Virtual piano

Virtual piano keyboard online,
with MIDI support

Play this free virtual piano online, right here in your browser. Click the keys, type on your computer keyboard, plug in a MIDI keyboard or pick a song and follow the notes: a real grand piano answers, and every note lights up and rises behind your fingers. Nothing to install.

This virtual piano loads its sound (about 280 KB) the first time you come near the keys. MIDI keyboards work in Chrome, Edge, Opera and Firefox on a computer.

Want the notes to fall toward the keys? Get Pianovera, free on Windows and on Android: piano lessons, falling notes, 3D hands and 651 pieces.

↓ WindowsGet it onGoogle PlayTry in your browser

Connect a MIDI keyboard to the virtual piano

Got a MIDI keyboard gathering dust next to the laptop? Plug it in. The button above asks your browser for access, the keyboard shows up by name, and the virtual piano lights up under your fingers. You get an online MIDI piano with no software to install and nothing to set up.

  1. Connect it with its USB cable and switch it on.
  2. Press Connect MIDI keyboard above and answer yes to the browser’s question.
  3. Play. The name of your keyboard appears next to the button. A sustain pedal, if you have one, works too.
ChromeEdgeOperaFirefox 108+SafariiPhone and iPad

Safari and iPhones don’t let web pages talk to MIDI devices yet. That’s Apple’s call, not ours. You can still play the virtual piano with the keys on screen and your computer keyboard.

Nothing happens? Close any music software that keeps the keyboard to itself, unplug it, plug it back in, press the button again. That’s the usual fix. The page only listens: it never sends anything to your instrument, and nothing you play leaves your computer.

Play this online piano keyboard with your computer keyboard

No piano within reach? Your computer keyboard turns into a virtual piano keyboard, laid out like the real thing. The bottom row plays one octave, the row above it the next one, and the black notes sit on the number keys and the row in the middle. Space is the sustain pedal. The up and down arrows move everything by an octave.

The letters follow your keyboard layout (QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ…) when your browser shares it. The keys sit at the same places on every layout: press PC keys under the piano to see your own letters on the keys. Typing letters from a QWERTY sheet on another keyboard? Choose QWERTY in the Layout menu under the piano: you then type the letters exactly as written.

Play songs on the virtual piano

Open the Songs menu under the piano and pick a tune. The notes drop toward the keys and the piano waits for you: press the key that glows (its letter is written on the note) and the next note comes down. It works with the mouse, your fingers, the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard.

Prefer to read the notes? Here are the letters to type, phrase by phrase. They follow your keyboard layout, like the keyboard map above, and the dark keys are the sharps. Your keyboard isn’t QWERTY? Choose QWERTY in the Layout menu under the piano and type the letters exactly as written.

Ode to Joy

EERTTREWQQWEEWWEERTTREWQQWEWQQ

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

QQTTYYTRREEWWQTTRREEWTTRREEWQQTTYYTRREEWWQ

Frère Jacques

QWEQQWEQERTERTTYTREQTYTREQQBQQBQ

Happy Birthday

TTYTIUTTYTOITT]PIUY[[PIOI

Jingle Bells

EEEEEEETQWERRRRREEEEWWEWTEEEEEEETQWERRRRREEETTRWQ

Silent Night

TYTETYTEOOUIITYYIUYTYTEYYIUYTYTEOO[OUIPITETRWQ

Für Elise

P0P0PUOIYQEYUE6UIEP0P0PUOIYQEYUEIUY

All seven tunes are in the public domain. For more, the Pianovera app ships with 651 pieces, and we keep a library of free MIDI files with sheet music online.

Pieces to play on the virtual piano

All 55 pieces from our MIDI library play here too. Press ▶ and the piece opens in the piano above, in guided mode, with the letters on the notes. The title leads to its page, with the MIDI file, the PDF sheet music and the start of the melody in computer keyboard letters.

