Nate's Music Tools

Here are some music learning tools I've created over the years.

Piano Chord Finders on the Web

Piano-Chords.net

Interactive GUI (graphical user interface) of 544 piano chords built with javascript (jQuery) that links to an interactive flash-based diagram for each chord. You can rotate the notes on the chord diagram and hear audio. Also contains a section where you can log-in and save your own chord charts to hear with the interactive flash-chord diagrams.

Piano Sight Reading Tools

Note Names of the Piano Keys

The most basic skill at the piano is simply being able to name the notes. What is the key between the two black keys? D! What two pairs of keys have no black keys between them? B to C and E to F. This simple flash quiz tests your knowledge of the keys on the piano.

"Every Good Boy Does Fine, etc."

Easy ways to remember the lines of the treble and bass clef.

"All Cows Eat Grass, etc."

Easy ways to remember the spaces of the treble and bass clef

The Grand Staff (Easier version)

A good next step after you've learned the lines and spaces of the treble and bass clef but are still not confident in your sight-reading

Ledger Lines

A simple quiz to help you learn the ledger lines of the grand staff

The Grand Staff

Type the Note Names To Practice Reading on the Grand Staff

Piano Sight Reading Game: Alien Note Killer

A silly game with a laser gun to help you practice your sight-reading at the piano

Sight Reading Intervals

Test your Visual Knowledge of Intervals

Ear Training and Solfeggio Tools

Random Melody (Major Scale)

I spent several years teaching solfgeggio and sight-reading. Solfeggio is a great technique for improving your ability to understand music and it's structure. This flash demo shows the three most common chords, the I, IV and V chord along with random notes from the seven tones of the major scale. The amazing thing is, for the most part, the music works, despite the fact that it's randomly generated.

Random Melody (All 12 Tones)

For ear training purposes, it's better at least part of the time to use all 12 tones from the western "octave" system. This demo is similar to the last but uses all 12 tones.

Musical Intervals

This musical trainer is for people interested in sight-reading with the voice. Obviously you can't train singing over the internet, but you can handle the intellectual theory behind it. This is for people to study their solfeggio in different keys, and to know theoretically the distance between notes on the treble clef.

Half Steps and Whole Steps

This is a very useful ear-training tool. Some of the most difficult intervals to distinguish are half-steps and whole steps. This is a little quiz where you hear three notes, and you have to answer what are the intervals between the notes.

Scale Generator

Learn the major scale, the natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale and the melodic minor scale

The Circle of Fifths

A whiteboard presentation by Karen Cuneo Ramirez about playing music with piano chords by ear using the cirle of fifths based on theory and proximity, rather than memorized sounds.

Nate's YouTube Videos

Nate's YouTube Channel

My You Tube Channel: mostly related to piano chords and mostly dating back to 2007 and 2008. If you'd like a direct link to my most famous YouTube video, about my piano chords method, you can find that here.

Piano Chord Study Tools

Finding Chords Using Fourths

Three separate flash tutorials regarding fourths. Fourths are an important part of my piano chord method. This is a helpful tool for people who are studying my method. It's also a helpful tool for anyone interested in music, music theory or piano chord theory.

More Finding Piano Chords Using Fourths

An overview of my "three finger piano" method taught in my book "How to Speed Read Piano Chord Symbols".

Piano Chord Inversions

A simple quiz to help study major and minor chord inversions.

Piano Chord Quiz

Quiz Over Common Types of Piano Chords.

The ii > V pattern

A tool to help you learn more about the ii > V chord progression.

The ii > V Pattern (with ninths)

The ii > V chord progression with ninths and flat ninths.

Diminished Chords Tutorial

This is a tutorial that teaches you about diminished chords.

Rhythm Study Tools

Rhythm Blaster

This is a classic "spaceship shoots stuff" type game, only this time what you're shooting are the basic rhythmic building blocks, the Whole Note, Half Note, Quarter Note, Eighth Note and the Sixteenth Note. You start by shooting Whole Notes, which then break into smaller intervals. A perfect introduction to rhythmic symbols for someone who is just starting to learn to read music.

Randomly Generated Rhythm with Counting

A measure of 4/4 is broken up into four pieces with random rhythms for each beat. Generates 256 different rhythms. A helpful supplement for my book "How to Read Music Rhythm Like a Genius"

Even More Randomly Generated Rhythms

An extension of the previous link, this flash tutorial generated over 1000 randomly generated rhythms.

Basic Rhythm Quiz

This quiz is useful for people who are just starting to learn rhythm and need help just recognizing basic rhythmic elements such as eight notes and sixteenth notes.

Another Basic Rhythm Quiz

Answer some basic questions about basic rhythms

Visual Rhythm Tutorial

A visual representation of beats in a measure.