Smart Piano Studio — User Guide

• This guide walks you through every feature—so you can compose, practice, and create with confidence.

Getting Started

• When the app loads, you’ll see the interactive piano keyboard (4 octaves, C3–C6 by default) with accurate black-key positioning
• Three collapsible panels below: Piano Controls (instrument, sustain, recording, metronome, MIDI), Chord Assistant (scale triads, progressions, and sequence builder), and Features (UI controls, tooltips, and help)
• The default sound is Grand Piano. You can start playing immediately with your mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, or connected MIDI controller
• Pro Tip: Enable Tooltips in the Features panel for contextual help as you explore

Playing the Piano

• With Your Mouse: Click any key to play a note. Click and drag across keys for a glissando (smooth slide between notes). Release to stop the note (unless sustain is active)
• With Your Computer Keyboard: The piano maps to two rows of your QWERTY keyboard. White notes: A S D F G H J K L ; ‘. Black notes: W E T Y U O P [ ] \. Sustain: Spacebar. Note: Keyboard mapping is fixed to default pitches (e.g., A = C4). Global transpose controls affect chord previews only—not your QWERTY layout
• With Touch Devices: Tap keys to play notes. Use multiple fingers for chords. Swipe to glide (glissando). Adjust size with the Keyboard Size slider (80%–600%). Use Move Left / Move Right to pan if the keyboard extends beyond your screen. The Practice button instantly jumps to 580% for comfortable single-finger play
• With a MIDI Controller: Click Connect MIDI and allow browser permissions. Play on your hardware keyboard—notes appear on-screen in real time. Full support for velocity, note-off, and sustain pedal (CC64). Works seamlessly with recording and chord binding

Sound and Audio

• Instrument Selection: Choose from 18 high-quality instruments powered by the MusyngKite SoundFont collection. Pianos: Grand Piano, Bright Piano, Electric Piano 1 and 2. Keys: Harpsichord, Organ, Synth Pads (Warm, Polysynth, New Age). Strings: Violin, Cello, String Ensemble, Choir Aahs. Melodic: Marimba, Nylon Guitar, Trumpet, Flute, Synth. To change: Open the Instrument dropdown in Piano Controls and select a new sound. Use Reload if audio cuts out unexpectedly
• Under the Hood: The audio engine uses exponential gain ramps on note release to prevent clicks, and RMS-based scaling so chords never clip—even when playing dense voicings
• Sustain Pedal: Hold notes after releasing your fingers—just like an acoustic piano. Toggle via the Pedal button, press Spacebar, or use a physical MIDI sustain pedal. A subtle visual bar appears above the keyboard when active. Sustained notes are held in a dedicated buffer and only release when you lift the pedal. Works with all input methods and is fully captured during recording

Staying in Time: Metronome

• Set tempo from 40 to 240 BPM
• Click Metronome to start or stop
• The downbeat plays at a higher pitch for clear accent
• Four on-screen dots pulse in perfect sync with the audio clock
• Recording automatically starts the metronome if it’s off—so your timing stays consistent
• Technical Note: Timing uses the Web Audio API’s precise scheduler with a lookahead buffer—not JavaScript timers—so beats are sample-accurate, not approximate

Recording and Sharing Your Music

• How to Record: Click the Record button. Play your piece (metronome starts automatically if needed). Click Stop when finished. Your performance is captured with millisecond accuracy, including every note-on/off event with velocity, sustain pedal presses and releases, and precise timing via performance.now()
• Playback: Click Play to hear your recording exactly as performed. Keys light up in sync with playback for visual feedback. Click Stop to end early
• Managing Recordings: Clear deletes the current recording to start fresh. Export MIDI downloads a standard .mid file compatible with Logic, Ableton, FL Studio, MuseScore, and more
• MIDI Export Details: Includes pitch, velocity, duration, timing, and sustain pedal (CC64) events. Tempo is written to the file header so your DAW opens at the correct BPM. Files are named automatically with a timestamp: piano-recording-YYYY-MM-DDTHH-MM-SS.mid. The export button disables gracefully if the MIDI library isn’t available
• Workflow Tip: Export early drafts to MIDI, refine voicings or arrangement in your DAW, then re-import for final polish

Chord Assistant: Your Harmony Partner

• Smart Piano Studio’s harmony engine generates theoretically accurate diatonic chords from any key and scale mode—perfect for songwriting, practice, or theory study

