- use the mouse to click on the piano keys
- use your fingers to touch the piano keys on a touch screen
- use your fingers to press the computer keyboard keys
Use the computer keyboard to play the virtual piano
- C3 to C5 on every laptop keyboard
Every physical computer keyboard allows you to play notes from two octaves between C3 to C5. The white keys are mapped to the second row of keys: Tab, Q, ..., [, ] and Backslash. The black keys are mapped to the first row of keys: 1, 2, ..., =, Backspace. For example, C3 is played by pressing Tab while C#3 is played by pressing 1 and D3 is played by pressing Q and so on. Note that B4 is played by pressing the backslash key, while the Enter key plays C5.
- C3 to G5 with a numeric keypad
If your laptop has a numeric keypad then the row of white keys is extended with new white keys after Backlash: 7, 8, 9, +, Enter. The new black keys on the first row will be /, * and -.
- C3 to C6 on an external keyboard
If you have an external keyboard with a navigation cluster and a numeric keypad, then you can play three octaves from C3 to C6. The Delete key will play C5, Home - C#5, End - D5 and so on to 7 on the numpad being F5 and so on.
Play any chords with the computer keyboard
The keys from the row A,S,D and the row Z,X,C are programmed to play white key chords for rich melodies. Moreover, with advanced options you can assign any user-defined chord or single note to any key of the computer keyboard. Tick the CHORD checkbox to indicate a chord on the piano keyboard and then check it off to create a custom-made chord button. This button will play your chord but it can also be configured to be associated with a computer keyboard key.
Record and playback
You can record anything played by this virtual piano keyboard and play it back at will. To start and stop recording check and uncheck the box RECORD. A playback button will appear automatically. You can have many playback buttons: each with its own recording. You can even play back more than one recording at the same time while making another recording to combine them.
Download audio files for your recordings
Each recording can be downloaded as a MIDI file. Such a file can be played by Windows Media Player directly or it can be converted online for free to an mp3 file.
First make a recording and then locate the button which plays this recording. Next click the settings icon beside the button. Then click the download audio button.
Please donate if you find this feature useful. I had to buy a more expensive hosting service to be able to run the script which generates MIDI files. And generally I struggle to find the time to work on my virtual piano because the website brings so little money that I need to focus all my efforts on my job just to survive financially.
Save your work
Your recordings and your custom chords are stored as buttons which can be dragged around to shift position. You can save all your buttons as a text file to your hard drive and then load this file later. Each button can be renamed and configured to be triggered by any key from the computer keyboard. You can program your computer keyboard so that each key plays a custom chord or a playback recording and then save the layout for later.
Bookmark your chords
You can generate a link that encodes all the chords from your buttons. For example, this link encodes all the possible three-note C major chords between C3 and C5: https://www.apronus.com/music/flashpiano.htm?c=48-52-55_48-52-67_48-55-64_48-64-67_52-55-60_52-55-72_52-60-67_52-67-72_55-60-64_55-64-72_60-64-67_64-67-72 The online piano will be able to play all these chords after an appropriate button is clicked.
This online piano is available offline
This is an online piano in the sense that it needs a live Internet connection to work. But there is an offline version available as a single HTML file that you can open in your browser without being connected to the Internet. Note that the offline version does not have certain features which require a connection. It won't save your work and you can't download audio files of your recordings. The better sound quality option is not available. You can use it offline for private personal use including in a school classroom or in a private class. Contact me directly if you are interested.
Solfège is optional
You can load this online piano from the link https://www.apronus.com/music/flashpiano.htm?solfege=1.
Better sound quality
The default sound files are optimized for speed of loading so that you can start playing the piano immediately without waiting for the sounds to load. However, this comes at the cost of reduced quality, which may be an issue when using external loudspeakers or headphones. Fortunately, you can optionally load better sounds if you need higher sound quality.
Chord recognition
You can check the CHORD checkbox to form any chord. This piano will recognize the following types of chords and display the full name:- major chords
- minor chords
- diminished chords
- augmented chords
- dominant seventh chords
- major seventh chords
- minor seventh chords
- diminished seventh chords
- augmented seventh chords
- suspended second chords
- suspended fourth chords
- power chords
Virtual guitar
You might also be interested in my virtual guitar that plays all the major chords, minor chords, and dominant sevenths chords. In fact, it can play any chords at all. But more importantly, the notes on the fretboard are visualized on a separate virtual piano keyboard which serves to explain how the guitar works to those who already understand the piano.
Feedback is welcome
I have the ambition to make it the most useful virtual piano online simulator in the world so I need to know what exactly my users expect when they play it. Please feel free to write any comments and remarks by using the email address displayed on the Apronus.com homepage.