How to play Pond Piano
Pick a song and the notes come down towards a piano keyboard. Play each note as it reaches the keys. Right-hand notes are blue and left-hand notes are yellow; the notes of the hand you aren’t playing are grey, and the game plays them for you.
- Learn waits at every note or chord until you play the right keys, which light up. Go as slowly as you like.
- Play keeps going. Close to the beat is Perfect, a little off is Good, and a note that slips past is missed. Notes in a row build a streak that adds up to double points. A key nobody asked for breaks the streak.
- Listen plays the whole song so you can hear how it goes.
Choose the right hand, the left hand or both, and slow the song down to 50% or 75% while you learn it. Your best score for each song, hand and speed is saved on this device.
MIDI keyboards
Plug a MIDI or USB keyboard into your computer, tablet or phone and press Connect a MIDI keyboard. Your browser asks once whether the page may use it. This works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera; Safari doesn’t support MIDI keyboards yet. If your keyboard makes its own sound, turn off “Sound for the keys I play” under Sound and labels.
No keyboard? The computer keys work like a piano: A S D F G H J K are the white keys from C, and W E T Y U the black keys. Z and X move them down and up an octave. On a phone or tablet, tap the keys on the screen (turn it sideways for wider keys).
Your own songs
Choose a MIDI file (.mid) and its notes come down the keys. Piano pieces with one track for each hand work best: the higher track is the right hand. Otherwise notes from middle C up go to the right hand. The file is read in your browser and stays on this device; the last few you opened are listed under Your songs.
The built-in songs are old tunes that are free for anyone to use (in the public domain), in simple arrangements made for this game.
Race online
Make a room and share the code. The host picks the song, the hands and the speed; everyone plays the same notes at the same moment on their own device and sees the scores as they go. Highest score wins. A MIDI file the host picks is shared with the room as notes only.
Tips
- Learn a song one hand at a time in Learn mode, then try Play at 75% before full speed.
- Keep your eyes on the falling notes rather than your hands. The faint lines mark every C and F.
- Turn on note names or computer-key labels under Sound and labels while you learn where the notes are.