Make the game useful
A semitone moves to the next adjacent piano key, including black keys. Do not count the starting key as a move.
Start at level one and change only one setting at a time. Listen before choosing a response, compare the feedback with the notes and try the same puzzle again when a mistake reveals something uncertain. Five first-attempt successes at one level suggest trying the next level, but every level is available from the start.
Practice mode creates a new question each time. The daily mode uses your device’s calendar date and chosen level to make a repeatable puzzle. Optional saving remembers stars and adds supported first answers to the local progress dashboard. It requires no account and does not synchronize between browsers. A score describes this small task, not your ability to perform a whole piece.
Interval path practice guide
Claude-assisted guide · checked against this game
Start on a named piano key and move upward by the requested number of semitones. Learn to count adjacent keys, including black keys, and compare the landing pitch with the explanation.
What a semitone means on the keyboard
A semitone is the distance from one piano key to the very next key, whether that key is white or black. Between E and F there is no black key, so E to F is one semitone. C-sharp is the black key immediately next to C; C to C-sharp is one semitone. Counting from C4, one semitone up is C#4 (or Db4, the same key with a different name), two semitones up is D4, three up is D#4 (or Eb4), and so on. In Interval Path, the starting key is never counted as a move. If the puzzle says move up 3 from G4, you count G#4 as 1, A4 as 2, and A#4 as 3, landing on A#4 (or Bb4).
Counting in both directions
This game currently asks for upward moves only. Count the next adjacent key as one, including every black key. From D4, two upward semitones pass D#4 and land on E4. The displayed key labels use sharps, while an enharmonic flat name refers to the same equal-tempered key. The question requires the correct octave, not just the pitch class.
How the puzzle types build the skill
Level one uses moves of one to four semitones; level five uses one to eight. Early levels begin on C4, while later levels can start on C4, D4, F4 or G4. Each answer is one piano key. Melody Memory is a separate game that asks for an ordered phrase. Daily mode repeats a puzzle for the same local date, game and difficulty; a clean star is awarded at most once for that daily combination when saving is enabled.
Practising away from the screen
If you have a physical piano, you can practise the same skill without the game. Physical-instrument exercise: choose any starting key, say a note in the middle of the keyboard, and speak the semitone count aloud while you play each step upward with a comfortable hand position. Keep both hands relaxed and use whichever fingers feel natural; there is no required fingering. Once the single-step movement feels reliable, try moving two or three steps at a time and naming the landing key before you press it. Repeating this with different starting notes builds the same mental map that the on-screen C4–C6 keys provide.
Using the game well
Listen plays the starting pitch, not the solution. Read the requested distance, count adjacent keys upward and choose a landing key. A wrong answer explains the required pitch and allows another attempt. Show a hint reveals the answer explicitly. Retry preserves the same question and returns its input to the beginning; it does not erase the mistake or hint for star eligibility. Use a new random puzzle when you want a fresh first attempt.