What is a Jankó keyboard?
In 1882 the Hungarian engineer Paul von Jankó redesigned the piano keyboard as a
grid: each row is a whole-tone scale, and neighbouring rows are offset by a semitone.
The result is isomorphic — a chord or scale has the same finger shape in every
key. Transposing means sliding your hand, nothing more. Octaves span only five
finger-widths, so tenths and even twelfths fall under one hand. Liszt reportedly
predicted it would replace the traditional keyboard within fifty years. It didn't —
but your computer keyboard happens to be a perfect little Jankó.
How your keyboard is mapped
The four staggered rows form two Jankó row-pairs. Within a pair: one key right =
whole tone, diagonal = semitone. In Extended mode the top pair (Q + number rows)
is a second manual one octave above the bottom pair (Z + home rows) — M and Q are both
middle C, so the left hand takes the bottom pair and the right hand the top.
In Classic mode the top pair duplicates the bottom one exactly, like the repeated
rows of a real Jankó — the same note appears in two places and either finger works.
Try C major: Z X C F G H J M. Now start one key
to the right (X C V G H J K ,) — that's D major,
identical shape. That is the whole idea.
Keys are mapped by physical position, so AZERTY, QWERTZ and other layouts work
identically. Two extra keys (` and the key right of the left Shift on
European keyboards) extend the range downward.
Shortcuts
- Space — sustain pedal (hold)
- ← / → — octave down / up
- ↑ / ↓ — previous / next instrument
- Shift — accent (play louder; a keyboard has no touch sensitivity, so dynamics are yours two ways: accents and instruments)
- Esc — all notes off
Sounds
The harpsichord, clavichord, organ, e-piano, strings and music box are synthesized live
with the Web Audio API (the plucked ones by Karplus–Strong string synthesis). The grand
piano upgrades to real recordings — see the credits below.