Classic Mode

Our classic mode is the most familiar to folks who are used to a piano layout, as it’s laid out exactly the same! But you get that added benefit of isomorphism, meaning you can play the same hand shapes anywhere on the board to get the same chords, scales, or melodies. It also helps by visualizing semitones on the vertical axis and whole tones on the horizontal axis. You also get ample note doublings, enabling you to reach the same note in a number of different hand positions.

Melodic Mode

Melodic Mode is a revolutionary mapping for musical instruments -- found in instruments like concertinas and bandoneons -- with it’s roots dating back to the late 19th century. Historically, it’s called the “Wicki-Hayden” layout.

This innovative layout offers a more intuitive and consistent approach to playing music compared to traditional methods. Like all our play modes, it’s fully isomorphic, so hand shapes stay the same across the board for chords, melodies, and scales. Diagonals also give distinct visual access to key intervals. Fifths ascend up the vertical axis, while one diagonal axis ascends by whole steps, and fourths ascend on the other.

This unique layout offers handy go-to tricks, too. For example building major chords is always to the right of your root, while building minor chords will be to the left.

Harmonic Mode

The concept behind Harmonic Mode has been around since the 18th century, recently popularized via the now-defunct C-Thru Axis-64 keyboard, which delivered the harmonic table as a fixed layout.

Ergonomically, harmonic mode is exceptionally compact, and offers some very unique and powerful properties. Note-values ascend by the musical interval of a perfect fifth along the vertical axis. On one diagonal axis, notes ascend by four semitones (a major third or diminished fourth). On the remaining diagonal axis, notes ascend by three semitones (a minor third or augmented second).

The notes of commonly played chords (except the octave) are clustered close together, And well-practiced players will find that any major triad and minor triad -- in root position -- can be played with a single finger.