Lyre Online with 21 Keys
This online lyre has 21 notes laid out in three rows of seven round keys: C4 to B4 on the bottom row, C5 to B5 in the middle and C6 to B6 on top. Like the 21-key lyre, it only has the natural notes of C major (C D E F G A B), with no sharps or flats, so every row is the same scale one octave apart.
How to use it
- Tap the round keys. The bottom row is the lowest octave and the top row the highest; slide a finger along a row for a quick run.
- On a computer, Z X C V B N M play C4 to B4, A S D F G H J play C5 to B5 and Q W E R T Y U play C6 to B6.
- Under Key labels, show note names (C D E or Do Re Mi), the computer keyboard letters or nothing at all.
- Press Record, play, and press it again to stop. Then use Listen, Download MIDI, Download WAV or Share.
- Open Chord or scale to light up the keys of a chord before you play it, or try Challenge: play the note to learn where each note sits.
Help and explanations
The sound is a plucked string generated on your own device, not a recording, and you don't need to install anything. Play with several fingers on a phone or tablet, use the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, then record, play it back, download MIDI or WAV and send the link to someone.
The 21-key layout and the computer keyboard
Each row of the lyre matches one row of letters on your keyboard, in the same left-to-right order: Z row for the low octave, A row for the middle one and Q row for the high one. It's the same layout used by the 21-key lyre sheets that players share online, written as key letters, so a sheet that says A S D is C5 D5 E5 here too. The keys follow their physical position, so the mapping works on QWERTY and other layouts alike.
Choose Computer keyboard shortcuts under Key labels to see the letter on every key while you learn the layout.
Songs in other keys
With natural notes only, the lyre plays songs in C major or A minor without changes. A tune in another key has to be moved: shift it to C major and every note lands on a key. Songs with an occasional sharp usually get the nearest natural note in lyre sheets, which changes the melody a little.
The MIDI file you download uses the General MIDI harp sound (no. 47), so it still sounds like a plucked instrument in MuseScore or in your music software.
Tips
- Learn one row at a time: play the middle row (A to J) as a scale until you can do it without looking, then add the rows above and below.
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in the middle row is A A G G H H G, F F D D S S A.
- Ode to Joy in the middle row is D D F G G F D S A A S D D S S.
- Three keys that skip one note each make a chord: Z C B is C major, X V N is D minor and N A D is A minor.
Frequently asked questions
How do I play the lyre online with my computer keyboard?
Z X C V B N M play C4 to B4, A S D F G H J play C5 to B5 and Q W E R T Y U play C6 to B6. Each row of letters is one row of the lyre, from the lowest note on the left to the highest on the right.
Why doesn't the lyre have sharps?
The 21-key lyre is diatonic: three octaves of the C major scale, with no sharps or flats. That's why this page has only natural notes. For sharps and flats, use the online piano.
What notes does a 21-key lyre have?
C, D, E, F, G, A and B in three octaves, from C4 to B6: C4 to B4 on the bottom row, C5 to B5 in the middle row and C6 to B6 on the top row.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes, with nothing to install. Tap the keys with one or more fingers; turning the phone sideways makes the keys bigger, and the full-screen button gives them the whole screen.
Can I tune a real lyre harp with this page?
This page plays reference notes, but it doesn't listen to strings. To tune a 16-string lyre harp, use the 16-string lyre tuner, which shows each string and how far it is from the note.