Browser Tools for Piano Practice

The Counting Barrier

When reading sheet music, there is a stage where you count up from the bottom of the staff — “C, D, E…” — to identify each note. You can play, but the process has two steps: decode, then play. When the tempo increases, you cannot keep up.

Playing more will improve this to some extent, but without consciously changing how you read, progress is slow. The goal is to reach a state where seeing a note on the staff makes your fingers move without thinking.

Similarly, trying to remember which sharps and flats a key signature has breaks down as pieces get more complex. The real approach is to internalize each scale so thoroughly that its sharps and flats feel normal — not something you recall, but something your hands already know.

To address these challenges, I built four browser-based tools.

Metronome

Set BPM, time signature, and subdivisions (eighth notes, triplets, sixteenths). The downbeat gets an accent, and beat dots show the current position visually.

A common piano exercise is to raise the tempo by 5 BPM at a time. The ±1 / ±5 buttons and slider make fine adjustments easy.

Note Flash Cards

A random note appears on the staff, and you identify it as fast as you can. You can switch between treble clef, bass clef, or both. Response time is shown in milliseconds, so you can see the shift from “thinking and answering” to “seeing and reacting” in numbers.

This is a direct implementation of the flash card method, widely considered the most effective way to train sight-reading. Even five minutes a day, done consistently, builds reflexive recognition.

Scale Reference

Select a key and see the scale notes with solfège, right-hand and left-hand fingerings, and a mini keyboard highlighting the active keys. A quick reference for when you need to check “which notes have sharps in this key” during practice.

Covers all 12 major and 12 minor keys. Japanese key names (e.g. ハ長調, イ短調) are shown alongside.

Practice Timer

Divide your practice into timed blocks. Presets for 30, 45, and 60 minutes are included, and a chime sounds at each section change. Block names and durations are fully editable.

Structuring practice as “Hanon 5 min → part practice 15 min → run-through 5 min → free play 5 min” prevents the common trap of only playing the parts you already know.

Why I Built These

Each of these tools has existing app alternatives. The value is having them all in one place, running entirely in the browser. No app to find, no install — just open a tab and start practicing.