Connect your piano
Typano listens to your real piano, so it can light up the right keys and check your playing. There are four ways to connect. Pick the one that suits your piano, or tell us which piano you have and we’ll suggest one.
For the best performance, use a cable or Bluetooth
If your piano supports it, connect with a USB or MIDI cable, or Bluetooth MIDI. They send exactly which keys you press, the moment you press them, so timing, chords and fast passages are judged accurately. The microphone works with any piano, but it has to work the notes out from the sound, so it's best kept for pianos that can't connect (like acoustic pianos).
No piano nearby? Every lesson also has an on-screen piano you can play with your computer keys A to K.
Which piano do you have?
Choose the closest match. We’ll show the best way to connect it, what you need and how to fix common problems.
Choose your piano above to see the best way to connect it, what you need, a checklist and troubleshooting.
Find your ports
Look on the back of the piano, under the keys at the front, and on the sides. Labels are small, so a torch helps. Compare what you find with these pictures.
Square-ish port. Use a USB-B cable.
Small rounded slot, like a phone's.
Round, 5 pins. Needs a USB-MIDI interface.
Logo plus “MIDI” in the manual or menu.
Flat port for memory sticks. Not for a computer.
Sound sockets. They can't send notes.
Found USB TO HOST or USB-C? Use a USB cable. Only round sockets? Use a MIDI-to-USB-A cable. Bluetooth MIDI in the manual? Connect wirelessly. Found nothing, or it’s an acoustic piano? Use the microphone.
Connect with a USB cable
The simplest and most reliable way, with the best performance: every key arrives exactly and instantly. Works in Chrome, Edge, Opera and Firefox on computers, and Chrome on Android.
Step 1: Find the USB port
Look on the back or side of the piano for a port labelled USB TO HOST, USB or USB-C. Not sure? See Find your ports.
Step 2: Get the right cable
Most pianos need USB-B (the square end) to USB-A or USB-C, to match your computer. Pianos with a USB-C port need a USB-C cable.
Step 3: Match your computer's port
Most computers have USB-A ports (big and flat), so a USB-B to USB-A cable (often sold as a printer cable) is the usual choice. Newer laptops may only have USB-C: use a USB-B to USB-C cable, or a USB-C to USB-A adapter.
Step 4: Plug into your computer
Turn the piano on. Plug the other end straight into your laptop or desktop, not into a hub or a monitor.
Step 5: Phone or tablet? Add an adapter If needed
On Android, use a USB-C OTG adapter and Chrome. iPhone and iPad browsers can’t use cable pianos: use Bluetooth with the Bluefy browser, or the microphone.
Step 6: Allow MIDI devices
Open Typano. When the browser asks to control your MIDI devices, choose Allow. Firefox first asks you to add a small site permission add-on; that’s normal.
Step 7: Play any key
Play a key. It lights up in the test panel, and in lessons the piano menu shows your piano’s name.
Test your connection · Troubleshooting for your piano · Help
Connect with MIDI to USB-A
For keyboards with round 5-pin MIDI sockets and no USB. A MIDI-to-USB-A cable (round plugs at one end, a USB-A plug at the other) or a small USB-MIDI interface box connects them to your computer. Just as quick and accurate as a USB cable.
Step 1: Find MIDI OUT
The round sockets are labelled MIDI OUT and MIDI IN (sometimes also THRU). Notes leave the piano through MIDI OUT.
Step 2: Get a MIDI-to-USB-A cable
Look for a MIDI to USB cable or USB-MIDI interface with a USB-A plug. It has a small interface built in, so no extra box is needed. Computer with only USB-C? Add a USB-C to USB-A adapter.
Step 3: Connect OUT to IN
Connect the piano’s MIDI OUT to the interface’s MIDI IN. On a MIDI-to-USB-A cable that’s usually the plug marked IN. The other pair is optional: Typano only listens.
Step 4: Plug USB-A into your computer
Plug the USB-A end into a USB port on the computer itself (not a hub), then switch the piano on. The cable usually needs no driver.
Step 5: Allow MIDI devices
When the browser asks to control your MIDI devices, choose Allow. The interface appears under its own name, not the piano’s.
Step 6: Play any key
No notes? Swap the two MIDI plugs and try again. It’s the most common mix-up, and it can’t harm anything.
