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New Released in April 2026
The Sight Reading App You Play in Your Browser
ChordRunner's sight reading practice is a sight reading app you play in your browser, on any device: computer, tablet or phone, with nothing to install. Real notation appears on the staff, you play it on your piano or MIDI keyboard, and you know instantly if it was right. You choose the clef, the key, the range, the rhythms and the tempo.
No account, no download. The demo has limited content; sight reading practice is one of the advanced features in ChordRunner Premium.
- MIDI keyboard
- Digital or acoustic piano
- Guitar
- Computer, phone or tablet
A sight reading app that listens
No buttons to tap, no note names to pick from a list. You read the note on the staff and play it on your instrument.
Microphone or MIDI
Play an acoustic or digital piano into the microphone, or plug in a USB MIDI keyboard and it is detected automatically. An on-screen keyboard works too.
Real notation, drawn by the game
Staff, treble or bass clef, key signatures, accidentals and ledger lines, sharp at any screen size. A zoom control makes the notation bigger or smaller while you play.
You read, it never tells
The note name is never written on screen. Your eyes do the reading, your hands do the answering, which is exactly the skill sight reading is.
Two ways to practise sight reading
Start with single notes, move on to real music that scrolls in time.
One note at a time
One note at a time, a new one every 2 to 5 seconds. Works with the microphone, a MIDI keyboard or the on-screen keyboard. Ask the game to wait for each note and the run pauses until you play it right: the gentlest way to start reading.
Music that scrolls in time
An unbroken stave scrolls past you in 4/4, with a metronome and a count-in bar, from 40 to 160 BPM or any tempo you set. Notes turn green or red as you play them. Played with a MIDI keyboard, because rhythm needs precise timing.
Customise every sight reading session
Every setting has one job: make the reading exactly as hard as you need today, no harder. Save your setup once and it is back the next time you play.
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Clef | Treble or bass |
| Key | All 12 major and minor keys, with the key signature on the staff, or Chromatic (all 12 notes, no key) |
| Notes | White keys, black keys, or both |
| Range | From and to any note, over one or more octaves (default: one octave) |
| Leaps | 5 levels, from stepwise motion with no leaps to leaps of up to 4 steps |
| Rhythmic figures | Whole, half, quarter and eighth notes, eighth-note triplets, quarter and eighth rests: only the ones you tick appear |
| Tempo | 40 to 160 BPM, or a custom tempo |
| Pace (one note at a time) | A new note every 2, 3, 4 or 5 seconds |
| Session | 60 seconds to 10 minutes; wait for each note until it is right; unlimited mistakes |
| Sound | Piano sound on MIDI input, on or off |
Read melody and chords together
With scrolling music, chord symbols can sit above the stave, one per bar, like a real lead sheet. The melody is written from those chords, so what you read always fits the harmony.
- Automatic harmony that walks through the key's chords
- Your own progression: type any chords (Cmaj7, F#m7b5, G13...) or auto-generate one, and it loops
- Chord names or scale degrees (in D major, G is IV)
- Rootless chords can count, for jazz-style comping
How to practise sight reading: a 10-minute routine
Sight reading improves with short, daily, slightly-too-easy practice. Here is a routine that uses the settings above.
- Start small. Treble clef, C major, one octave, white keys, no leaps, one note at a time, and let the game wait for each note. Read, find, play.
- Add speed. When almost every note is right, stop the game waiting for you and shorten the pace from 5 seconds to 3, then 2.
- Add distance. Allow bigger leaps so the notes start to jump, and widen the range.
- Add keys. Move to G major and F major, then further round the keys: the key signature on the staff trains you to read sharps and flats without thinking.
- Add rhythm. With a MIDI keyboard, move to scrolling music at 40 to 60 BPM with half and quarter notes, then add eighths, rests and triplets.
- Add the other hand. Repeat the whole path in the bass clef.
No download, any device
ChordRunner is a browser game you control with a real instrument. It runs in Chrome or Edge on a computer, a tablet or a phone.
- Nothing to install, no app store
- USB MIDI keyboard detected automatically
- One-note-at-a-time reading also works with the microphone
- Sight reading practice is in ChordRunner Premium: a monthly plan, or one payment for lifetime access
Common questions
Is there a sight reading app I do not have to download?
Yes. ChordRunner runs in Chrome or Edge on a computer, tablet or phone, with nothing to install. Its sight reading practice shows real notation on a staff and checks what you play on your piano or MIDI keyboard in real time.
Does it work with a MIDI keyboard and a microphone?
Both. Reading one note at a time works with a USB MIDI keyboard, the microphone or the on-screen keyboard. Reading music that scrolls in time needs a MIDI keyboard, because rhythm needs precise timing.
Can I practise the bass clef?
Yes. Choose treble or bass clef, any of the 12 major and minor keys with its key signature, or Chromatic, and set the range and how far the notes may leap.
Is it good for beginners?
Yes. Start with one octave of white keys and stepwise notes, and let the game wait until you play each note right. Then add speed, leaps, keys and rhythms as you improve.
Is sight reading practice in the demo?
The demo has limited content. Sight reading practice is one of the advanced features in ChordRunner Premium, available as a monthly plan or a one-time payment for lifetime access.
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.
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