A small three-row synth piano you play with letter keys or taps, with four voices, four wave shapes and octave and key shifts.
Tiny Synth Piano is a little instrument you can start playing the second it loads. On screen are 36 keys split across three rows. Each row is a full octave, and pitch rises as you go up the rows. The browser builds every sound on the spot instead of playing back recordings, so there is no waiting.
Frank Force originally wrote it as 1Keys, a piano that fit into about one kilobyte of code. This expanded version adds letter labels on the keys and controls for octave, key and wave shape.
Getting started
Press a letter on your computer keyboard and the matching piano key turns red as the note plays. Release it and the sound fades out quickly while the key color settles back.
The keyboard rows map neatly onto the piano rows. The bottom letter row, starting with Z as a low C, plays the lowest octave, while letters on the row above, such as S and D, cover the sharps. The Q row together with the number keys covers the middle octave. For the highest octave, keep going to the right along the Q row with I, O and P, then the brackets. A few notes at the far right have no letter, because the keyboard runs out, but you can still click or tap them.
With a mouse, press and hold a key, or drag across several keys with the button down to play a quick run.
Shaping the sound
Small buttons at the top choose the voice. The piano icon is an organ tone and is selected when you start. The others give brass, strings or a single plain sine tone. The Shape menu then changes the wave behind any voice to sine, square, sawtooth or triangle. Sine sounds soft and round, while square and sawtooth get much buzzier.
Octave moves the whole instrument up or down, and Key shifts every note by half steps. Use their arrow buttons, since typing into those boxes is blocked.
Ideas to try
- Play one note four times, once with each wave shape, to hear how much the voice changes.
- Lower the octave and use the bottom row for a bass line while you play chords on the Q row.
- Hold several keys together for chords. Each note runs on its own until you let go.
- A small group of extra keys, including comma, period and slash, doubles the opening notes of the middle octave. That helps with quick runs.
Who it suits
This is a good pick for anyone who wants a short creative break. Kids can bang out melodies, while players with some music knowledge can practice scales or transpose songs with the Key control. Each note ramps down smoothly when released, so even messy playing sounds clean.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Play notes in the lowest octave | Z S X D C V G B H N J M | — | — |
| Play notes in the middle octave | Q 2 W 3 E R 5 T 6 Y 7 U | — | — |
| Play notes in the top octave | I 9 O 0 P [ = ] | — | — |
| Play or hold any key | — | Press and hold on a key, or drag across keys with the button down | Touch and hold a key |
| Change voice, wave shape, octave or key | — | Click the voice buttons, the Shape menu, or the arrows on Octave and Key | Tap the same controls |
Tiny Synth Piano FAQ
Can I play Tiny Synth Piano on a phone or tablet?
Partly. You can touch and hold piano keys on a touchscreen, and several fingers at once work for chords. It is best with a physical keyboard, though, because the letter keys let you play much faster than tapping.
Is there a goal or score?
No. It is a music toy, not a challenge. There is nothing to win and no timer, so you can noodle around, work out a tune you know or just try different sounds.
Why did the notes stop when I switched tabs?
When the piano window loses focus, it releases every note so nothing gets stuck sounding. Click on the piano again to keep playing, and pick up right where you left off.
How do I play a song in a different key?
Use the Key arrows to move all notes up or down one semitone per click, as far as twelve each way. Your fingers stay on the same keys, but the song comes out in the new key. Octave works the same way across three octaves.
