Pokemon Battle (Original) by TheMornal
In Your Arms (Intro) by lcarr
auuuuaohaha by ruffael
doinwowpichineseoutro 442 notes by ruffael
doinwowpichineseoutro by ruffael

Thousands of songs
Convert MIDI files into editable sheet music instantly
Quickly input your own sheet music

Synthesia is a powerful piano simulator that lets you learn and play piano directly from your computer. The program can teach you to play piano with ease and fun, and of course you can play the piano according to your skills.

1. Hey guys, I came across a free online piano like synthesia. It lags alittle bit but first piano i found for free that works with midis like.
2. Could it be that score-reading will eventually be outmoded as well? Is the future of music notation more along the lines of the Synthesia game or perhaps even something different? In the meantime, try the game for free here.

Intuitive easy editing tools
Save your songs and access them from anywhere
Create original music or edit imported songs

Falling “Guitar Hero” style notes
Practice at any speed and auto-repeat ranges of notes
Learn to sight-read sheet notation

Turn any song into an embeddable widget
Email songs to your friends
Make your songs public and share them with the world

All features free and available online
No download or installation
Optional registration to access more content

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There are some people who claim that playing Guitar Hero doesn’t teach you how to play guitar. I hate to break it to you, but those people have it by the right end.

However, that doesn’t mean we should dismiss computer-aided learning of musical instruments. We previously published articles on the same note, where I detailed 3 Useful And Free iPad Apps For Starting Musicians3 Useful And Free iPad Apps For Starting Musicians3 Useful And Free iPad Apps For Starting MusiciansLearning to play an instrument can be pretty hard, but it's never too late to get started. At these times, the best way to keep going is to facilitate those engagements; make them accessible and...Read More, and Ryan Dube talked about the Top 5 Sites For Learning Piano OnlineTop 5 Sites for Learning Piano OnlineTop 5 Sites for Learning Piano OnlineCheck out these free piano learning websites If you've ever dreamed of learning to play the piano but don't have the resources to pay for lessons.Read More.

Computer-aided learning, although not always a substitute for a music teacher, gives you the feedback you wouldn’t get from a plain old piano book. Moreover, gamification can it easier to practice piano, and a lot more fun by introducing elements usually found in computer games. Computer games like guitar hero.

Synthesia (Mac) (Windows)

There are many ways to describe Synthesia, which is a free application available for Mac OS X and Windows computers. One way to describe it would be to draw the comparison with Guitar Hero—that is, a game—albeit with a lot more keys. Synthesia can also be seen as more serious (but still fun) application to practice your keyboard or piano skills. On a basic level, it helps you master the scales, and guides you through the finger exercises you’d usually find in an introductory piano course. On a more advanced level, it’ll help you practice complex musical scores.

So how does it work? Like Guitar Hero, notes fall down from the top of your screen. Blue and green notes are meant to be played with your left and right hand, respectively. When the note hits the bottom of your screen, you hit the corresponding key on your electrical piano. Using the player, you can slow down or speed up the score to correspond to your playing level.

Keeping track of your hits and misses during the song, Synthesia awards you with a score that shows you how well you performed. Enter the gamificaiton. You can set personal goals and strive to meet them, challenge your friends to beat your scores on the online scoreboard, or compete with the scores of more practiced players.

What You’ll Need

Obviously, Synthesia would be a bit hard to play on your computer keyboard (or worse, using the mouse). Instead, you’re supposed to get out your electrical piano, keyboard, or synthesizer and connect it to your computer.

Some of the newer keyboards might have a USB interface, but really all you need is a MIDI interface (those ginormous plugs present on most keyboards) and a USB-MIDI adapter, which can be purchased for a few bucks online, or found in musical instruments store. Follow the manual of your keyboard and adapter in connecting it to your computer, and test the connection in Synthesia’s preferences.

Import Additional Songs

Some practice songs and a lot of classical music is already included when you download Synthesia, but you’re not limited to that, or even to what Synthesia provides. In fact, you can use Synthesia to play and practice any MIDI song. A lot of websites that provide musical scores also let you download a MIDI file. Barring that, just search for it on Google, and the chances are good you’ll find something.

When you’re in the song browser in Synthesia, just press the blue button in the lower left corner of your screen to add additional songs to Synthesia. In the ensuing pop-over (seen in the screenshot above), you can tell Synthesia what folders to watch for additional songs.

Premium Learning Pack Features ($ 35)

Although Synthesia is free to use as is, you can unlock a number of additional features by purchasing the USD 35 Synthesia Learning Pack. Among other things, this sets you up with Melody Practice, finger number hints, sheet music display, note and key labels, and section looping.

Melody practice stops the score until you hit the correct note, and the aptly named sheet music display allows you to read the sheet music in addition to observing the falling notes, as shown in the screenshot above. Of course, all of this is completely optional, and Synthesia is worth the try either way.

What do you think of Synthesia’s gamification of piano scores? A great way to promote practice, or distracting the serious musician from more formal tools? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below the article!