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Re:Show HN: I made a memory game to teach you to play piano ... by ladidahh on Friday January 09, 2026 @01:00PM (#46556804)
It be nice if you mapped the keys to the user keyboard kinda like ableton, for people who dont have a midi controller handy

White Keys: The keys from ‘A’ to ‘L’ on your keyboard correspond to the white keys on a piano, covering a full octave from C to D. Black Keys: The keys in between, like ‘W’ and ‘E’, correspond to the black keys or the sharp notes on a piano. from : https://www.electrikjam.com/use-your-keyboard-as-a-midi-cont...

Re:Show HN: I made a memory game to teach you to play piano ... by moosedev on Friday January 09, 2026 @02:13PM (#46557855)
This, but (or "and") use the 4-row layout that dozens of tracker programs used[0], to fit over 2 octaves on the computer keyboard.

On a US keyboard:

QWERTYUIOP[] is the white keys starting at middle C. (The row above is the black keys; the 2 key plays C#.)

ZXCVBNM,./ is the white keys starting an octave lower. (S plays a low C#.)

The two ranges overlap; e.g. Q and , both play C in the same octave.

Grew up composing music on a computer this way when my (musical) keyboard didn't have MIDI and I couldn't afford a better one :)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_tracker

Re:Show HN: I made a memory game to teach you to play piano ... by wizzwizz4 on Friday January 09, 2026 @05:52PM (#46560552)
Can you name a piece of software that uses this scheme? Or, better still, the OG software that used it. If I steal this, I'd like to have something to call it. (I've seen this scheme before: I think it might be used by the keyboard built into the Squeak image that comes with Scratch 1.4.)
Re:Show HN: I made a memory game to teach you to play piano ... by nick__m on Friday January 09, 2026 @06:22PM (#46560805)
renoise use that convention https://files.renoise.com/manual/Renoise%20User%20Manual.pdf (page 38). I used psycle modular music in 1999 and I know that it was not the first tracker-like software to use that convention but it's as far as my memory goes.
Re:Show HN: I made a memory game to teach you to play piano ... by mb7733 on Friday January 09, 2026 @11:17PM (#46562698)
FL Studio (fka Fruity Loops) uses this layout, or something very close to it.
Re:Show HN: I made a memory game to teach you to play piano ... by moosedev on Friday January 09, 2026 @11:29PM (#46562754)
The earliest I've used was Protracker, which was the most popular tracker in the early heyday of the format (late 80s - early 90s), but the earlier Soundtracker was the OG "tracker", and probably used the same layout, but I'm not sure. https://www.exotica.org.uk/wiki/Soundtracker_History

But if FL Studio (formerly FruityLoops) and Renoise use the same layout, as others have said, then those are probably going to resonate with a wider modern audience :D Or maybe just call it "FL Studio / Renoise / tracker layout"?

I don't do computer keyboard note entry any more, but I still have the muscle memory for that 4-row layout from hours spent with it in the late 90s :D And I'd totally use it in your game. (My MIDI keyboards are kinda too far away from the mouse and monitor.)

Re:Show HN: I made a memory game to teach you to play piano ... by smeej on Friday January 09, 2026 @04:25PM (#46559570)
Also a possibility: An on-screen keyboard. I'd happily click the keys. Or even the lines on the staff for that matter.