Free piano lessons for beginners
Learn piano from your very first note. The PianoKite course has 53 short lessons in 10 units, from finding Middle C to reading music, both hands, chords and real pieces like Für Elise, Pachelbel's Canon and Bach's Prelude in C. The first 2 units (12 lessons) are free, and you can play them right here in your browser.
How the lessons work
Music in the first minute
Lesson 1 is a black-key jam over a band, where everything you press sounds good.
The music waits for you
Songs fall onto the keys in Wait mode: the band pauses until you find the right note.
About five minutes each
A handful of short steps, one idea at a time: a tip, an echo game, a key quiz, a song.
Never punished
No lives and no game over. A wrong key just flashes; retry a step or skip it and come back for more stars.
Play with the keys on screen, your computer keyboard (A S D F G H J K are the white keys) or a digital piano connected over USB or Bluetooth MIDI in Chrome or Edge. In the app, the lessons also listen to an acoustic piano through the microphone.
The course, unit by unit
Each unit ends with a checkpoint that mixes everything in it. Units 3 to 10 come with the Library plan in the app, which also opens the whole library of over 2,000 pieces.
Unit 1: Hello, Piano Free · play here
Find your way around the keys and play your first songs
- 1. Your first music
Make music in your first minute and learn the black-key map - 2. Find C
Find every C and Middle C, and play your first tune - 3. D and E
Learn D and E, finger numbers, and play Hot Cross Buns - 4. F, G, A and B
Know all seven white keys and play Mary Had a Little Lamb - 5. C position & Ode to Joy
Play with five fingers in C position — and play Beethoven - Checkpoint
Show what you learned in Unit 1
- 1. Your first music
Unit 2: Feel the Beat Free · play here
Count, keep time and play with the band
- 1. The steady beat
Play in time with the metronome - 2. Long notes
Hold half and whole notes for their full length - 3. Rests
Count silent beats and come back in on time - 4. Counting in 3
Feel a waltz: ONE two three - 5. Jingle Bells
Play a song everyone knows - Checkpoint
Show your rhythm
- 1. The steady beat
Unit 3: Left Hand Joins In the app
Wake up your left hand, then play with both
- 1. Left-hand C position · Left-Hand Warm-Up
Place your left hand and play its five keys - 2. Left-hand tunes · Hot Cross Buns (left hand), Mary Had a Little Lamb (left hand)
Play melodies with your left hand - 3. Taking turns · Question and Answer
Pass the melody between your hands - 4. Melody and bass · Mary Had a Little Lamb (with bass)
Hold a bass note while the melody moves - Checkpoint · Ode to Joy (both hands)
Ode to Joy with both hands
- 1. Left-hand C position · Left-Hand Warm-Up
Unit 4: Reading Music In the app
Read the treble clef and play from the page
- 1. The staff
Read C, D and E on the staff - 2. The G landmark · Au Clair de la Lune
Read C to G and play from the sheet - 3. Steps and skips
Read by shape: steps and skips - 4. Up to high C · Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Read up to the C above Middle C - 5. When the Saints · When the Saints Go Marching In
Read a whole song with a pickup - Checkpoint · Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Read and play from the page
- 1. The staff
Unit 5: The Bass Clef In the app
Read for your left hand and the grand staff
- 1. The F clef
Read your left-hand C position - 2. Low notes · Bass Walk, Ode to Joy (left hand)
Read down to the bottom line - 3. The grand staff
Read both clefs together - 4. Both hands from the page · When the Saints (both hands), Ode to Joy (both hands)
Read and play both hands - Checkpoint · Ode to Joy (left hand), When the Saints (both hands)
Read the grand staff at speed
- 1. The F clef
Unit 6: Chords & Harmony In the app
Play chords, pop progressions, and make up your own music
- 1. Your first chord · C Chord Pulse
Play a C major chord - 2. F and G chords · Chord Changes
Change between three chords - 3. Four-chord magic · Four Chord Song
Play the progression behind thousands of pop songs - 4. Melody over chords · Ode to Joy (with chords)
Melody in the right hand, chords in the left - 5. Make it up
Improvise and compose your own tune - Checkpoint · Four Chord Song, Ode to Joy (with chords)
Chords and melody together
- 1. Your first chord · C Chord Pulse
Unit 7: Sharps & G Position In the app
Black-key names, a new key, and Bach's Minuet
- 1. Sharps and flats
Name the black keys - 2. G position · Ode to Joy in G
Move your hand and play in the key of G - 3. Eighth notes · Eighth-Note Walk, Yankee Doodle
Play two notes in a beat - 4. Minuet in G · Minuet in G
Play a famous piece from Bach's family notebook - Checkpoint · Ode to Joy in G, Minuet in G
G position and the Minuet
- 1. Sharps and flats
Unit 8: Expression In the app
Soft and loud, smooth playing and the pedal
- 1. Soft and loud
Control how loud each note sounds - 2. Smooth playing · Largo (New World Symphony)
Play legato — connected and singing - 3. The sustain pedal
Make notes ring with the pedal - 4. Morning Mood · Morning Mood
Play Grieg's sunrise with feeling - Checkpoint · Largo (New World Symphony), Morning Mood
Play with expression
- 1. Soft and loud
Unit 9: Minor Moods In the app
Darker colours, A minor and Für Elise
- 1. Happy or sad?
Hear the difference between major and minor - 2. A minor position · Rainy Day
Play in a minor key - 3. Minor chords & jam
Play minor chords and improvise in A minor - 4. Für Elise · Für Elise
Play the opening of Beethoven's Für Elise - Checkpoint · Für Elise
Minor by ear and by hand
- 1. Happy or sad?
Unit 10: Real Pieces In the app
Canon, Bach's Prelude, and graduation
- 1. Canon · Canon
Play Pachelbel's Canon - 2. Prelude in C · Prelude in C
Play the opening of Bach's Prelude in C - 3. Mystery melodies
Name tunes by ear - Checkpoint · Canon, Prelude in C, Für Elise
Your final performance
- 1. Canon · Canon