Scales
The Scales page shows fingering for every scale and arpeggio in all 12 keys, with interactive piano keyboards for both hands.
Choosing a Scale
Tap any scale type at the top — Major, Nat Min, Harm, Melodic, Maj Arp, Min Arp or Chromatic. Then tap a key from the grid to select your root note.
Scale Types
- Major — standard major scale
- Nat Min — natural minor scale
- Harm — harmonic minor, raised 7th
- Melodic — melodic minor, separate ascending and descending views
- Maj Arp — major arpeggio over 2 octaves
- Min Arp — minor arpeggio over 2 octaves
- Chromatic — all 12 semitones over 2 octaves
Relative and Parallel
The Relative and Parallel buttons jump you to the related scale instantly. From C Major, Relative takes you to A Natural Minor. Parallel takes you to C Minor. Not available for Chromatic.
Key Up
The Key +3 button shifts the current scale up 3 semitones. When looping, the change waits until the end of the current loop before switching.
Changing Key While Looping
- Tap any tonic key — queues a key change at the end of the current run. The tapped key glows amber while waiting.
- Tap a scale type (Major, Harm etc) — marks it as pending. Then tap a tonic key to queue that combination.
- Tap Relative or Parallel — queues the related scale change the same way.
The currently playing key stays highlighted in its colour. The newly queued key glows dimly amber so you can see both at once.
Playback
- Press ▶ to play the scale at the current tempo
- Press the loop button to keep repeating
- Choose Both, RH or LH to hear one or both hands
- Tap the BPM number to type a specific tempo
- Scroll Sync keeps both keyboards scrolled together
Tap any highlighted key on the keyboard to hear that individual note.
Tempo Trainer
Automatically increases the tempo as you practise.
- Start BPM — tempo training begins here. Hold + or − to scroll quickly.
- Target BPM — training ends when this is reached
- Increment BPM — how much the tempo increases each step
- Every N loops — how many loops to complete at each tempo before stepping up
Press Start Trainer to begin. Once the target is reached, Goal reached! flashes and the scale keeps looping freely until you stop.
Metro Only
Silences the piano and plays only metronome clicks. The keys still flash showing which note to play.
Count-in
Adds a metronome count before the scale starts. Choose 1, 2 or 3 bars. Go! flashes green when the scale begins.
Training Info
A slim bar below the keyboards shows BPM, Time countdown, and Next Scale during a session — select any combination.
Scale Cycle
Extends the Tempo Trainer to rotate through multiple keys automatically at each tempo step.
Setting up Scale Cycle
- Toggle Enable Scale Cycle in the Tempo Trainer panel
- Tap the cycle button to open the key picker
- Choose a scale type — all keys in the cycle use this type
- Tap keys to include them — tap again to deselect
- Choose Chromatic or Fifths order for the playback sequence
With 3 keys and Every N loops set to 2: C×2, D×2, E×2 at the first tempo, then all three again at the next tempo.
Key Change Mode
- Full Scale (default) — completes every note including the final root before switching.
- Smooth Transition — skips the final note and plays the first note of the next key in its place.
Pause Between Keys
Full Scale mode only. Adds a single beat gap with a metronome click between key changes. Enabled by default.
For exam prep across all keys: select all 12 in fifths order, set your start and target BPM, Every N loops to 2, enable Count-in and Pause Between Keys. The app works through every key systematically, getting faster each round.
Chords
The Chords page shows every chord in the current key on a scrollable piano keyboard, with a library of progressions to loop.
Chord Progressions
- ▶ plays the progression once
- ↻ loops continuously — press again to play out the current bar then stop
- Tap the BPM number to set your tempo
Key Changes While Looping
Press Key +3, Relative or Parallel to queue a key change. It fires at the end of the current loop with no interruption.
Relative cycles between a major key and its relative minor — great for practising both together in one session.
Pads
Three modes — Chord, Drum and Melody — all running simultaneously.
Chord Pads
- Tap the key button to change key
- Maj/Min toggles chord quality
- ▶ starts and stops the chord loop
- Arp switches to arpeggio mode
- Key Up queues a key change at the next bar 1
Drum Pads
- Simple, Disco, Rock, Breakdown — patterns switch cleanly on beat 1
- Fill — triggers a drum fill on the next bar
- Move — rearrange pads into any order
- 12 pads adds Rim, Cowbell, Shaker and Ride
Melody Pads
- Pads are colour-coded by scale degree
- Multiple fingers play multiple notes simultaneously
- Arp plays notes as arpeggios instead of sustained chords
Queue a new drum pattern while playing — it switches cleanly on the next bar 1, never mid-bar.
Fingering Editor
Shows recommended fingering for the current scale and lets you customise it to suit your own technique.
Editing
- Tap a key — cycles the finger number 1 through 5
- Input boxes — type directly into the numbered boxes below each keyboard
Saving and Restoring
- Press Save to store your changes — they persist between sessions
- Restore this scale — resets just the current scale to its built-in default
- Restore ALL scales — resets every scale back to defaults
For Melodic Minor, switch between ASC and DESC on the Scales page to edit ascending and descending fingerings separately.
Metronome
Basic Use
- Press ▶ to start and stop
- Drag the tempo slider or tap the BPM number to type a value
- Use the −10, −5, +5, +10 buttons — hold any to scroll continuously
- Tap Tempo — tap repeatedly in time to set tempo by feel
Time Signatures
Choose from 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 or 6/8. Or tap Custom to enter any time signature you need.
Click Sounds
- Default — standard metronome click
- Click — clean electronic sine click
- Beep — softer beep tone
- Rimshot — sharp rimshot crack
Synth
The Tone panel controls the sound character of the piano. Tap the wave icon in the top right of any page to open it.
Presets
- Piano, E.Piano, Organ, Harpsi — keyboard instrument tones
- Flute, Sax — wind instrument character
- Synth — bright lead tone
- Cosmic — spacious evolving pad
Parameters
- Wave — morphs from warm triangle to bright sawtooth
- Attack — how quickly the note reaches full volume
- Decay — how long the note rings after the peak
- Modulation — vibrato depth combined with reverb
- Detune — chorus effect via a second detuned voice
- Stereo Width — spreads sound across the stereo field
Settings
Open settings by tapping the gear icon in the top right corner of any page.
Themes
- Dark — default dark theme
- Midnight — deeper, richer dark theme with true blacks
- Cream — warm off-white light theme
- Light — clean bright white theme
Display
- Show note names below keys — toggles C D E F G A B labels beneath every piano key
- Dark piano keys — switches to a dark keyboard colour scheme
- Bluetooth delay — delays keyboard visuals to compensate for Bluetooth latency. Start at 150ms and adjust until visuals sync with what you hear.
Playback
- Keep playing when screen locks — keeps the metronome or drum loops running with the screen off
- Keep screen on during training — prevents screen sleep during a Tempo Trainer session
Defaults
- Default Key — which key is selected on launch
- Default Scale Type — which scale type is selected on launch
- Default Pad Mode — whether Pads opens on Chord, Drum or Melody
- Default Pad Count — whether pads start with 8 or 12
- Default Metro Sound — which click sound the metronome uses on launch