Test your connection · Troubleshooting for your piano · Help
Connect with Bluetooth MIDI
No cable needed. Works in Chrome, Edge and Opera on Windows, Mac, Chromebooks and Android, and in the Bluefy browser on iPhone and iPad. Not in Firefox or Safari.
Step 1: Check it's Bluetooth MIDI
Many pianos only have Bluetooth audio, for playing phone music through their speakers. That can’t send notes. The manual will say Bluetooth MIDI if yours can.
Step 2: Turn on Bluetooth MIDI
Switch on the piano’s Bluetooth (see its manual). Disconnect it from other apps and devices first. You don’t need to pair it in your computer’s settings.
Step 3: No Bluetooth MIDI? Add an adapter If needed
A Bluetooth MIDI adapter plugs into the piano’s USB or MIDI port and works the same way. Check it suits your piano’s port.
Step 4: Choose Connect a Bluetooth piano
Open the piano menu at the top of a lesson and choose Connect a Bluetooth piano… Or press the button in the test panel.
Step 5: Pick your piano and press Pair
The browser lists nearby Bluetooth MIDI pianos. Choose yours and press Pair. Typano remembers it: next time, choose Reconnect and your piano’s name in the piano menu (Chrome may reconnect by itself).
Step 6: Play any key
Keep the piano within a few metres. If it drops out, the lesson pauses while Typano tries to reconnect. If that doesn’t work, press Reconnect.
Test your connection · Troubleshooting for your piano · Help
Use the microphone
For acoustic pianos, or any piano with speakers when a cable or Bluetooth isn’t possible. Your device’s microphone hears the piano and turns the sound into notes. If your piano can connect with a cable or Bluetooth MIDI, use that instead: it’s more accurate with timing, chords and fast notes.
Step 1: Place your device
Put your phone, tablet or laptop 1–2 m from the piano, with the microphone facing it. Choose a quiet room.
Step 2: Set the sound
Turn the piano to medium-loud. Don’t plug headphones into a digital piano: that mutes its speakers. Keep the app’s sound low, or wear headphones on the computer. Leave transpose off and tuning normal (A = 440 Hz).
Step 3: Choose Use microphone
In the piano menu, choose Use microphone. Or press the button in the test panel.
Step 4: Allow the microphone
When the browser asks, choose Allow. While Typano listens, the browser shows a microphone sign. To stop, choose Turn the microphone off in the piano menu; choosing another input turns it off too. It also switches off a few seconds after you leave a lesson, and comes back on by itself in the next one.
Step 5: Play single notes
Play one note at a time and watch it light up. Chords of up to four notes work too, but single notes are the most reliable.
Test your connection · Troubleshooting for your piano · Help
Test your connection
Connect your piano and play a few keys. Each note you play lights up here. Nothing is saved, and you don’t need an account.
USB or MIDI cable
Waiting for you to choose Allow in the browser…
Bluetooth MIDI
This browser can't connect Bluetooth pianos. Try Chrome or Edge, and check you're on a secure (https) page.
Microphone
This browser can’t use the microphone here. It needs a secure (https) page in a recent browser.
No piano nearby? Click the keys, or use your computer keys A to K (black keys: W E T Y U).
Which browsers work
Cable and Bluetooth pianos need a browser that can talk to MIDI devices. The microphone works almost everywhere.
| Connection | Chrome / Edge / Opera (computer) | Chrome (Android) | Firefox (computer) | Safari (Mac) | iPhone / iPad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USB or MIDI-to-USB-A cable | Yes | YesWith an OTG adapter | YesAsks to add a site permission add-on | No | No |
| Bluetooth MIDI | YesWindows, Mac, Chromebook. Linux: behind a flag | Yes | No | No | PartlyBluefy browser only |
| Microphone | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | YesSafari and other browsers |
| On-screen piano | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Cable, Bluetooth and the microphone all need a secure (https) page. On iPhone and iPad, every browser is built on Safari, so cable pianos don’t work there; the Bluefy browser adds Bluetooth. Desktop Linux: Bluetooth needs Chrome’s Experimental Web Platform features flag.
Still stuck?
Read the Help page, or send us a message with your piano’s name, your browser and what you see. We reply within one working day.