PianoMode
Always the Right Time to Play
Sight Reading Trainer
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Connect a MIDI keyboard or use computer keys (A-L)
Welcome to Sight Reading
Train your reading: random exercises, real songs to learn, or compose your own. Connect a MIDI keyboard or use computer keys (A-L) and press Play when you're ready.
Sight Reading Training
Read music, play piano, build confidence, one note at a time.
Quick start
- Pick a mode: Listen, Wait, Scroll or Free.
- Choose a difficulty (Beginner to Expert), or tap Drills or Sheets to load a real piece (Random picks one for you).
- Press Play, or just hit a piano key: playback starts on the first correct note.
Connect a MIDI keyboard for the best feel, or use the on-screen piano (computer keys A to K are white, W/E/T/Y/U are black, Z/X shift octave).
Game modes
ListenThe app plays the score at tempo and lights up each note. Hear a piece before you read it.
WaitThe score pauses on every note until you play it correctly. Best to learn.
ScrollNotes scroll at tempo with the metronome; it doesn't stop on wrong notes. Best for fluency.
FreeBlank staff. Every note you play appears as notation; Save and My Compositions in the strip below.
Load music
DrillsBuilt-in exercises and short songs, calibrated by level. Searchable: tap one to load it.
SheetsThe curated library of real scores (MusicXML or MXL). Search by title, composer or key.
RandomSurprise me: loads any exercise or piece at a random level, key and time signature.
When a sheet carries a Creative Commons or Public-Domain license, a small license badge appears at the right of the toggle bar. Tap it for the author, the license deed and any modification notice.
Toolbar at a glance
- Play and Stop, then Random, Sheets or Drills to load music.
- Mode pill: Listen, Wait, Scroll, Free.
- Tempo and Volume: round icon buttons; click for a slider popover, and the badge shows the live value.
- Difficulty, Time signature, Key signature: dropdowns; a loaded score overrides them automatically.
- Metronome: click toggles ON or OFF and opens a discreet volume slider.
- MIDI: connect or refresh devices. Settings and Stats live in the header (top right).
Visual feedback
Gold: next note to play
Green: correct on first try
Orange: correct after a miss
Red: missed or wrong note
Gold ink: right hand (with hand-colour mode)
Blue ink: left hand (with hand-colour mode)
Hands & isolation
- Play 1 or 2 hands (slider): generated content writes treble only or grand staff.
- Show hands: Both, Right or Left only. Useful to practise one hand at a time on a loaded piece.
- Colour-code hands: gold is the right hand, blue is the left, on staff and on the piano.
Fingering numbers (1-5)
Turn on Fingering (under the staff, or in Settings) to see which finger to use. On the piano, every hand is numbered the same way:
1: thumb
2: index finger
3: middle finger
4: ring finger
5: little finger
The blue number sits under each note and lights up on the key the moment it is coloured. Fingering is a suggestion (generated automatically and sometimes approximate), but it gives you a solid starting point for where to place your hand and which finger to use.
Note names, counting & zoom
- Note Names: letters under each note; choose C/D/E or Do/Ré/Mi and a size (S, M or L) in Settings.
- Counting: beat numbers under the staff so you can feel the pulse (it follows time-signature changes).
- Hide Keyboard: frees more room for the score on small screens.
- Zoom (top right): the − / percentage / + / ↺ reset controls. Drag, wheel or touch to scrub the staff in any mode.
Difficulty levels
Beginner: whole or half notes, C major, 2 to 3 measures, single notes.
Elementary: adds quarter notes, easy keys (C/G/F), grand staff.
Intermediate: eighth notes, sharps and flats, 2 to 3 note chords, 4 to 6 measures.
Advanced: sixteenth notes, triplets, trills, 4-note chords, 6 to 8 measures.
Expert: dense polyrhythms, complex jazz voicings, 10 to 12 measures.
Sound, Listen & sustain
- Listen mode plays the score back at tempo so you can hear it before reading.
- Sound pack (bottom-right of the keyboard): Grand Piano (sampled), Electric Piano, Organ, Synth.
- Sustain pedal: hold ALT, tap the Sustain button, or use a MIDI sustain pedal (CC 64).
Compose (Free mode)
- Time signature + Note duration + Rest pickers in the composer strip.
- Click Save to store under your account; My Compositions opens the saved list.
- Click any note on the staff to select it; Backspace deletes, drag retunes.
Settings panel
- Generator: Random, Scales, Triads, Chords, Progression, Arpeggios, Drill or Song (in Wait or Scroll mode).
- Key Signature and Note Range: the keys and the high/low limit the generator may use.
- Notes per Chord: from single notes up to 5-note chords.
- MIDI Configuration: pick an input, refresh, pair Bluetooth MIDI, or echo notes with MIDI Through.
Stats & progress
- The header shows live Hits, Misses, Streak and Accuracy.
- The Stats panel keeps session totals, all-time figures, a 7-day chart, your level / XP and achievements.
- Everything is saved on your device (and to your account when you are signed in).
Practice tips
- Beginner plus Wait builds precision before speed.
- 15 minutes a day beats one long weekly session.
- Alternate Wait (precision) and Scroll (fluency).
- Use Show counting to internalise the beat.
- Use the metronome at low volume rather than off.
Good to know
- Scores come from many different files, so you may occasionally meet a graphical, audio or other glitch on a particular piece; it is the file, not your playing.
- Fingering is an automatic proposal, sometimes approximate; treat it as a helpful base for where to place your hand and fingers, not a strict rule.
- Hit something off? Load another piece and keep going; improvements land all the time.
Reset All Statistics?
This will permanently delete:
- All session history
- Total practice time
- Accuracy records
- Best streak
- Achievements
- Experience points and level
⚠️ This action cannot be undone!
