Omnichord Online
A free virtual omnichord — 27 chord buttons, strum plate and rhythm machine, right in your browser. No download, every song free.
Tap a chord, then strum the plate
This omnichord online is a free virtual omnichord you play straight from a web page. Hold a chord with one hand, sweep the strum plate with the other, and you get the shimmering, harp-like sound the instrument is loved for. There is nothing to install: it works like an omnichord app on your phone, a simulator on your laptop, and it accepts a MIDI keyboard too. Every song, every rhythm and every recording is free.
Everything on this site
Songs
Ten songs fitted to the 27 buttons, with bar-by-bar charts and Follow or Play-along practice.
Chord Chart
Every button with its notes, its row and the computer key that plays it.
How to Play
A beginner guide from your first chord to recording a whole song.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Play with your computer keys or a MIDI keyboard — the full mapping.
Popular songs to practice
Choose a song and the next chord lights up on the panel. Each one has been fitted to the 27 buttons, so you never need a chord the instrument does not have.
Let It Be
The Beatles · Easy
Key of C · 4 chords: C, G, Am, F
Stand By Me
Ben E. King · Easy
Key of B♭ (original A) · 4 chords: B♭, Gm, E♭, F
Hallelujah
Leonard Cohen · Medium
Key of C · 5 chords: C, Am, F, G, E7
Can't Help Falling in Love
Elvis Presley · Medium
Key of C (original D) · 9 chords: C, Em, Am, F, G, B7, A7, Dm, G7
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole · Easy
Key of C · 5 chords: C, Em, F, G, Am
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Bob Dylan · Easy
Key of G · 4 chords: G, D, Am, C
What is an omnichord?
The omnichord is an electronic instrument that Suzuki introduced in 1981. Instead of strings or a piano keyboard it has a grid of chord buttons and a touch-sensitive strip called the strum plate. Press a button and the instrument plays the chord with a soft, organ-like tone; brush a finger across the plate and the same chord ripples out as an arpeggio, a little like an autoharp.
Through the 1980s Suzuki released several models in its OM series, adding more rhythms, bass and memory functions along the way. Because it is so easy to get a pleasant sound out of it, the omnichord found a second life with songwriters, lo-fi producers and, more recently, short-video creators who use it for gentle covers.
This page brings the idea to your browser with sound that is fully synthesized — there are no samples of the original hardware. omnichord.online is an independent project and is not made by or affiliated with Suzuki.
Play it in three steps
You can have a whole song going in under a minute, even if you have never played a chord before.
Step 1
Press a chord
Tap one of the 27 buttons. The top row is major, the middle row minor and the bottom row seventh chords, ordered around the circle of fifths so neighbouring buttons sound good together. The chord rings for as long as you hold it.
Step 2
Strum the plate
Drag a finger or the mouse along the strum plate. Each of its 13 strings plays a note from the current chord, low to high, so a slow sweep sounds like a harp and a quick flick sounds like a sparkle.
Step 3
Add a rhythm
Open the rhythm controls, choose one of six patterns and press Start. Drums and an automatic bass line follow whatever chord you press, leaving your hands free for chords and strumming.
Computer keyboard controls
On a laptop you can play the whole instrument without the mouse: your left hand holds chords on the letter rows while your right hand strums with the number row.
| Action | Keys | What it plays |
|---|---|---|
| Major chords | QWERTYUIO | E♭ · B♭ · F · C · G · D · A · E · B |
| Minor chords | ASDFGHJKL | E♭m · B♭m · Fm · Cm · Gm · Dm · Am · Em · Bm |
| 7th chords | ZXCVBNM,. | E♭7 · B♭7 · F7 · C7 · G7 · D7 · A7 · E7 · B7 |
| Strum plate, zones 1–13 | 1234567890-=Backspace | Lowest string to highest string |
| Strum the whole plate, bottom to top | Space | |
| Hold the chord with Memory on, just this once | Shift + chord key | |
| Show or hide the shortcut overlay | ? |
The 27 chord buttons at a glance
Nine roots in circle-of-fifths order, each with a major, a minor and a seventh chord. The letter in brackets is the computer key that plays it.
| Row | E♭ | B♭ | F | C | G | D | A | E | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major | E♭ (Q) | B♭ (W) | F (E) | C (R) | G (T) | D (Y) | A (U) | E (I) | B (O) |
| Minor | E♭m (A) | B♭m (S) | Fm (D) | Cm (F) | Gm (G) | Dm (H) | Am (J) | Em (K) | Bm (L) |
| 7th | E♭7 (Z) | B♭7 (X) | F7 (C) | C7 (V) | G7 (B) | D7 (N) | A7 (M) | E7 (,) | B7 (.) |
What you get for free
Other web versions lock most songs and cap your recordings. Here everything is unlocked.
