The Play Piano Live blog

Learn piano online

Plain-English guides to playing piano in your browser, learning for free, and turning recordings into notes. Every guide links to a free tool so you can try it as you read.

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How to Play Piano Online for Free (Keyboard, Touch or MIDI)

Everything you need to play a real-sounding piano in your browser: the computer-key layout, touch tips, MIDI keyboards, sustain, recording and the first songs to try.

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How to Learn Piano Online for Free: A 30-Day Plan

A realistic 30-day plan to learn piano online for free — 20 minutes a day, from finding middle C to playing a song with both hands — using free tools and no subscriptions.

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Piano transcription

Free Online Piano Transcription: Turn Any Recording Into Notes

How to transcribe a song to piano notes for free in your browser — what automatic transcription can and can’t do, step-by-step instructions, and how to turn the result into practice and sheet music.

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Playing Piano on a Computer Keyboard: Key Map, Tips and Drills

Learn the computer-keyboard piano layout, why it mirrors a real keyboard, and five drills that make typing piano feel natural — plus its limits and when to upgrade.

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How to Connect a MIDI Keyboard to an Online Piano (Web MIDI)

Plug a USB or Bluetooth MIDI keyboard into a browser-based piano in under a minute. Which browsers support Web MIDI, how to allow access, and how to fix no sound, lag and stuck notes.

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Piano transcription

How AI Music Transcription Works (Basic Pitch Explained)

A clear explanation of automatic music transcription — spectrograms, pitch detection, onsets and why polyphony is hard — and how Spotify’s Basic Pitch turns audio into MIDI inside your browser.

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Piano Keys and Notes for Beginners: Find Middle C and Every Note

Learn the layout of the piano in one sitting — the 12-note pattern, how to find C and F instantly, what sharps and flats are, octave numbers and middle C — with exercises on a free online piano.

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How to Read a Piano Roll (and Why It’s Easier Than Sheet Music)

A piano roll shows notes as bars of light — position is pitch, length is duration. Learn to read one in five minutes, and how it compares with sheet music for learning songs.

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Piano transcription

Audio to MIDI: How to Convert a Song to MIDI for Free

Convert MP3, WAV or a microphone recording to a MIDI file for free in your browser. What MIDI is, how conversion works, and how to use the result in a DAW or notation app.

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15 Easy Songs to Play on an Online Piano (With Letter Notes)

Fifteen easy, public-domain songs to play on a free online piano, from Ode to Joy to Für Elise — with letter notes for the melodies and which ones to learn first.

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Piano Chords for Beginners: Major, Minor and the Four-Chord Trick

Build any major or minor chord with one simple formula, learn the eight chords that cover most songs, play the famous four-chord progression and add rhythm — all on a free online piano.

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How to Practice Piano Effectively: Slow Practice, Loops and Hands Separate

The practice methods that actually work — short daily sessions, slow practice, chunking, looping, hands separately and play-along — and how to use them with free online tools.

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Piano transcription

10 Ways to Get Cleaner Piano Transcriptions

Practical recording and settings tips for better automatic piano transcription — microphone placement, room noise, pedal, file formats, the Notes setting and checking by ear.

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How to Learn Piano by Ear: A Step-by-Step Method

Train your ear to find melodies and chords on the piano without sheet music — singing, finding the first note, intervals, the bass line and chord colours — using free online tools.

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Online Piano vs Real Piano: What You Can (and Can’t) Learn

An honest comparison of learning on an online piano, a MIDI keyboard, a digital piano and an acoustic piano — what each teaches, when to upgrade, and what to buy.

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Piano Scales for Beginners: C Major, Fingering and Daily Practice

Learn your first piano scales — C major, G major and A minor — with correct fingering, the thumb-under technique, the whole-and-half-step formula and a five-minute daily routine.

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