The library and Studies

The library holds more than 3,700 pieces, from first studies to concert repertoire, every one marked note by note as you play it. Study books choose the next piece for you; the full library lets you find exactly the piece you want.

Studies or all pieces

The Library tab has two halves, with a switch at the top: Studies and All 3,700+ pieces. Tap one, or swipe sideways to move between them. The tab remembers the half you chose last, so it opens where you like to start.

Study books

Studies is a pile of classic study books, easiest at the top: Schäfer, Beyer, Köhler, Streabbog, Lemoine and more. Each has a line on what it is for. If you are new, the book that suits your level stands out and says where to start.

Tap a book to open it. Its contents list every study with your stars beside it, and Next marks where to pick up. The book’s button starts it from the first study, or carries on from the next one you haven’t played.

• Stars come from hands-together runs, as everywhere else. Once you have played a study with the metronome on, you see its Pitch and Rhythm stars side by side.
• The next study is one tap away: after a run, Next piece follows the book’s own order, and going back from a study reopens its book.
• Sort the pile by difficulty, title, composer, your score or how much you have done.

Free books come first. Some books mix free and Pro studies, and a study that needs Pro is marked before you tap it.

Finding a piece

In All pieces, search by title, composer or collection, then narrow the list:

• Level sets a range of difficulty, from Foundation to Diploma, or picks Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced in one tap.
• The composer row lets you pick one composer or several. The rest are in a searchable list, grouped by period, with how many pieces each has at your level.
• Filter searches by what is in the music: rhythm and metre, pitch and key, texture and hands, articulation, dynamics and structure. Look for triplets, 6/8, a left-hand melody, staccato or pedal.
• Sort orders the list by piece name, composer, difficulty, your star rating, or whether you have completed it, either way round.

Each piece’s grade is worked out from the score itself, so a piece is placed by what it asks of you.

A piece’s page

Open a piece to see its score and In the music: its key, its metre and what else you will meet in it. Tap any of those to go back to the library filtered by it.

Beside the score, the Piece quiz icon asks three quick questions about the piece, such as its key, its shortest note or what its tempo marking means. Your first go at each piece’s quiz earns XP, and you can retake it any time. How you’re marked explains the stars.

Your own pieces

Signed in, the library has a My Pieces tab with the pieces you have uploaded and the exercises you have saved. Your own pieces stay private to you.

To add one, choose Upload piece, or Add music on the Me tab, and pick a MusicXML file. MuseScore, Sibelius, Dorico, Finale and most other notation apps can export one, and the upload page shows how. The piece opens straight away, marked note by note like any other.

My Pieces keeps itself tidy:

• Search your pieces, and sort them by newest, last practised, title or composer.
• Remove one from its edit panel with Remove piece, or tap Select to remove several at once.
• Removed pieces wait under Recently removed for 30 days, where Restore brings one back. Your practice on a piece is kept either way.

Free pieces and birthdays

Free for everyone: 54 study pieces from Schäfer’s first book and Schytte’s studies, and a set of Christmas carols. Free pieces carry a Free badge.

On a composer’s birthday, Today wishes them a happy birthday and every one of their pieces in the library is free to play for the day, for everyone. Those pieces are marked Free today, so you know why they are open.

What’s free and what Pro adds, in full: Questions people ask.