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Quick Start

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0:002:13

This page gets you from a fresh start to your first song playing and slowed down to practice speed, in about a minute. Every step links to the page that explains it in depth.

IMAGE · quick-start.png · 1600 × 1000 px · The full Orfeo window mid-playback: falling notes, lit keyboard, chord name above the keys, Library open on the left and Tracks panel on the right.

Play your first song

  • Start Orfeo. The Library opens on the left with three demo songs in the Demo folder: Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca, Joplin’s The Entertainer and the Summer from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
  • Click a demo song, or open your own file with the  folder icon at the top left, Ctrl+O, or by dragging a .mid file onto the window.
  • Press Space. Notes fall onto the keyboard in time with the music, and the chord being played is named above the keys.
  • Press Space again to pause, or Esc to stop and go back to the start.

Slow it down

  • Click the BPM ▼ arrow in the top bar to lower the tempo one beat at a time, or hold it to glide down quickly.
  • The pitch stays the same, only the speed changes.
  • Click the % readout next to the tempo to snap back to the original speed.

More in Transport and tempo.

Add your own library

Until you point Orfeo at your own MIDI folder, the Set your MIDI folder button in the Library blinks.

  • Click Set your MIDI folder.
  • Choose the folder where you keep your MIDI files. Subfolders are included.
  • Orfeo lists every file and remembers the folder next time.  Star your favourites to find them quickly.

More in Your MIDI library.

Where to go next

You want to…

Read

Repeat one tricky passage

Loop a passage

Play in a key that suits your hands or voice

Change key

Hear only the piano, or mute the band

 Tracks panel and Focus Mode

See the next chords coming

Chord Prompter

Practise each hand separately

Left and right hands

Play along on your own keyboard

Play along with a MIDI keyboard

Know what every part of the screen does

The Orfeo window

 Tip

Use the demo songs to try every feature before you bring your own files. To hide them later, turn off Show demo content in Setup or in Settings → MIDI Files & Library.