Online Rhodes — Play a Free Electric Piano

What is a Rhodes?

A Rhodes is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes in the mid-twentieth century. Inside, each key strikes a thin metal tine that vibrates like a tuning fork, and a magnetic pickup senses that vibration — exactly as an electric guitar pickup senses a string. The result is an instrument that feels like a piano but sings with a softer, more vocal voice: a warm bell on the attack that melts into a mellow body as the note sustains.

The online Rhodes here uses a real sampled Rhodes (General MIDI program 4), so every key carries that same bell-like attack and gentle decay, not the flat tone of a synthesized waveform pretending to be one.

What does a Rhodes sound like?

A Rhodes sounds warm, rounded and faintly bell-like, with a soft attack and a note that sustains gently before fading. Where an acoustic piano is bright and percussive, the Rhodes is smoother and more singing — each note seems to bloom rather than strike. That warmth is why it became the signature voice of jazz fusion, soul, R&B and the lo-fi hip-hop that borrows from all three.

Because the tone is so forgiving, the Rhodes flatters simple chords and slow melodies: a plain triad that might sound ordinary on a piano takes on an intimate, late-night quality on a Rhodes. Try a major 7th chord and you will hear exactly the sound that defined a thousand neo-soul records.

Why play a Rhodes online?

A real Rhodes is a heavy, electromechanical instrument that needs amplification and regular maintenance — not something most people have room for. An online Rhodes puts that sound one click away:

• Play jazz voicings and ballads without buying or moving a physical instrument.
• Shift the register with Octave and Transpose to find the warm, singing range the Rhodes is loved for.
• Hold Space as a sustain pedal and let chords ring and blend into one another.
• Record your playing and download it as an MP3, all inside your browser.

It opens the instant you arrive — no install, no sign-up. See the about page for the technology behind it.

How to play the Rhodes on your keyboard

Play the Rhodes with your mouse, your touchscreen, or your computer keyboard — every key sounds the moment you trigger it. Middle C (C4) sits under the M key, with the surrounding notes under the surrounding keys. The Rhodes rewards slow, chordal playing: hold Space to let one chord melt into the next. The highlighted keys below outline a major 7th chord, the bread-and-butter voicing of jazz and neo-soul; press Play notes to hear it bloom.

Chords and songs that suit the Rhodes

The Rhodes shines on lush, extended chords and slow, expressive melodies. Explore major 7th and minor 7th chords — the colours most associated with the Rhodes — then try them on a piece like Für Elise or Canon in D. The full set of piano chords and piano scales is highlighted on this same keyboard.

The other six instruments

The Rhodes is one of seven real instruments sharing one keyboard here. For a different mood, head back to the online piano and try the Music Box for a delicate tone, the Marimba for a warm, woody one, or the Harp for shimmering strings — plus the piano, organ and synth.

Frequently asked questions