Show HN: I made a memory game to teach you to play piano by ear

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Concept and Overall Reception

  • Game is a Simon-style ear-training tool: listen to a melody, then reproduce it on a piano (onscreen or via MIDI).
  • Many musicians, including experienced players, find it genuinely useful for practicing relative pitch, working memory, and basic sight reading.
  • Several users say they’ve wanted exactly this kind of focused ear-training tool; some prefer it to more complex apps.

Difficulty, Progression, and UX

  • Starting difficulty feels high for beginners; users ask for:
    • Fewer starting notes (1–2), slower tempos, and kid-friendly modes.
    • Ability to “freeze” difficulty at a comfortable sequence length.
  • As sequences get long, it shifts from ear training to pure memory; some want capped lengths or repeated practice at a given level.
  • Many request more forgiving behavior: multiple tries on a note, faster reset after mistakes, and option not to auto-replay the whole pattern each time.
  • Users want a “noodle” mode: freely explore notes to find the melody, then explicitly submit an answer.
  • Visual feedback (blinking overlays, “Wrong” popups, help button covering a key) is seen as distracting or confusing by some.

Input Methods and Technical Issues

  • Strong demand for:
    • Computer keyboard mapping (Ableton-style or 4-row tracker layout).
    • Better on-screen keyboard and optional click-only interaction.
    • Super-easy hints like showing pressed note names or highlighting keys in Simon mode.
  • MIDI support is praised, but one bug surfaced: some controllers send NOTE_ON with velocity 0 instead of NOTE_OFF, causing double triggers; this was identified and addressed.
  • Multiple reports of no sound on iPhones; often related to silent mode, but at least one case persists, suggesting Safari/Web Audio quirks.

Pedagogical Role and Future Directions

  • Consensus: it’s an ear-training/practice tool, not a complete “course” in theory or intervals.
  • Debate centers on whether it truly “teaches” intervals vs. providing flashcard-style drills that support later conceptual learning.
  • Suggestions include: interval-naming modes, higher/lower beginner drills, constrained note ranges (avoiding extreme registers), and more melodic, less random sequences (Markov/transformer-based generation).
  • Some meta-discussion criticizes dismissive “AI slop” reactions and defends small, focused practice tools as valuable hacks.