Real-time input
Exercises can listen while you play, then grade the note you performed instead of only checking a button click.
Live input for music practice
LivePlay turns note drills into real performance practice.
LivePlay lets supported exercises hear the note you play or sing and respond immediately, so reading music connects directly to your instrument.
Try Play That Note
Instrument and voice support
Use your microphone for singing or acoustic instruments when a MIDI keyboard is not available.
MIDI keyboard support
Connect a MIDI controller for fast, low-latency note detection during staff-reading drills.
Computer keyboard fallback
Practice with mapped computer keys when you want a quick session without setting up hardware.
How it works
From your instrument to instant feedback.
Whichever input you choose, the path is the same. LivePlay works out what you played and when you played it, then compares both against the music on screen.
You play a note
A key press, a plucked string, or a sung tone arrives at your chosen input.
The note is identified
MIDI and keyboard report the pitch directly; microphone audio is analysed to find the pitch you produced.
It is placed in time
The onset is timestamped against the exercise clock and matched to the expected note in the music.
You get feedback
Pitch and timing are scored together and the result appears on the note straight away.
Where to set it up
Everything lives in the Audio Setup panel.
Every exercise that supports LivePlay has an input bar at the bottom of the screen. Use the gear icon to open Audio Setup, choose your input, and check that your notes are arriving before you start.
Setup guides
Connect the instrument you already have.
Pick whichever route fits your gear. You can change input at any time without losing your place in an exercise.
Most accurate
MIDI keyboard over USB
A MIDI controller sends the exact note number the moment you press a key, so there is nothing to guess. This is the most reliable option for chords, fast passages, and rhythm grading.
- Plug the keyboard into your computer with a USB cable before opening the exercise. No driver install is needed in Chrome or Edge.
- Open the exercise and click the gear icon in the bottom bar to open Audio Setup.
- Set Input type to MIDI, then pick your keyboard in the Device list.
- Press any key and confirm the MIDI monitor card shows the note name you played.
Web MIDI works in Chrome, Edge, and Opera. Safari and Firefox do not expose MIDI devices, so use microphone input there instead.
Any instrument
Acoustic instrument or voice via microphone
LivePlay analyses the microphone signal and works out which pitch you are producing, so guitar, brass, strings, woodwind, and singing all work without extra hardware.
- Open Audio Setup and set Input type to Microphone, then allow the browser microphone prompt.
- Choose which microphone to use in the Device list if you have more than one.
- Play or sing a sustained note and watch the Audio monitor card until it names the pitch it hears.
- Adjust Mic gain if notes are missed when playing softly, or if quiet passages trigger false notes.
Detection is monophonic: play one note at a time. Use headphones so backing playback is not picked up as your own performance.
Plugged in
Electric instrument through a USB interface
An audio interface or USB microphone appears as just another input device. A direct signal is cleaner than a room microphone, which makes pitch detection steadier.
- Connect the interface over USB and let your operating system finish recognising it.
- In Audio Setup, keep Input type on Microphone and select the interface in the Device list.
- Play a note and check the Audio monitor card responds, then trim Mic gain so quiet notes still register.
- If your instrument sounds in a different octave or key than written, set Input transpose to match.
Transpose presets cover the common cases: guitar and bass at +12, Bb instruments at +9, F instruments at +7, and piccolo at -12.
No hardware
Computer keyboard
Your typing keyboard becomes a one-octave instrument. This is the quickest way to try an exercise on a laptop with nothing plugged in and no microphone permission.
- Open Audio Setup and set Input type to Keyboard.
- Read the mapping shown in the panel: the Z to M row plays the white keys, and the A to K row plays the chromatic notes.
- Press a key and confirm the Keyboard monitor card shows the note you triggered.
- Return to the exercise and play using the mapped keys.
Keyboard input reports exact pitches like MIDI does, so it is graded just as strictly. It is ideal for note-reading and rhythm drills.
Pitch and timing
The system listens, then evaluates what it heard.
LivePlay does not just check whether you pressed something. It works out which pitch you produced and exactly when you produced it, so both your intonation and your rhythm are assessed.
It identifies the pitch
For MIDI and computer keyboard input the note number arrives directly. For microphone input, LivePlay runs pitch detection on the incoming signal, tracks how close you landed in cents, and only accepts a note once the reading is stable, so a brief scoop into pitch is not judged as a wrong note.
It timestamps every note
Each detected note is stamped against the exercise clock, and note onsets are compared with where the note was written in the music. That is how LivePlay can tell an early note from a late one instead of only right from wrong.
It reads your rhythm
Because the timing of every onset is known, LivePlay follows the rhythm you actually performed. Rhythm exercises can be graded on timing alone, and reading exercises can require the correct pitch at the correct moment.
It adapts to your setup
Timing and pitch tolerances are adjustable, and latency compensation cancels the delay added by microphones and audio interfaces, so slow hardware does not read as bad playing.
Getting clean results
If a note is not registering.
No device in the list
Reconnect the USB cable, then reopen Audio Setup so the device list refreshes. For MIDI, use Chrome or Edge.
Notes are being missed
Raise Mic gain, move closer to the microphone, and play single sustained notes. Very quiet or very percussive attacks are hardest to detect.
Right note, marked wrong
Your instrument may be transposing. Set the matching Input transpose preset so what you play is graded as what is written.
Everything reads as late
Microphones and interfaces add delay. Latency compensation shifts your detected notes back into line with the beat.
Ready to hear it work?
Open a LivePlay exercise, choose your input, and play the note on screen.