How to Make Your Keyboard Like a Piano
By Jon Stefansson
For a fun way to make music on the Internet, try visiting websites that turn your computer keyboard into a piano. Using midi piano sounds and Flash animation, these websites enable you to play a virtual piano using your keyboard. It should take no longer than a minute to get tinkling the virtual ivories.
Go to the Virtual Piano website (see Resources) and wait for the piano to load. Keys on your computer keyboard correspond to notes on the virtual piano. The "1" number key is the deepest note, and "M" is the highest. Notes move higher from the "1" to "M" left to right, top to bottom on your computer keyboard. Virtual piano displays the note being played and allows you to toggle a virtual sustain pedal on or off.
Go to the Virtual Keyboard website (see Resources). The keys on the middle row of your computer keyboard (A to L) correspond to the piano keys displayed on screen. Play simple tunes by pressing the keys on your keyboard and hearing the piano sound back through your computer speakers. Sharp (black) notes can be played by pressing keys on the top row of your computer keyboard (W, E, T, Y, U, O and P).
Visit the Online Piano Game site (see Resources) and scroll down to the image of the piano. Press the computer keys as they're labeled on the piano keys to play the note; for example, "R" plays the farthest-left C-note key. Certain number keys play the black piano keys. This piano is much less advanced than the other options, displaying only a limited set of keys.
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