How Octotune works

On iPhone, iPad and the web

Download Octotune for iPhone and iPad from the App Store, or open the web app without installing anything. Both let you start free, with the on-screen piano and no account. The iPhone and iPad guide covers device requirements, progress sync, sound and restoring Plus.

Three ways to play

In a supported computer browser, all three inputs work with the same lessons and songs, so you can switch at any time.

• A MIDI keyboard or digital piano. Plug it in by USB (or pair it over Bluetooth MIDI where your computer supports it). The app reads every key, how hard it was played, and the sustain pedal. Most MIDI keyboards make no sound of their own through the computer, so Octotune plays its own piano sound. Still choosing one? See Choosing a keyboard.
• Your computer keys. The home row is one octave of white keys, starting with A for C; the row above is the black keys. Z and X move down or up an octave. This is how to try Octotune before a keyboard is plugged in, and how to play on a Mac in Safari.
• The on-screen piano. Tap with a finger or click with a mouse. Each finger is its own key, so a chord can be held on a tablet.

Browsers and MIDI

Safari does not support Web MIDI on Mac, iPhone or iPad. On an iPad, play on the on-screen piano. On a Mac, use Chrome, Edge or Firefox for your keyboard. For other browsers, check their actual Web MIDI support rather than assuming that a browser name guarantees it on every device.

The first time you connect, the browser asks whether Octotune may use MIDI devices. If you said no by mistake, Octotune shows the steps to turn it back on and connects by itself as soon as you do. Connect a MIDI keyboard, step by step.

Wait for me, and Play along

• Wait mode is where reading starts. The cursor stops on each note or chord until you play it, with no clock running. Decoding the page is the hard part, and a tempo would only punish it.
• Note lengths. Where the music asks for it, a long note has to be held: a teal fill rises up the key for as long as the note lasts, and the sustain pedal can hold it for you. Let go early and the music moves on; the note is marked "held too short" and counts as half right. Holding on too long is never marked, and a child is never marked for a note's length.
• Play along (in Songs, and in the path from Unit 7) counts you in and keeps going at the tempo. Each note is judged perfect, good, early, late or missed. At the end you see which measures gave you trouble, and one tap loops the hardest ones slowly.
• Watch and listen plays a song for you first, with the keys lighting up.

Wrong notes are explained, not just marked. Played the right letter in the wrong octave, or a note next door? The line above the piano says which, so you know what to fix.

Sheet music and falling notes

Songs open with the sheet music on top and a strip of falling notes above the keys. Each note falls onto the key that plays it, with its finger number, colored by hand: teal for the right, amber for the left. Show either one alone, or both.

The aim is reading. Once a song is learned on falling notes, try it from the sheet alone. Falling notes or sheet music? explains what each one teaches.

Every song comes with help to learn it:

• Levels. The tune alone, the tune over a simple bass, or the piece in full.
• One hand at a time. Choose right, left or both; the app plays the hand you aren't playing.
• Speed from 25% to 150%, and an A–B loop to repeat a few measures.
• Fingering. A song without fingering gets it suggested, the way a teacher would pencil it in, and marked as suggested.

Drive it from the piano

Your hands can stay on the keys. When the screen asks a question:

• any C means OK (continue, start, again);
• any B means back;
• D, E, F, G and A pick the second to sixth choices, in the order the buttons show them;
• a quick tap of the sustain pedal is OK too.

Any octave works, so it is the same on every size of keyboard. On the computer keyboard, Space or Enter is OK and Esc is back. With a MIDI keyboard there are more shortcuts: R starts over, L loops a measure, [ and ] slow down or speed up, and ? lists them all.

Install it, and play offline

On iPhone and iPad, get the App Store app. You can also install the web app with your browser's install button or Add to Home Screen. The App Store app and the installed web app are separate installations; signing in to the same Octotune account syncs your progress between them.

Open Octotune online first and try the lessons, songs and instruments you want to use. Check that they play with your device offline before relying on them away from a connection. Sign-in, syncing and purchases need internet. The App Store manages updates to the downloaded iPhone and iPad app; the browser app updates separately.

Your own music

In Songs, with Octotune Plus, you can open your own MIDI or MusicXML file. A MIDI file is written out as sheet music. Your file gets the same help as the library: levels, one hand at a time, suggested fingering. Imported files stay on your device; they are not uploaded anywhere. Files over 2 MB or 20,000 notes are too big to learn here.

Two modes, one app

Each mode keeps its own progress. Kids mode is for children from 2½; the Adult path is the 12-unit course.

Open Octotune

The Octotune team · Updated October 18, 2026