octave, the top row the higher one, and Shift is the sustain pedal.
Which keys play which notes
The keys are laid out like two octaves of a piano. Z through M are the white keys of the lower octave and Q through P the white keys of the higher one. The black keys sit on the row above each: S, D, G, H, J for the lower octave and 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 for the higher. Every key on the screen shows its letter, and you can switch the labels to note names from the Labels control.
Sustain, octaves and semitones
Hold Shift and notes keep ringing after you let go, like a piano's right pedal. The left and right arrows move the whole keyboard an octave down or up, so two rows of letters can still reach every note of an 88-key piano. The up and down arrows move by a semitone, which lets you play in any key without relearning the letters.
Why the first note waits for a click
Browsers keep sound switched off until you click or press a key on the page once. That is a browser rule, not a HitJam one. After the first press there is no delay.
It is a recorded piano, not a synthesized one
The grand piano is built from recordings of a real concert grand, one note at a time across all 88 keys. Hitting a key harder plays a louder, brighter recording, the way a real piano responds. If you play from letter keys the strike is always the same strength; with a MIDI keyboard it follows your touch.
Better: plug in a MIDI keyboard
If you own a MIDI keyboard or controller, connect it and press Enable MIDI in the top-right corner. From then on every key, how hard you hit it, the sustain pedal and the wheels come through. The letter keys keep working alongside it.
Questions people ask
- Is the online piano free?
- Yes, all of it, with no time limit and no premium version.
- Does it work on a phone?
- Yes. On a phone the keys become a pad grid sized for thumbs. It is not a full-width piano, but it plays.
- Can I record what I play?
- Not yet. Recording and sharing a clip are on the list.
- Does anything I play get uploaded?
- No. The whole instrument runs inside the page and nothing leaves your computer.