Pianuvo is a free web app for learning the piano. It is made by Haynes Integrations, and it runs in your web browser on a computer, tablet or phone. There is no account to create and nothing to download, and once it has loaded it can be installed as an app and used offline.
What it does
Pianuvo has two parts.
The song player shows notes falling towards an on-screen keyboard, so you can see which key comes next and when. Its library of 88 pieces climbs in nine stages, from nursery tunes such as Hot Cross Buns through short pieces by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Chopin, all the way to Debussy's Clair de lune. You can watch and listen to a piece first, learn it at your own pace with the music waiting for each note, or play it in time and earn up to three stars. You can slow a piece down, practise one hand at a time and loop a short section.
The Academy is a step-by-step course. Year 1 has ten units, from sitting at the piano and finding middle C to playing a short sonatina movement. Each lesson mixes short explanations with exercises you play, and the app listens as you play and scores what it hears.
You can play in three ways: by touching the keys on screen, with a MIDI keyboard or digital piano connected to your device, or on a real piano, with the app listening through the microphone.
Who it is for
Pianuvo is for beginners of any age: children learning with a parent nearby, teenagers, and adults starting from scratch or coming back after many years. It is also useful alongside lessons with a teacher, as a way to practise reading and rhythm between lessons. It does not replace a good teacher, who can see and hear things no app can.
How it teaches
A few ideas run through the whole app.
- Short lessons. Academy lessons are designed to fit into a short daily practice session, because a little practice most days works better than a long session once a week.
- Scored exercises. You play, and the app tells you which notes and rhythms were right, so you know what to work on.
- Spaced review. Exercises you miss come back for review the next day, then at growing intervals as you get them right, so skills stay fresh.
- Real notation. The Academy teaches you to read the same written music that a teacher or a printed book would use, so what you learn carries over beyond the app.
The written guides on this site explain the basics, such as reading notes and counting rhythm, in a form you can read away from the piano.
Where the music comes from
All of the compositions in the library are in the public domain. The easiest pieces, such as the nursery tunes, are original beginner arrangements written for Pianuvo. Most of the other pieces come from editions typeset by volunteers for the Mutopia Project, with a few from Wikimedia Commons. These editions are either in the public domain or shared under Creative Commons licences, and the source and licence of every piece are credited in the app. The piano sound is the Salamander Grand Piano sample set by Alexander Holm, used under a Creative Commons licence.
How it is funded
Pianuvo is free to use. It is funded by ads on the website's article pages: the guides, the written lessons and the song notes. The app itself has no ads, so nothing interrupts a lesson or a piece.
Privacy
Pianuvo has no accounts. Your name, progress and settings are saved in your browser on your own device and are never sent to Pianuvo. If you play a real piano, the microphone sound is analysed on your device to work out which notes you play, and it is not recorded or sent anywhere. The full details, including how the ads and web hosting work, are in the privacy policy.
Who makes Pianuvo
Pianuvo is designed, built and looked after by Haynes Integrations, which also writes the Academy course and the articles on this site.
Contact
For questions, corrections or privacy requests, email privacy@pianuvo.com.