Skip to content
Keyboard · Web Audio · No account

Virtual Piano - play piano online

Modern Piano plays right here, with no account: real recorded piano notes under your mouse, your fingers or your computer keyboard. The full GOONS studio goes further - 88 keys, MIDI, chord pads in any key, a sequencer and take recording with MIDI and WAV export.

C3-C5
25-49 KEYS HERE 88 IN THE STUDIO 4 SOUNDS MIDI IN 0 INSTALL
Computer keyboard

How to play with your computer keyboard

Keys are read by position, not by letter, like in Ableton Live: the same fingers play the same notes on a QWERTY, an AZERTY (France, Belgium) or a QWERTZ keyboard (Germany, Switzerland). The middle row plays the white keys from the lowest C on screen, the row above it the black keys.

Note QWERTY AZERTY QWERTZ
C A Q A
C# W Z W
D S S S
D# E E E
E D D D
F F F F
F# T T T
G G G G
G# Y Y Z
A H H H
A# U U U
B J J J
C (octave up) K K K
C# (octave up) O O O
D (octave up) L L L
D# (octave up) P P P
E (octave up) ; M Ö
F (octave up) ' Ù Ä
Octave down Z W Y
Octave up X X X
Sustain (hold) Space Space Space

Turn the labels to Keys and each piano key shows the letter printed on your own keyboard (detected automatically in Chrome and Edge). The keys only play while you are using the piano - pointer over it, focus inside, or a note in the last ten seconds - so Space still scrolls the page otherwise. In the studio, the same layout adds C / V for velocity and 1 to 8 for the chord pads, and a second "Two rows" layout covers two octaves.

Under the hood

Samples first, synthesis second

Every note starts as a recording. The sampler loads real piano notes and pitches between them, then the envelope and the effects rack shape what comes out - which is why it holds up under a sustain pedal.

INPUTKEYS · MIDI · PADSSAMPLERRECORDED NOTESENVELOPEA D S RFX RACK6 EFFECTSOUTVISUALISERSEQUENCERSTEPS · TAKES · METRONOMETRIGGERTIMING
What you get

A piano you can play, and a studio around it

The keyboard is the easy part. What makes it useful is everything sitting either side of it.

Bright discrete markers at exact pitches bridged by faint interpolation curves, illustrating real recorded notes pitched between

A genuinely sampled instrument

Every key plays a real recorded piano note, not an oscillator. In the studio all 85 chromatic notes from C1 to C8 are loaded, the keys you can see first; on this page one note in three, so no key is more than a semitone from its recording. Soft notes also sound darker, like a real hammer.

A short abrupt envelope and a stretched one overlaid with movable handles, illustrating an editable attack, decay, sustain and release

An envelope you can move

Attack, decay, sustain and release are all editable. Shorten the release and it becomes a staccato keys sound; stretch the attack and the same samples turn into a pad. One instrument, several jobs.

Six hairline modules with different internal glyphs threaded by one signal line, illustrating reverb, delay, chorus, phaser, distortion and filter

Six effects on tap

Reverb, delay, chorus, phaser, distortion and filter, each a single click. Reverb and a little chorus is the default answer for anything melodic; distortion and filter are there for when it should not sound like a piano at all.

Eight pads each holding three dots at different vertical spacings, illustrating eight one-touch chord voicings

Chord pads in any key

In the studio, eight pads hold the chords of the key you pick - major or minor, with 7ths, a bass note and a strum if you want them - and each chord is voiced close to the previous one. The name of whatever you play is shown under the keyboard, here too.

A ticked loop ring with a captured arc of recorded marks over an earlier layer beneath it

A sequencer that records you

In the studio, Record keeps what you play - notes and sustain pedal, with a count-in if you want one. Play the take back, download it as a MIDI file or a WAV recording, or send its first bar to the 16-step sequencer, which plays in your key on a sample-accurate clock. Here, record 30 seconds.

Note marks of varying height and brightness with tails held open by a long bar below, illustrating MIDI velocity and the sustain pedal

MIDI with velocity and sustain

In the studio, connect a controller and it plays properly: velocity is respected and the sustain pedal works. On this page and in the studio, the mouse, touch and the computer keyboard work too.

Sounds in the same instrument

Four sounds, playable above

Same recorded notes every time - only the filter, the envelope and the effects change. Pick one in the Sound menu of the piano at the top of the page.

Natural

GRAND

The instrument as recorded, with a light reverb. The setting to write with before you start processing anything.

Intimate

FELT

Low-pass around 1.8 kHz and a short release: close, quiet and slightly dull in the way felt pianos are.

Ambient

PAD

Slow attack, long release, wide reverb. Hold a triad with the sustain and it stops being a piano and becomes a bed.

Broken

LO-FI

Saturation, a slightly unstable pitch and a delay feeding back. The artefacts land on a real recording rather than on a sine wave.

Getting started

From the first note to a recorded take

Play straight away

Touch a key, or press A on your computer keyboard. The first note starts the sound; the piano notes for the visible keys are already loaded.

Use your computer keyboard

A S D F G H J K L sit on the white keys, W E T Y U O P on the black ones (Q and Z on AZERTY). Z and X change octave (W and X on AZERTY), Space holds the sustain.

Pick a sound

Grand, Felt, Pad or Lo-fi. Slide across the keys for a glissando; hit the front of a key for a louder note, the back for a softer one.

Take it further

Record 30 seconds here and keep the take in GOONS Studio. The studio piano adds 88 keys, MIDI, chord pads in any key, a sequencer and full takes with MIDI and WAV export.

