Questions and answers.

A songwriting studio that goes wherever you go: tablet, computer or phone. You pick chords on a circle of fifths, write lyrics under them, and piano, guitar, bass and drums play your song back straight away. It runs in your web browser, installs like an app and works offline.

No. Chords in your key glow green on the circle, the Chord finder suggests what usually comes next, and every chord plays when you tap it, so you can choose by ear. If you do know theory, the numerals (I, IV, V…), staff and sheet music are all there. See Choosing chords.

Tap New song, choose a key, tap four chords on the circle and add them, then press Play. The whole thing takes about five minutes: Your first song in 5 minutes.

Yes. “Paper Lanterns” (G major, 84 BPM, 10 parts with lyrics) is on the Start screen under Demo song. Hear it on Sample songs.

Yes. Take the tour on the Start screen walks you through the studio in about a minute.

Keys (grand piano, studio piano, electric piano, organ, string pads and synth sounds), guitar (steel acoustic, nylon, electric, distortion), bass (bass and electric bass) and drums (a kit and electronic sounds). You can add up to six extra channels: melodies, audio takes and chord layers.

Tablets first (Android tablets such as Galaxy Tab, and iPad), plus Windows and Mac computers, Chromebooks and phones. On phones the studio stacks into one column. A tablet in landscape gives you the most room.

Current Chrome, Edge and Safari. Chrome or Edge is best: they support MIDI keyboards and one-tap install. Firefox can open the studio but can’t install it as an app.

Not yet. You install it from your browser instead (it’s a Progressive Web App): it gets its own icon and window and works offline. Steps for every device are on Download.

Open Notes to Play in Safari (or Chrome), tap Share ↑, then Add to Home Screen.

Open it in Chrome, tap ⋮, then Install app (or Add to Home screen). Chrome may also offer an Install button on its own.

In Chrome or Edge, click the install icon in the address bar (or ⋮ → Cast, save and share → Install page as app; in Edge: ⋯ → Apps → Install this site as an app). In Safari on a Mac: File → Add to Dock.

About 19 MB including every sound, kept on your device after the first visit.

Yes. After the first visit the whole studio and all its sounds are stored on your device, so it opens and plays with no connection. When a new version is ready you’ll see “Update now”.

In your browser, on your device. Nothing is uploaded and there’s no account. Saved songs appear on the Start screen.

Use Export on the song card to download a song file, or Share to send a song code. On the other device, open the file or paste the code under “Open a song someone shared with you”. See Saving and sharing.

Songs live in the browser’s storage, so clearing the browser’s site data (or using a private window) removes them. Allow “Keep my songs on this device” in Get set up, and export songs you care about.

Cloud sync with your own Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive is coming soon. Your songs will go to your own account, not to our servers.

Yes. Undo and Redo cover your edits: chords, parts, keys, beats, notes and takes (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y on a keyboard).

Yes. Add an audio channel (+ Channel → Record or load audio) and press ● Record take. You get a one-bar count-in and it records one pass of the part or song. See Recording takes.

For recording, yes: wired headphones keep the band out of your microphone. For writing and listening, speakers are fine.

Notes to Play subtracts your device’s speaker and microphone delay automatically. Bluetooth headphones add extra delay that can’t always be measured, so use wired ones when recording. You can also drag the take’s ⚑ IN flag to line it up, or nudge it in 10 ms steps.

Browsers only start sound after you tap something on the page, so tap Play once more. On an iPhone or iPad, check the silent switch and volume. The first time, sounds load in the background (Play waits for them for a few seconds).

Audio, yes: open the song in Mix & Master, tap Export and choose WAV (best quality) or MP3 (smaller, 192 kbps). The song plays through once while it is recorded. MIDI export is coming soon. See Mix & Master and export.

A second studio for your finished song: a mixing desk with a fader per instrument (the drums as a group with Kick, Snare, Hats and Perc), a parametric EQ on every channel, pan and reverb, and a master with reverb (Room, Hall or Plate) and a one-tap Finish (Clean, Warm, Punchy or Loud). Open it from any song card on the Start screen.

Yes. Song view has a print button for the chords-and-lyrics sheet and the sheet music.

Yes, in Chrome and Edge (Android, Windows, Mac, Chromebook): Settings → Controllers → Connect MIDI. USB and Bluetooth MIDI keyboards and pads work, with velocity and the sustain pedal. Notes you play record into Melody, pads into Beats.

Not yet: Safari doesn’t give websites access to MIDI devices. The on-screen instruments, computer keyboards and Bluetooth page-turner remotes still work.

Yes. Under Controllers, tap Learn next to Play, Stop, Record, Undo, Redo or Loop, then press any MIDI button, pedal, key or Bluetooth remote. Space always plays and pauses.

Yes, there is a free plan: all the chord and songwriting tools, up to 3 saved songs and the core sounds. During the private beta everything is free.

$4.99 a month or $39.99 a year (you save 33% with yearly), paid securely through Stripe. Pro adds unlimited songs, recording takes, WAV and MP3 export, all instruments and future sound packs, concert mode, and cloud sync when it arrives. See Pricing.

Notes to Play is sold by Smart Man Media, LLC. Payments are processed securely by Stripe, and your receipt and invoice come from Smart Man Media, LLC. Questions about a charge? Contact us.

Lifetime Pro for a one-time $79, offered to our beta testers. Places are limited.

Nothing is deleted. Your songs stay on your device and keep opening.

The free plan has no time limit, and beta testers get everything free during the beta.

Yes: Pro for $19.99 a year with a school email address.

Yes. Contact us with your school and how many students, and we’ll put a quote together. Learn & Practice, a room for learning piano, guitar and drums, is coming soon. See Education.

No. The app has no accounts; songs stay on each device. That makes it simple to use on shared school tablets (export songs to keep them).

No. Songs and recordings stay on your device. Nothing you write is uploaded.

No ads, no tracking, no analytics in the app.

It loads fonts from Google Fonts, and the rhyme finder can look up extra words with the free Datamuse service (it works offline with its own word list too). During the beta, the sign-in keeps a cookie for a year, and feedback you choose to send goes to us. Details: Privacy Policy.

Only when you press Send: your message, the app version, device and screen size, which page you were on and recent errors, plus the song, your name or email only if you choose to add them.

The beta is invite-only right now. Request access on Try it free and we’ll be in touch as places open.

On Try it free or Download: type the code under “Have a beta code?” and tap Open the app. Your browser is remembered for a year, so after that just open Notes to Play and install it.

Everything free during the beta, a direct line to the people building it, and the Founders offer: lifetime Pro for $79.

Use the Feedback button at the top of the studio (or Send feedback on the Start screen). It works offline too: messages are sent when you’re back online.

Learn & Practice, a third room for learning piano, guitar and drums; cloud sync with your own Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive; MIDI export; and sound packs. See What’s new.