How to play
- Choose a level and press Start the round. A bar of rhythm appears on a single line, and the click counts you in.
- Read the bar while the click counts, then tap it, one tap for every note, in time with the click: the space bar, any letter key, the pad, or any key of a MIDI keyboard.
- The next bar comes at once, with its own count-in, while the bar you tapped is marked in pencil: in time, early, late, missed, or an extra tap.
- After 60 seconds the round ends and the page shows how many bars you tapped in time, and the bars that went wrong, marked.
The levels
Each level is a step of the rhythms Clefsight teaches, in the same order as the rhythm guide and the drill, and its bars are the drill's own rhythm cards.
- Level 1: Quarter and half notesQuarter notes, half notes, whole notes and dotted half notes.8 bars in 4/4The rhythm guide
- Level 2: Eighth notes, dots and 3/4Eighth notes, three beats in a bar and dotted quarter notes.12 bars in 4/4 and 3/4The rhythm and time signatures guides
- Level 3: Sixteenth notes and dotted eighthsSixteenth notes and dotted eighth notes.6 bars in 4/4The rhythm guide
- Level 4: Syncopation, triplets and 6/86/8 and other beats in threes, notes held across the beat and triplets.10 bars in 4/4 and 6/8The rhythm and time signatures guides
Questions
Do I need a keyboard or a drum?
No. Tap on the space bar or any letter key of a computer, on the pad under the game on a phone or tablet, or on any key of a MIDI keyboard plugged in by USB (Chrome, Edge and Firefox on a computer, Chrome on Android). Only when you tap counts, not which key.
Why a bar of clicks before every bar?
The click counts you in: four clicks in 4/4, three clicks in 3/4 and four clicks in 6/8, at 80 a minute (in 6/8 the click is the dotted quarter). The next bar is on the page through the whole count-in, so use it to read ahead and count the rhythm in your head; then tap it while the click keeps going.
How is a bar marked?
A tap is in time when it lands within 75 ms of its place in 4/4 and 3/4 (a tenth of a beat), 50 ms in 6/8. A bar with every tap in time counts. Otherwise it is marked as a teacher would in pencil: early or late in blue, with a tick on the side the note came, a missed note or an extra tap in red. Once you are in, timing follows your own steady beat, as in the drill, so what counts is coming in with the click and keeping the rhythm.
My taps all come out late. Why?
Every setup has a small delay between the click you hear and the tap reaching the page, and Bluetooth headphones add a lot. If every bar reads late, play through your computer's own speakers or wired headphones, and calibrate your keyboard in Settings: the game then takes that delay off every tap.
How is a round scored, and is my best kept?
A round lasts 60 seconds, count-ins and all: 10 bars of 4/4, or 13 of 3/4 or 6/8. Your score is the bars tapped in time. One best for each level is kept in this browser on this device, and every bar goes into your reading profile like a rhythm card in a drill.
Learn to count them first: how to read rhythm, time signatures, or the note values chart with every note and rest and how to count it.
Then read the notes too: the note reading game, or connect a keyboard and play pieces from the library, graded note by note.