Connect your keyboard

What you need

• A keyboard with a USB port that sends MIDI. Look on the back for a square USB socket (often labelled “USB to Host”) or a USB-C socket. A flat USB-A socket on the keyboard is usually for a memory stick, not for a computer.
• A USB data cable from that socket to your computer or tablet. A phone charging cable may carry power only.
• Chrome or Edge on a computer or an Android tablet, or Firefox on a computer. Safari, iPhone and iPad can't connect a keyboard to a web page.

On a computer

1. Switch the keyboard on and plug it into the computer. No driver is needed for most keyboards; Windows and macOS find them on their own.
2. Open clefsight.com in Chrome, Edge or Firefox and press Connect your keyboard.
3. The browser asks once whether the site may use MIDI devices: allow it. Firefox asks to add a small permission add-on for the site instead; add it.
4. The dot at the top right turns green and shows your keyboard's name. Play a key on the placement check to see it answer.

On an Android tablet

Use Chrome. Most tablets need a cable or adapter with USB-C on the tablet end and your keyboard's socket on the other (USB-C to USB-B for the square socket). Plug in, open clefsight.com, press Connect and allow MIDI.

Bluetooth keyboards

On a Mac, pair the keyboard first: open Audio MIDI Setup, choose Window → Show MIDI Studio, press the Bluetooth button, and Connect next to your keyboard. Then it shows up in the browser like a cable. On Windows and Android, a Bluetooth keyboard often doesn't reach the browser; the USB cable always does. Over Bluetooth, timing wobbles by about a hundredth of a second, so tick It's a Bluetooth keyboard in Settings and the timing windows widen to match.

When the keyboard isn't found

• “No MIDI keyboard found.” Try another cable first: a charge-only cable is the most common cause. Switch the keyboard on before pressing Connect, and plug straight into the computer rather than through a hub.
• Another program has it. On Windows a keyboard can often be open in only one program at a time. Close other music programs (a recording app, a piano game), then reload the page.
• “The browser was refused access to MIDI.” Click the icon to the left of the address, set MIDI devices to Allow for clefsight.com, and reload.
• “This browser can't connect a MIDI keyboard.” You're in Safari or on an iPhone or iPad. Open clefsight.com in Chrome or Edge on a computer or Android tablet.
• Two keyboards, or the wrong one. Pick the one to listen to in Settings → Keyboard.
• An older keyboard with round 5-pin MIDI sockets and no USB. A USB MIDI interface cable connects its MIDI OUT socket to the computer.
• No sound when you play. A controller with no speakers is silent on its own; tick Play my keys through the speakers in Settings.

Then check the timing: Settings has a short tap-along that measures your keyboard's and speakers' delay, so early and late are judged fairly.

How many keys you need

The 159 pieces in the library reach from C1 to G7. This is how many of them fit on each common size:

So 61 keys play 111 of the 159 as written. Only Rêverie, La plus que lente, Prelude in C minor, Op. 28 No. 20 need more than 76. If you are buying a first keyboard to learn on, 88 full-size keys with weighted action feel like a piano and never run out; for reading alone, any size with a USB port will do to start.

Questions

Which browsers can connect a keyboard?

Chrome and Edge on Windows, macOS, ChromeOS and Linux, Chrome on an Android tablet or phone, and Firefox on a computer (it asks once to add a small permission add-on for the site). Safari can't, and on an iPhone or iPad no browser can, because iOS doesn't let web pages reach MIDI.

Do I need a digital piano, or will any keyboard do?

Any keyboard that sends MIDI over USB works: a digital piano, a home keyboard or a controller with no sound of its own. Clefsight reads which key you pressed, when and for how long; the keyboard's own sound doesn't matter. A controller with no speakers can play through your computer: tick “Play my keys through the speakers” in Settings.

Does a Bluetooth keyboard work?

On a Mac, yes, once it is paired in Audio MIDI Setup. On Windows and Android a Bluetooth keyboard often doesn't reach the browser, so use the USB cable there. Bluetooth timing wobbles a little more than a cable, so tick “It's a Bluetooth keyboard” in Settings and the timing windows widen to match.

Why isn't my keyboard found?

Most often the cable: many USB cables only charge and carry no data. Then a keyboard switched on after the page opened (press Connect again), another program that already has the keyboard open (close it, then reload), or MIDI refused for the site in the browser's settings.