Fortepiano — Tiny Piano

Fortepiano is a tiny piano that lives on your Mac. Open it and play — your keyboard is the instrument. No project files, no setup, no gigabytes of samples. Just keys.

PLAY

• The layout you may already know from Musical Typing: the home row is the white keys, the row above is the black keys

• Z and X shift octaves, C and V adjust touch, Space is a real sustain pedal

• Mapped by physical key position, so it works on any keyboard layout

• Letter labels on the keys teach the mapping — hide them when you don't need them

• The on-screen keys are clickable too

50 INSTRUMENTS. 5 MEGABYTES.

• Grand piano, electric pianos, harpsichord, organs, guitars, basses, strings, brass, synth leads and pads

• Powered by the General MIDI sound bank built into macOS — Fortepiano ships zero audio samples, which is why it's tiny and opens instantly

• Switch instruments from the keyboard with [ and ] without stopping playing

RECORD AND EXPORT

• Hit record and play — the clock starts at your first note, so takes never begin with dead air

• Takes stack up in a list; keep the good one, discard the rest

• Every take is captured two ways at once: the notes and the audio

• Export audio as WAV or M4A

• Export MIDI and open it in GarageBand, Logic, or Ableton with every note editable (Pro)

• Set the MIDI export tempo so your notes land on your DAW's grid

• Switch instruments mid-take — the change is recorded into the MIDI too

REPLAY THROUGH ANY INSTRUMENT (PRO)

• The notes are the recording; the instrument is a choice. Record on grand piano, then hear the same take as harpsichord, strings, or a music box — one click per instrument

PRIVATE BY DESIGN

• No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no network. Nothing you play leaves your Mac unless you export it

FREE AND PRO

• Free: all eight pianos, recording, WAV and M4A export

• Pro (one-time purchase, not a subscription): all 50 instruments, MIDI export, and replay-through-any-instrument

A note on the name: the fortepiano was the original piano — the instrument that could finally play both loud (forte) and soft (piano). This one fits in your menu bar's shadow.