Every song unlocked
All practice songs are free, with a Follow mode that waits for you and a Play-along mode that keeps time and scores each chord change.
Unlimited recordings
Record as many takes as you like, up to five minutes each. Listen back, then download the audio file. Nothing is uploaded.
Built for touch
Every finger is tracked on its own, so on a phone or tablet you can hold a chord with one finger and strum with another.
MIDI keyboard support
Connect a MIDI keyboard and use its keys to strum the plate, or switch to chord mode and play the buttons from the keys.
Rhythm machine
Rock, Waltz, Slow Rock, Latin, Foxtrot and Swing, at any tempo from 60 to 200 BPM, with a held or a short, stabbed chord style.
Two skins
Cream for daylight and Midnight for dark mode. Switch with the palette button and your browser remembers your choice.
Tips for a better sound
Sound closer to the real instrument
Turn Memory on. The chord then keeps ringing after you let go, which is how most players work: tap a chord, then give the plate your full attention.
Keep Sustain between roughly one and two seconds for flowing arpeggios, or push it toward three seconds for slow ballads. Shorter settings suit fast, bouncy strums.
Pull the Chord volume down a little when you strum a lot. The plate is the voice people recognise, and it shines when the chord pad sits quietly underneath.
Playing on a phone
Hold the phone upright. The chord buttons sit on top and the strum plate runs sideways underneath, easy to sweep with a thumb. The panel only stops page scrolling while your finger is on it, so the rest of the page scrolls normally.
Use headphones or a small speaker if you can. Phone speakers lose most of the bass line and the low strings.
No sound on an iPhone?
Browsers only allow sound after you interact with the page, so tap the panel once first. If it is still silent, turn the volume up and check the ring/silent switch. In browsers that support it we ask for media playback, which keeps playing in silent mode; on older iOS versions, flip the switch off.
Frequently asked questions
Is this omnichord online really free?
Yes. Every feature, rhythm, practice song and recording is free, with no account and no paywall. The site may show ads outside the instrument area to cover hosting costs.
Is this an official Suzuki product?
No. Omnichord is a trademark of Suzuki. omnichord.online is an independent, unofficial web instrument and is not affiliated with Suzuki. The sound is synthesized in your browser and the look is our own design.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. It runs in Safari and Chrome on iPhone and Android. In portrait mode the chord buttons stack above a sideways strum plate, and you can use several fingers at once.
What are the keyboard shortcuts?
Q to O play the major row, A to L the minor row, and Z through the full stop the seventh row. Keys 1 to 0, minus, equals and Backspace play the 13 strings, Space strums them all, and ? opens the shortcut overlay.
Can I use a MIDI keyboard?
Yes, in browsers with Web MIDI such as Chrome and Edge. Press the MIDI button: Strum mode plays the nearest string for each key, and Chords mode turns C3–B3 into major, C4–B4 into minor and C5–B5 into seventh chords.
How do I record and save my playing?
Press Rec in the top bar, play, then press it again. You can listen to the take before downloading it as an audio file (WebM or M4A, depending on your browser). Each take can run up to five minutes and you can make as many as you like.
Why is there no sound on my iPhone?
Tap the panel once to start the audio, turn the volume up and check the silent switch. Where the browser allows it, the page plays as media so the silent switch does not mute it; if your iOS version does not support that, switch silent mode off.
How does the strum plate work?
The plate has 13 strings. Each one plays a note from the chord you pressed last, stacked upward from about G below middle C, so any gesture sounds in tune. Moving faster plays louder, and even a very quick sweep sounds every string it crosses.
Why is a song in a different key from the record?
The 27 buttons cover nine roots and leave out A♭, D♭ and G♭. When a song needs one of those, the whole song moves to the nearest key where every chord has a button, and the original key is shown next to it.
What does the Memory button do?
With Memory on, a chord keeps playing after you lift your finger, until you press another chord or the same button again. Holding Shift while pressing a chord key does the same for that chord only.