Getting started
Connecting your keyboard, the first few screens, signing in and how your first session begins.
What you need
Section titled “What you need”KeyFu listens to a keyboard or digital piano that sends MIDI. A USB cable works best, and a USB-to-host adapter counts. Bluetooth MIDI works too.
No keyboard yet? You can still get through the first screens and look around. The parts that listen to your playing open up as soon as a keyboard is connected, or a computer keyboard is attached.
The first screens
Section titled “The first screens”First, your coach KeyFu says hello; Let’s start moves on. Then setting up takes six short screens: connecting your keyboard, a soundcheck, two first chords, a little about you, what you want out of this, and your starting point. A row of short bars shows how far along you are.
Continue moves on once a screen has what it needs. takes you to the screen before.
If you leave the app half-way, to fetch a cable for example, your answers are kept and you come back to the same screen.
Connecting your keyboard
Section titled “Connecting your keyboard”The connect screen says “Searching for your keyboard…” until it hears one. Plug in or switch on your keyboard and its name appears, with how it is connected: USB · PRECISE or BLUETOOTH · LESS PRECISE.
A Bluetooth keyboard needs one more tap: tap Connect a Bluetooth keyboard, then tap your keyboard in the list. Your iPhone or iPad’s Bluetooth settings can’t do this.
Continue becomes available once a keyboard is connected, or while a computer keyboard is attached. The coach asks for your keyboard here, so he can hear what your hands are doing.
Connected over Bluetooth
Section titled “Connected over Bluetooth”Connect a Bluetooth keyboard with Connect a Bluetooth keyboard, on the connect screen or in Settings under Keyboard & sound. The first time, your iPhone or iPad asks whether KeyFu may use Bluetooth; allow it, or the list stays empty. Make sure your keyboard offers Bluetooth MIDI, not only Bluetooth audio.
A Bluetooth keyboard works for everything. Your notes count exactly as they do over USB, but timing is judged with more leeway, because Bluetooth delivers notes less evenly.
For the most precise timing, use a USB cable. Troubleshooting has more on timing and Bluetooth.
How many keys?
Section titled “How many keys?”Once your keyboard is connected, you can pick how many keys it has. Exercises are then written to fit under your hands.
This is optional. If you skip it, KeyFu asks again once setup is done and that keyboard is connected, and until you pick, exercises can use the whole keyboard. You can change the size later in Settings under Keyboard & sound.
No keyboard yet
Section titled “No keyboard yet”Tap I don’t have one yet to carry on without one. The soundcheck is skipped, and the first-chords screen plays the two chords to you instead of listening for them.
On the home screen, Today’s practice then reads “Needs your keyboard — this one measures your playing”. The coach, the library and your skills stay open. Connect a keyboard, or attach a computer keyboard, at any time and practice opens up on its own.
A quick soundcheck
Section titled “A quick soundcheck”Play a few notes, soft and then hard. KeyFu learns how hard you press on this keyboard, so a soft note is never mistaken for a hard one. The counter shows how many notes it has heard, and says when that is enough.
Skip — use a standard curve moves on without it. You can teach KeyFu your touch later with Learn my touch in Settings under Keyboard & sound.
Your first two chords
Section titled “Your first two chords”Next, KeyFu listens to you play two chords: 1 · C major (C, E, G) and then 4 · F major (F, A, C). Each chord gets a check mark once it is heard.
Any octave, any fingers, one hand is fine, and wrong notes never count against you. There is no metronome and nothing is graded. After the second chord you can keep playing freely for a moment if you like.
Why numbers?
Section titled “Why numbers?”The small keyboard on the first-chords screen shows what the numbers mean. In C major, C is 1, D is 2 and so on up to B, which is 7, so C major is chord 1 and F major is chord 4.
In another key the counting starts from that key’s home note. Whatever 1 is, 4 sits in the same place relative to it, so a move you learn once works everywhere.
If the chords don’t come
Section titled “If the chords don’t come”If a chord doesn’t come after a while, I can’t play that yet — show me appears. Tap it and KeyFu plays both chords for you.
Once you have heard them, Continue is available, so you are never stuck on this screen.
About you
Section titled “About you”Two optional questions: what the coach should call you, and which of four short descriptions sounds most like where you are with the keys right now.
Your answer tells the coach where to start. There is no wrong pick, and you can leave both blank and tap Continue.
What you want out of this
Section titled “What you want out of this”Pick the goal that fits best: Just sit down and play, Songs I love, My own ideas or Chord fluency. Anything else I should know? takes your own words, such as “play while I sing”.
Pick a goal or write something to continue. If you ask for things KeyFu doesn’t teach, like learning set pieces or reading music, the coach says so straight away. You can change your goal later in Settings.
Skipping the questions
Section titled “Skipping the questions”On both question screens, Skip for now — I’ll ask along the way takes you straight to your starting point. Anything you already typed is kept.
The coach picks the questions up later in chat, so nothing is lost by skipping.
Your starting point
Section titled “Your starting point”The last screen shows what your first session will hold, with a few words from the coach about what you told it.
≈ A typical session asks how long you usually practice in one go. The list updates when you pick a length, and you can change it later in Settings. The length is a guide, not a stopwatch: sessions are packed to roughly fit it.
Signing in
Section titled “Signing in”Sign in and keep this plan signs you in with Apple and finishes setting up. Why sign in lists what the account gives you: a plan that adapts to you, a coach who says what to practice next and answers questions, and one tap with no password and no email shared. Your practice history stays on this device; KeyFu doesn’t sync it to other devices yet. Tapping the button means you agree to the Terms of Use; the line under it links them and the Privacy Policy.
If you cancel the Apple sign-in, you stay here with your plan intact. If signing in fails, “Couldn’t sign in. Try again.” appears.
A reminder for later
Section titled “A reminder for later”If you said you don’t have a keyboard yet, the last screen offers Remind me when I’m at my keys. KeyFu then sends one notification at a time you are likely to be near your keys.
It is a single reminder, and setting up carries on the same whether you take it or not.
Your first session
Section titled “Your first session”After signing in you land on the home screen. Tap Today’s practice to see what today’s session holds, then Start to begin.
Right after setup, KeyFu may ask how many keys your keyboard has, or about your headphones. Troubleshooting explains those notices.
It starts when you play
Section titled “It starts when you play”At first, an exercise starts itself: play a note of its first chord and the session begins. A card explains this the first time it happens.
You can change how sessions begin in Settings under Keyboard & sound, in Session start: Press Play, First matching note, Start automatically, or Double-tap top key, which starts when you tap the highest key twice, handy when the screen is out of reach. The highest key is the top of the keyboard size you picked, or, until you pick one, the highest key KeyFu has heard you play. The count-in always plays.
Signing in again
Section titled “Signing in again”After you sign out, KeyFu shows “You’re signed out”. Your progress is still on this device. Tap Sign in with Apple to pick up where you left off; setup does not run again. Tapping it means you agree to the Terms of Use linked under the button.
If signing in fails, “Couldn’t sign in. Try again.” appears and you can simply tap again.