Free Synthesia Alternative: Classfern’s Falling-Notes Piano
A good free Synthesia alternative is a falling-notes piano that runs in your browser. Classfern’s falling-notes piano shows colored bars falling onto the keys, opens MIDI and MusicXML files, slows down, loops and waits for you to play the right note. It has over 2,000 out-of-copyright pieces and needs no download, account or payment.
Works in the UK and the US. This version uses US music words (measure, quarter note, staff) and US grades; the UK version uses bar, crotchet, stave and UK year groups. · UK version of this page
Key facts
- Classfern’s falling-notes piano is free, runs in the browser and needs no account.
- It opens MIDI, MusicXML and compressed MusicXML (.mxl) files on your own device – nothing is uploaded.
- Over 2,000 out-of-copyright pieces are built in: folk songs, carols, hymns and pieces by composers of the 1700s and 1800s.
- Wait mode stops the bars at each note until you play it; wrong notes flash red but do not stop you.
- Synthesia (Synthesia LLC, first released in 2006) is an installed app whose free version has been limited to a few demo songs since 2014.
What is a good free alternative to Synthesia?
A good free alternative to Synthesia is a falling-notes piano that works in the browser and includes free music. Classfern’s falling-notes piano is free, needs no download or account, opens MIDI and MusicXML files, and has wait mode, slow-down, loop and hands-separate practice.
You can try it right here on this page, or open the full falling-notes piano with its tune library and reading styles.
Try the falling-notes piano
Press the button to load the piano here (about 90 KB, only when you ask for it). Pick a demo tune or type a title in Find a tune, then press play. Turn on wait mode and the music waits for you.
Music files you open are read on this device and never uploaded. Nothing you play is recorded or sent.
Classfern falling-notes piano and Synthesia compared
Both show notes falling onto a piano keyboard and both work with MIDI files and MIDI keyboards. The main differences are that Classfern runs in the browser and is free in full, while Synthesia is an installed app whose learning features are a paid upgrade.
| Classfern falling-notes piano | Synthesia | |
|---|---|---|
| How you get it | Open a web page – nothing to install | Download and install an app |
| Devices | Any modern browser on a computer, tablet or phone | Windows, macOS, iPad, Android and Chromebook (via Google Play) |
| Cost | Free, with no account and no ads | Free download limited to a few demo songs since version 10 (2014); a paid Learning Pack unlocks the learning features |
| Songs included | Over 2,000 out-of-copyright pieces, plus demo tunes | A few demo songs; more arrangements are sold in its music store |
| Your own files | MIDI (.mid), MusicXML (.musicxml, .xml) and compressed MusicXML (.mxl), read on your device | MIDI and MusicXML files |
| MIDI keyboard | USB or MIDI keyboard in Chrome, Edge and Firefox on computers and Android | USB or MIDI keyboard; Bluetooth MIDI on Windows 10 |
| Practice tools | Wait mode, speed, loop, one hand at a time | Learning features in the paid Learning Pack |
| Reading styles | Letter names, do re mi, numbers or color notes beside the falling bars | Falling notes; sheet music display in the Learning Pack |
Synthesia is made by Synthesia LLC. Classfern is not connected with or endorsed by Synthesia LLC; the name is used only to describe and compare. Details of Synthesia come from its own support pages and may change.
Is Synthesia free?
Synthesia is free to download, but since version 10 (December 2014) the free version only plays a few demo songs. Its learning features, such as sheet music display, come in a paid upgrade called the Learning Pack, and extra song arrangements are sold in its store.
If you want everything free, use a browser tool with a free library. Classfern’s library only holds music that is out of copyright; for a song that is still in copyright, open a file you have the right to use.
What is a piano visualizer?
A piano visualizer shows music as moving pictures on a keyboard, usually as colored bars that fall onto the keys at the moment each note sounds. A longer bar means a longer note. It lets you see which keys to press without reading sheet music.
In Classfern’s falling-notes piano the right hand is green and the left hand is orange, and the keys you need in wait mode turn yellow. The Note names tab shows the same music measure by measure as letter names, do re mi or numbers, which is a gentle step towards reading music.
How to learn a piece with falling notes
- Pick an easy piece – the library marks each one beginner, intermediate or advanced.
- Right hand first: set Hands to the right hand and let the computer play the left.
- Turn on wait mode so the bars stop until you press the right key.
- Loop the hard part: choose a few measures and repeat them.
- Left hand, then both hands at a slow speed.
- Speed up in small steps once you can play it twice without stopping.
Can you learn piano for free?
Yes. You can learn the basics of piano for free with browser tools and a regular practice routine: learn the keys, play simple tunes with a falling-notes piano, learn to read notes, and add finger exercises. A teacher helps most with hand position and sound, but free tools cover a lot of the first year.
A free path on lessonplanner.info: how to play piano with both hands, finger exercises, Learn to Read Music and the free music apps list.
Does it work with a MIDI keyboard?
Yes. Connect a USB or MIDI keyboard and press “Use a USB/MIDI keyboard”. This works in Chrome, Edge and Firefox on computers and Android. Safari on a Mac and all browsers on iPhone and iPad do not support MIDI keyboards yet, so use the on-screen keys or your computer keyboard there.
On a computer keyboard, the keys A W S E D F T G Y H U J K play one octave from C, and Z and X move down or up an octave.
The falling-notes piano is free on lessonplanner.info, with no sign-in and no ads.
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