A Mobile-Friendly Piano Chords Tool for Keyboard & Musical Typing

Hey what’s good, it’s good to see you. This is my QWERTY Piano Chords Tool – what I consider to be the ultimate piano chords tool for producers and musicians.

I built it especially for GarageBand and Logic Pro users – it mirrors the Musical Typing layout by leveraging the familiar QWERTY keyboard design.

The QWERTY Piano Chords Tool helps you instantly learn 37 chord types in all 12 keys, export them as MIDI files, and hear each chord in both standard and arpeggiated form. You also get useful note and interval information.

It’s cross-platform responsive, so it’ll work on tablets, phones, and regular desktops. I use it most on mobile, but it’s mad slick on iPad and huge and user-friendly on desktop.

How to Use the Piano Chords Tool

1) Tap to Enable Audio (on Mobile)

This unlocks audio playback in your browser so you can hear chords and notes. You only need to do this once per session.

However, if you switch off the tab and go somewhere else temporarily, you’ll need to refresh the page and do it the second time.

This has to be this way due to limitations of mobile browsers. The “Tap to Enable” button won’t appear on desktop and larger tablets, however.

2) Select A Root Note & Chord Type

You’ll instantly hear the chord and see it visualized on the keyboard(s).

3) Scroll Left to Right in the Root & Chord Rows

The tool is fully touch-compatible and mobile-friendly.

4) Press “Export to MIDI” & Drag It To Your DAW

The midi notes are just regular quarter note MIDI files set at standard velocity and at 120 BPM.

You can choose to import the tempo information or not.

On mobile and iPad, it’s a bit more involved because then you have to go around in your files hunting for it. The issue there is less with my tool, but more with the iOS directories.

I find what works best is having a folder, not in iCloud, but in your local files, give it a clear name and then drag the file directly from your Downloads into that folder.

Drag and drop this file directly into your DAW (GarageBand, Logic Pro, Ableton, etc.) to instantly start building progressions.

5) Use the Arpeggiator Function

This is perfect for understanding how extended chords sound or for creating arpeggiated textures in your productions.

When this box is selected, pressing the chord buttons to hear them will result in an arpeggiated sound instead of playing all the notes together.

6) Press Each Key to Hear Notes Individually

The keys on the SVG are also responsive too. In other words, pressing on the keys will highlight them and then play the single note that it responds too.

Additionally, after you’ve selected a chord, pressing on the keys will de-select the keys. From there, you just have to press the chord button again if you want to light up the keys according to the chord again.

7) Notice the 2nd Keyboard for Larger Chords

Some chords (like min11 or maj13) and some root notes span more than one octave as it pertains to the QWERTY keyboard, ie, Bbmaj7.

When this happens, a second keyboard appears below the first one to show the full voicing clearly. This only shows when needed.

4 Tips for Using the QWERTY Piano Chords Tool

1) Tap to Enable Sound is Essential on Mobile

If the sound doesn’t work, you likely forgot to tap the “Enable Sound” button at the top of the tool. As I mentioned earlier, this is required by mobile browsers to allow audio playback.

2) Create A Separate Folder for MIDI Files

To stay organized, create a dedicated folder on your desktop or inside your DAW project for all exported MIDI chords. This makes it easy to build progressions quickly.

3) Refresh Tab to Re-enable Audio

If your browser suspends audio (after leaving the tab or putting your phone to sleep), just refresh the page and tap the “Enable Sound” button again to reactivate everything.

4) It Gets Faster the More You Use It

With the way this tool functions, it gets faster and faster as you use it because of the way the piano samples load.

It works well when you first start, but at times, there will be a slight lag the first time you arpeggiate a brand new chord, for instance.

But after you’ve pressed many chord types and root notes and played around with it for 15-20 seconds, you’ll notice that it gets increasingly snappy and funner to use.