Specifications

The full sheet

TypeSampled acoustic piano: playable on this page, full instrument in the GOONS studio
EngineReal recorded piano notes - one every three semitones on this page, all 85 from C1 to C8 in the studio
Keys25 here (13 on a phone held upright, 49 with More keys on a wide screen); 25, 37, 49, 61 or 88 in the studio, A0 to C8
SoundsGrand, Felt, Pad and Lo-fi here; ADSR envelope and six effects in the studio
Computer keyboardAbleton layout by key position - QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ - with your own key labels
ChordsLive chord name here; eight held pads in any major or minor key, with 7ths, bass and strum in the studio
Recording30 seconds of notes here; full takes with sustain pedal, MIDI and WAV export in the studio
SequencerStudio: 16 steps in the chosen key, sample-accurate clock, accents, step record
MetronomeHere: on / off and tempo. Studio: accents, 2 to 7 beats, tap tempo, count-in, studio tempo
VisualiserSpectrum, waveform and 3D modes in the studio
InputMouse, touch and computer keyboard; Web MIDI with velocity and sustain pedal in the studio
RequirementsAny modern browser with Web Audio - Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari.

An online piano that is worth practising on

Most virtual pianos are a row of buttons wired to a sine wave. Modern Piano plays real recorded notes, follows how hard you hit a key and holds a sustain pedal, which is the minimum bar for an instrument you would actually sit down at. The piano at the top of this page is enough to play a tune; the studio version - MIDI, 88 keys, chord pads, sequencer, takes - is there to keep you once you do.

One instrument, several sounds

Because the envelope and the effects rack sit in front of the samples, the same instrument covers a natural grand, a soft felt-ish sound, a long ambient pad and a deliberately broken lo-fi keys patch. You do not need a different app for each of those; you need a release control and a filter.

Chords for people still learning them

Play three notes and the name of the chord appears under the keyboard - C/E, Am7, G7sus4 - which is a quick way to learn what your hands are doing. In the studio, eight pads hold the chords of any major or minor key, voiced close to each other, so one hand can keep the progression while the other plays over it.

Part of the GOONS studio

Modern Piano draws on the same 5000-sample library as the rest of the catalog and shares the studio audio graph, so a part recorded here can sit under a drum machine, a sequencer or a vocoder. A new account opens it free for 7 days, like every app in the catalog - no card required. After that, it is part of GOONS PRO.

Questions

Frequently asked

Can I learn songs here?

Yes. The free piano sheet music pages put a score above this same piano: press Listen to hear the song, then Practice mode lights up the next note on the score and on the keys and waits until you play it. You can slow the tempo down, practise one hand while the computer plays the other and loop any bars. Start with the songs listed below the piano, or browse the collections.

Can I see the notes on a staff?

Yes. Press Staff above the keys: every note you play is written on a grand staff, treble and bass clef, with sharps and flats spelled for the key, and a chord mode shows the name of the chord you hold. Choose C D E or Do Ré Mi in Labels to see the note names as well.

Is this a synthesised piano or a sampled one?

Sampled. The piano on this page plays real recorded notes, one every three semitones, so no key is more than a semitone from its recording. The studio version loads all 85 chromatic notes from C1 to C8, which is why sustained chords keep the character of an acoustic instrument.

How many keys does it have?

25 here (13 on a phone held upright), and 49 with the More keys button on a wide screen. The studio piano offers 25, 37, 49, 61 or the full 88 keys, from A0 to C8.

Does it work on an AZERTY keyboard?

Yes. Keys are read by position, not by letter, so the same physical keys play the same notes on QWERTY, AZERTY (France, Belgium) and QWERTZ keyboards. Set the labels to Keys and each piano key shows the letter printed on yours.

Can I see the note names?

Yes. Labels can be off, note names (C D E, with the octave on every C), Do Ré Mi, or your computer keys. Middle C is marked with a dot, and the name of the chord you play is shown under the keyboard.

Does it work on my phone?

Yes. Tap or slide across the keys, with several fingers at once. Upright you get 13 keys with octave arrows; turn the phone sideways for 25.

Is there a metronome?

Yes, a simple one on this page, from 40 to 220 BPM. The studio metronome adds an accented first beat, 2 to 7 beats per bar, tap tempo and a count-in, and follows the studio tempo shared with the other apps.

Can I record what I play?

Here, up to 30 seconds of notes, which you can play back and keep in GOONS Studio once you have an account. In the studio, Record captures a full take with the sustain pedal and exports it as a MIDI file or a WAV recording, or sends its first bar to the 16-step sequencer.

Can I use my MIDI keyboard?

In the studio, yes: Modern Piano requests Web MIDI access, so any class-compliant USB or Bluetooth controller plays it, with velocity and the sustain pedal. The piano on this page plays from the mouse, touch and the computer keyboard.

What are the chord pads for?

In the studio, eight pads hold the chords of the key you choose - I ii iii IV V vi vii and V7 in major, their minor equivalents in minor - for as long as you press them, with 7ths, bass and strum options. They let one hand keep a progression while the other plays a melody.

Why do I have to click before I hear anything?

Browsers block audio until you interact with the page. On this page the first key you touch or press starts the sound, with the piano notes already loaded; in the studio the Start Piano button or your first key does the same.

Is Modern Piano free?

The piano on this page is free, with no account. For your first 7 days, yes. A new GOONS Studio account opens Modern Piano, like every app in the catalog, with no card required. After that, Modern Piano is part of GOONS PRO at €9.90/month - your account and your projects stay.

Ready when you are

Sit down and play something

Modern Piano is free for your first 7 days on GOONS Studio, like every app in the catalog - no card required. After that, GOONS PRO keeps it open for €9.90/month.

Already have an account? Launch Modern Piano →