A Piano Notes Game You Play on Real Keys

A piano notes game teaches the keyboard faster than a chart: a note appears, you find it on your keys, and the game checks it. In ChordRunner you play one note at a time, in any octave, on a MIDI keyboard or a piano by microphone.

Play the demo

No account, no download. The demo has limited content. Advanced features are in ChordRunner Premium.

MIDI keyboard
Digital or acoustic piano
Guitar
Computer, phone or tablet

ChordRunner running on a phone next to an acoustic guitar, above a piano being played

From letters to the staff

Single notes first: find C, D and E anywhere on the keyboard.
Then real notation: notes on a staff, played in real time.
Then chords: three notes at once, the step most games skip.

Find any note in a second

The trick is landmarks: C sits left of every group of two black keys, F left of every group of three. Play the note in every octave and your hand learns the map, not just one spot.

A Piano Notes Game You Play on Real Keys

ChordRunner is a browser game that teaches piano and guitar chords: a chord appears on screen, you play it on a real instrument, and your runner jumps.

Play the demo

Why play instead of tapping

Tapping a name on a screen trains your eyes. Pressing the real key trains your hand, which is what you need when you sit at a piano.

The levels in ChordRunner

Beginner: major, minor, augmented and diminished chords.
Intermediate: adds sus2 and sus4.
Advanced: adds 6th, 7th and 9th chords.
Pro: adds 11th, 13th and altered chords; an adaptive mode adds the next family when you are ready.

Common questions

Is there a game to learn piano notes on a real keyboard?

Yes. ChordRunner has a mode with one note at a time, in any octave, played on a USB MIDI keyboard or a piano through the microphone.

Can it teach reading notes on a staff?

Yes. A sight reading mode shows real notation on a staff that you play in real time.

Which instruments work?

A USB MIDI keyboard, detected automatically, or a piano or guitar through the microphone. Everything runs in Chrome or Edge on a computer, tablet or phone.

How is this different from apps where you tap the screen?

Tapping trains your eyes and fingers on glass. Here you press real keys or fret real strings, and the game hears the actual notes, so what you practise is exactly what you will play on your instrument.

What comes after notes?

Chords: the same game moves on to major and minor triads and beyond, so you go from single notes to full chords.

Your instrument is the controller.

ChordRunner is a browser game that teaches piano and guitar chords: a chord appears on screen, you play it on a real instrument, and your runner jumps. MIDI keyboard or microphone, both work.

Try the demo

A Piano Notes Game You Play on Real Keys

From letters to the staff

Find any note in a second

A Piano Notes Game You Play on Real Keys

Why play instead of tapping

The levels in ChordRunner

Common questions

Is there a game to learn piano notes on a real keyboard?

Can it teach reading notes on a staff?

Which instruments work?

How is this different from apps where you tap the screen?

What comes after notes?

Your instrument is the controller.

Keep learning

The Chord Game You Play on a Real Instrument

Guitar Chord Game: Practise Chords on Your Guitar

Piano Chord Game: Learn Chords by Playing

Guitar Games on a Real Guitar

Piano Games for Beginners

Chord Practice: A 10-Minute Routine You Can Play