Easy 21

Intermediate 23

Advanced 11

A virtual piano that sounds like a real grand

The sound comes from recordings of a real grand piano, played back note by note: softer or brighter depending on how hard you press. Press low on a key for a louder note, high on it for a gentler one. Hold the sustain and the notes ring on. A virtual piano with real recordings behind it sounds nothing like the synthesizer beep of most online piano keyboards.

This page uses a light version of the piano so it loads fast. The Pianovera app for Windows and Android plays a complete sampled grand, the Akai-Steinway III, with an adjustable room ambience, and its sound engine talks straight to your sound card, which usually answers a little sooner than a browser tab. If touch matters to you, that’s the one to use. And nothing beats real keys: the map shows where to find a free public piano near you.

Want the notes to fall toward the keys?

That’s what the app is for. Beyond the virtual piano on this page, Pianovera plays any MIDI file with falling notes, lights up the key to press and waits for you in its piano lessons, with 3D hands to show the fingering. On a computer, start with the falling notes software for Windows, or open the browser version of the app with nothing to install. We also keep a small library of free MIDI files with sheet music online: pick one, press play, watch.

The Pianovera virtual piano in free play: an 88-key keyboard with a glowing line and haze, the notes you play rising from the keys.
Free play in the Pianovera app: the keyboard answers, the notes you play rise. Enlarge ↗
Forty seconds of Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu in Pianovera, original version in stage mode: 3D hands play every note, the keys light up under the fingers and the notes fall toward the keyboard. The audio is the app itself, untouched.

Take it further. Falling notes, piano lessons and 3D hands, on Windows and on Android.

↓ WindowsGet it onGoogle PlayTry in your browser

Frequently asked questions

What is a virtual piano?

A virtual piano is a piano keyboard on a screen. You play it with a mouse, your fingers, your computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard. This one plays recordings of a real grand piano, so it sounds like a piano and not like a synthesizer. It runs in your browser: no download, no account.

Is this virtual piano free?

Yes. This virtual piano is free: no account, nothing to install, no time limit. The Pianovera app is a separate thing with its own free and paid parts: see the pricing.

Can I play this virtual piano online without downloading anything?

Yes. This online piano keyboard runs in your browser: no download, no account. Click the keys, type on your computer keyboard or plug in a MIDI keyboard, and a real grand piano answers.

How do I play songs on the virtual piano?

Open the Songs menu under the piano and choose a tune. The notes drop toward the keys, the piano waits for you, and the letter of the right computer key is written on each note. You can also type the letters shown on this page, or follow along with a MIDI keyboard.

Which MIDI keyboards work with the virtual piano?

Any USB MIDI keyboard or controller that your computer already recognises, which is almost all of them. It works in Chrome, Edge, Opera and Firefox 108 or later on a computer. Safari and iPhones don’t support MIDI in web pages. On phones in general, count on your fingers.

My MIDI keyboard doesn’t show up. What now?

Check that it’s switched on and plugged in before you press the button. Close any music software that might hold it (some keyboards serve only one program at a time). Unplug it, plug it back in, press Connect MIDI keyboard again and allow access when the browser asks.

Does the virtual piano work with an AZERTY or QWERTZ keyboard?

Yes. By default the keys keep their place on the keyboard, so the piano is laid out the same everywhere and the letters shown are the ones printed on your keys. To type letters from a QWERTY sheet on another keyboard, choose QWERTY in the Layout menu under the piano: you then type the letters exactly as written.

How many keys can I show?

25, 37, 49, 61 or 88: the buttons under the piano switch between them. On the smaller views, the octave buttons slide the keyboard up or down, and a MIDI keyboard moves it for you when you play out of range.

Can I record or save what I play?

Not on this page yet. In the Pianovera app, free play can record your session as a MIDI file (a Premium feature).

What does the app add?

Falling notes for any MIDI file, piano lessons that wait for you, 3D hands that show the fingering, a fuller piano sound and a sound engine with less delay. The page is the quick way to play a note or test a keyboard; the app is where you practise.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes, with several fingers at once. Turn the phone sideways to get wider keys.

Start the piano lessons →