About Hey Piano 4U

Last updated: October 22, 2026

Hey Piano 4U is a free practice keyboard that runs in your web browser. The keys you need to press light up, a countdown shows the order, and each key stays lit for as long as you should hold it. You can switch between a grand piano sound, a drawbar organ sound and a synthesised choir voice, play with the mouse, a touch screen, your computer keyboard or a USB MIDI keyboard, and slow every song down until it feels comfortable. There is nothing to install and no account to create.

Why it exists

Most people who have never played an instrument are put off by sheet music before they play a single note. Hey Piano 4U starts from the other end: you see which key to press and when, you hear the result straight away, and the notation can come later. The goal is the same ease that rhythm games give beginners, applied to a real musical instrument, with a path to harder, more realistic practice when you are ready.

Who makes it

Hey Piano 4U is a project of Phillistine Records, created by Paul “PK” Kendall in Ontario, Canada. PK has worked as a professional DJ in Southern Ontario since 1989 and also builds free music web apps, including Hey DJ 4U. He records under the artist name Derk Swade. You can reach him at citylinks4u@gmail.com.

How the practice modes work

Watch plays the song while the keys light up, so you can learn the tune first. Follow waits for you: the song pauses until you press the lit key, so you set the pace. Play along keeps time like a real performance and scores your timing. In Any key style, one press of any key plays the whole step, including both hands and chords. In Right key style you must press the lit key itself. Designated keys style gives every note its own key and is meant for experienced players.

Piano, organ and choir

All three sounds are synthesised in your browser using the Web Audio API. The piano voice imitates a struck string whose sound fades after you press a key. The organ voice uses nine drawbars, in the style of a Hammond organ, so a note sounds for exactly as long as you hold the key. The choir voice stacks slightly detuned waves and passes them through vowel filters (Ah, Eh, Ee, Oh, Oo), so a note swells in and sings for as long as you hold the key. They are approximations for practice, not recordings of a particular instrument or singers.

Where the songs come from

The song library has more than a hundred playable tracks. Well-known tunes such as nursery songs, hymns and classical themes are public-domain compositions, arranged here in a simplified form for learning. The scales, arpeggios, chord drills, blues patterns and etudes are original practice pieces written for this site and free to use. The organ listening room links to real recordings from the Internet Archive; each is listed with its licence and, where the licence requires it, a ready-made credit line. Read more on our editorial and corrections page.

What it costs

Hey Piano 4U is free. The site may in future show advertising to cover hosting costs. Any change in how we handle data will be reflected in the privacy policy before it takes effect.

Learn more

Our Learn section has plain-English guides to the keyboard layout, reading rhythm, scales, chords, MIDI, the difference between piano and organ and how the synth choir works. Open the keyboard