Scale Triads

• Select a Key (e.g., C, Eb, F#)
• Choose a Scale Type: Major, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor (yields augmented III, dominant V, diminished vii°), or Melodic Minor
• Optional Enhancements: Add 7ths (converts triads to maj7, m7, 7, ø7, °7, m(maj7), maj7#5 as appropriate). Add 9ths (when 7ths are enabled). Apply inversions (root, 1st, 2nd, 3rd unlocked with 7ths, 4th unlocked with 9ths). Toggle notation: Jazz (Dø7) or Classical (Dm7♭5). In Harmonic Minor: choose whether the i chord is Am(maj7) or Am7 (real-world preference)
• Click any chord to hear it. Use the + button to add it to your custom sequence

Chord Progressions

• Browse 35 curated progressions across genres
• Pop: I–V–vi–IV, vi–IV–I–V (think Someone Like You, Let It Be)
• Rock: I–IV–V, i–VII–VI–V
• Techno/Electronic: 9 progressions including minimal, industrial, and melodic styles
• Jazz: ii–V–I, secondary dominants, extended 2-5-1 in major/minor
• Soul and R&B, Blues, and dedicated practice/study sequences
• Click any chord to preview or add to your sequence

Custom Sequence Builder

• Build your own progression by clicking + on any scale triad or preset chord
• Each chord stores its own octave offset, so you can mix low and high voicings freely
• Click a sequence item to play it (with voice leading applied if enabled)
• Delete individual items anytime
• Fully integrates with Chord Binding for live performance

Voice Leading (Smart Voicing)

• When enabled, chord transitions automatically optimize finger movement
• The algorithm searches octaves for the closest voicing of each new chord
• It evaluates combinations (capped at 500 for performance) using a movement cost score
• Tracks a home register (average pitch of your first chord) to gently bias later chords—preventing harmonic drift
• This is genuine music theory automation, not just octave snapping

Chord Binding Mode

• Turn your white keys into a live chord trigger pad
• Build a chord sequence using the + buttons
• Toggle Chord Binding ON in the Sequence Builder
• Press white keys starting from C4: C4 = 1st chord, D4 = 2nd chord, E4 = 3rd chord, and so on
• Perfect for live sketching, practice, or creating instant backing tracks while your other hand plays melody
• Remember: Computer key mapping is fixed (A = C4). Transpose controls only affect chord preview—not your QWERTY layout

Chord Octave Controls

• Shift the pitch of previewed and newly added chords
• Use +1 Octave / –1 Octave buttons for real-time transposition
• Only affects new chords added to your sequence—existing items retain their original octave
• Visual feedback shows your current transposition offset

Display and Comfort Controls

• Keyboard Scaling: Slider from 80% to 600%. Use the Practice button for instant 580% mobile-friendly sizing
• Panning: Move Left/Right buttons help navigate when zoomed in
• Auto-Adjusting Layout: Piano container height scales with your zoom setting
• Collapsible Panels: Keep your workspace tidy by hiding Piano Controls, Chord Assistant, or Features when not needed
• Tooltips: Toggle global contextual help on/off for guided exploration

Tips and Best Practices

• Use headphones for the cleanest sound and most accurate timing perception
• Start slow with the metronome (60–80 BPM), then increase as your technique improves
• Combine Chord Binding + Looping for instant song ideas—trigger chords with one hand, improvise melody with the other
• Experiment with modes: Try Harmonic Minor with 7ths for neo-soul tension, or Melodic Minor for cinematic textures
• Export early: Save MIDI drafts frequently to refine arrangement or collaborate in a DAW
• Mobile workflow: Use the Practice zoom preset + touch glissando for expressive on-the-go sketching

Troubleshooting

• No Sound: Click anywhere on the app to unlock audio (required by most browsers’ autoplay policies). Check your system volume and browser tab mute status. Click Reload in the Instrument section to reinitialize the audio engine. Ensure you’re using a modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari)
• MIDI Not Connecting: Use Chrome, Edge, or Opera (Firefox has limited Web MIDI support). Ensure your MIDI device is powered and connected before opening the app. Re-click Connect MIDI if switching devices or after waking your computer. Check browser permissions: Settings > Privacy and Security > Site Settings > MIDI Devices
• Recording Issues: Always click Record before playing—events before recording starts aren’t captured. The metronome must be running during recording for consistent timing reference. Use Clear and retry if events seem missing or misaligned. For overlapping same-pitch notes, the system stops the most recent first—play cleanly for best results
• Chord Assistant Not Responding: Ensure a Key and Scale Type are selected before generating triads. If extensions/inversions appear grayed out, enable 7ths first (required for 3rd/4th inversions). Toggle notation style if chord symbols look unfamiliar (Jazz vs. Classical)