STPZ LAB
STPZ LAB

STPZKB

Learn music on a keyboard the way you learn a language: play and listen first, the names come after. 10 stages from finding C to working out a song by ear, for kids from 5, adults, music classes and teachers.

App Store: coming soon
The Learn page: 10 stages and the lessons of stage 0

Play it first, then find out why

Every lesson opens with a short demo you follow step by step: look, listen, count, press, hear the result. Then you practise until you get it on your own, and the theory name arrives once you can already play it.

A lesson's first step: C is the white key just left of a group of 2

10 stages, one path

Each stage starts with a short test and ends with the same kind of test, so you see how far you came.

0 Know the keyboard

Find C, note names, finger numbers, high or low

1 Rhythm, no wrong notes

Play in time, and improvise on the black keys

2 Your first scale

Half steps, whole steps and the scale formula

3 The 3rd and first chords

Happy or sad, and your first major and minor chords

4 Four-chord patterns

Chords by number: 1-5-6-4 with both hands

5 Write your own journey

Home, away and tension: your own chord path

6 Melody over chords

Which notes fit, which ones clash

7 Smooth hands

Inversions, shared notes and a walking bass

8 Every key + twists

The same patterns in every key, borrowed chords

9 Play by ear

Find home, the bass and the chords of a song

Free play: C6 built on the keys, its name and the notes on the staff

Play freely, see every chord

Hold a few keys and STPZKB names the chord and writes it on the staff. Build a chord note by note, or just play. Ready for a screen recording: the keys light up and the name shows as you play, for your own practice, a class or a video.

Train your ear

  • Hear the home chord, then a mystery note, and find it on the keys
  • Find C from memory with a dial, with no starting note
  • A cold test each day and 14 days of progress on a chart
Ear training: which note is this, the answer is one of the keys in the bracket
Note reading: which key is this note

Read notes

  • Notes on the staff, treble and bass, in 6 levels up to sharps and flats
  • Read whole lines at your own pace, or in time

Play your way

On-screen keys

Several fingers at once on iPad; click the keys on Mac.

MIDI keyboards

Any MIDI keyboard over USB or Bluetooth. Pick the ones to use in Settings.

Computer keys

On the Mac: A W S E D F T G Y H U J K play C up to the next C.

A digital piano

On iPad, play the sound of a digital piano plugged in by USB.

STPZMX sounds

Have our STPZMX synth? Use its sounds in the lessons.

Your progress goes with you

Use the same Apple ID on iPad and Mac, and your progress follows you through your own iCloud. No account to make.

For everyone

For kids from 5 years old, adults starting out, music classes and teachers. English and Thai, Paper and Night looks. No ads, no tracking, no subscription: buy once, use it on iPad and Mac.

Stats: today's cold test, a 14-day chart and common mix-ups

Requirements