Play the Virtual Piano With Your Computer Keyboard
ButtonBass is a free online piano with 49 sampled notes from C2 to C6: 29 white keys and 20 black keys. Play melodies and chords directly in your browser, with no account or download.
- Find your first notes. Press Z X C V B N M for C, D, E, F, G, A and B in the lowest octave. The next C is ,. You can also click a key or tap it on a touch screen.
- Add the black keys. The number row plays the lower sharps and flats. Hold Shift with a number for the higher black keys, shown with their US symbols such as ! and @; the same physical keys work on other keyboard layouts too.
- Play chords. Hold several keys together, or use multiple fingers on a touch screen. Try Z, C and B together for a C major chord. Sustain starts on, so notes ring after you release the keys. Turn it off for shorter notes, or hold Space for temporary sustain when it is off.
- Learn from a song. Choose an arrangement from the song menu and press Play song. Move the Playback speed slider toward Slower to take your time, or toward Faster to pick up the pace; 1× is normal speed. You can adjust it while a song plays. The piano highlights each key as it plays. Turn on Note highlight in Song studio to follow the notes in the song script too. Press Practice instead of Play song and the piano lights up one key at a time and waits for you to play it, so you can learn a song at your own pace. Press Stop or Escape to stop playback.
Each piano key shows its note name and computer-key shortcut. Choose Key labels to hide or reveal both labels. In Song studio, you can save songs to a library in your browser, download a song script as a .txt file to upload again later, or copy a tune as plain text and share it for someone else to paste and play.
Have a MIDI keyboard? Connect it with USB and press MIDI keyboard to play this virtual piano with real keys, touch-sensitive velocity and a sustain pedal.
On a phone or tablet, use Lower and Higher to move along the keyboard. The keys keep a comfortable size for touch. Adjust Volume to suit your headphones or speakers; set it to zero to mute.
Write and record your own piano music
Open Song studio & recording to edit the song script. Each character plays its matching keyboard shortcut, a space adds a rest, and square brackets play notes together. Uppercase and lowercase letters play the same note.
For a first melody, try C X Z X C C C. To hear a C major chord followed by an F major chord, try [ZCB] [VN,]. Press Play song to listen, or Generate a song for a new arrangement to explore. Reverse play reverses the order of the notes and chords.
Press Record before playing live or starting a song. Press Stop recording when you are done, then Play recording to listen or Download recording to save the audio. The file format depends on your browser. Your recording is made locally and is not uploaded.
Looking for chord shapes? Use the interactive piano chord finder, then come back here to try them. For shared playing, visit the multiplayer piano.
21 piano songs to explore
The built-in arrangements include Beethoven’s Für Elise and Moonlight Sonata, Pachelbel’s Canon, Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer, and Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King. Choose any of the 21 songs from the menu, or use Previous and Next to explore. These keyboard arrangements give you a way to hear melodies, follow the highlighted notes, and experiment with the script.
More free music tools on ButtonBass
The virtual piano is part of ButtonBass, a free music site that has been helping people make music in the browser since 2006. Make beats in the Beat Maker, play the virtual drum set, strum the acoustic guitar, bass or banjo, mix loops on the 3D Dubstep Cube 2, jam with others on the multiplayer piano, or test your timing in Piano Drop. Every tool is free and runs on desktop, tablet or phone with no download.
A few words on the piano
The piano was invented in the early 1700s by Bartolomeo Cristofori, whose key innovation, hammers that strike the strings, let players control volume with their touch, something the earlier harpsichord could not do. That dynamic range made the piano the centerpiece of Western music for three centuries, at home in concert halls, jazz clubs and bedrooms alike. Learning even a few notes on it is one of the most rewarding ways to start making music.
Virtual piano questions
Is this virtual piano free?
Yes. The 49-key piano, all 21 built-in songs, song generator, and recording tools are free to use. No account or installation is required.
Can I play on my phone or tablet?
Yes, in a modern browser with Web Audio support. Tap the keys to play, use more than one finger for chords, and use Lower and Higher to reach other notes. Tap a key or Play song to activate audio.
Why can’t I hear the piano?
Wait for the sounds to finish loading, then click or tap a key. Check the piano Volume slider, your device volume, and whether the browser tab is muted. If loading failed, check your connection and reload the page.
Why are some keyboard notes missing from a chord?
Some computer keyboards cannot register certain combinations of keys at the same time. Try another combination, touch the notes on screen, or write the chord in brackets in the song script.
Can I download my piano recording?
Yes, when your browser supports audio recording. Open Song studio & recording, press Record, play, and press Stop recording. Download recording saves an audio file on your device.
Can I save a song I wrote?
Yes. In Song studio, Save to library keeps the song in your browser on this device, so it is there the next time you open the piano; clearing your browsing data for this site clears the library too. Download script saves the song as a small .txt file you can keep or share, and Upload script loads it again, here or in the Player Piano. Export WAV renders the script to a .wav audio file you can play anywhere, Export MIDI saves it as a MIDI file for GarageBand, MuseScore or any DAW, and Share song gives you a link to it or submits it to Community Mixes.
Can I play this online piano with a MIDI keyboard?
Yes. Plug a USB MIDI keyboard into your computer, press the MIDI keyboard button above the piano, and allow MIDI access when your browser asks. It works in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. Key velocity changes how loud each note plays, and a sustain pedal works too. Notes outside C2 to C6 shift by an octave so every key plays.
Can a virtual piano help me learn?
It is useful for exploring note names, melodies and chord shapes, and for hearing musical ideas when a piano is not nearby. Practice mode turns any of the built-in songs, or a song you paste in, into a step-by-step lesson: the piano lights up the next key and waits until you play it. A physical piano or MIDI keyboard offers touch and playing technique that a computer keyboard cannot reproduce.
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