The on-screen keyboard shows every note as it’s played and lets you play notes yourself with the mouse. You can change its size, float it anywhere on the screen and choose which labels it shows.
IMAGE · play-keyboard.png · 1600 × 400 px · The docked keyboard with several keys lit in track colours, octave numbers on the C keys, and the control strip below showing 61 / 73 / 88 and the dock/float button.
Play notes with the mouse
Action | Result |
Click a key | Plays that note with the current sound engine |
Click and drag across keys | A glissando |
| Builds and locks a chord, see Lock-A-Chord |
To play with a real keyboard, see Play along with a MIDI keyboard.
Choose the keyboard size
Click 61, 73 or 88 in the strip below the keys. The keyboard and the piano roll above it change instantly, even during playback. 73 keys is the default; choose 88 for pieces that use the whole range, or the size that matches your own keyboard.
Docked or floating
What the key colours mean
Colour | Meaning |
Track colour | The note is played by that track during playback |
Orange | A note you’re playing on a connected MIDI keyboard, or a key lit by Reflect on keyboard |
Soft pink | A chord you locked with Lock-A-Chord or chose with Show on keyboard |
Blue and pink | Left-hand and right-hand notes, when hand assignment is on or the song has split hand tracks |
Only tracks switched on for the keyboard light up the keys. By default that’s the piano and keys tracks; change it per track with the keyboard button in the Tracks panel.
Labels on the keys
In Settings → Virtual Keyboard you can turn on or off:
For colour-blind players, Hand tags in Settings → Practice add a small L or R badge to hand-coloured keys, so you never have to rely on blue and pink alone.
Tip
On an ultrawide screen, float the keyboard and drag it right under the part of the roll you’re watching.
See also: Virtual Keyboard Settings · Accessibility