Help

1. Getting Started

When you first open the app, tap the “Start” button to grant microphone access. Once authorized, the app will capture audio from your microphone and detect pitch in real-time. For best results, use the app in a quiet environment. If your browser prompts for permission, select “Allow”.

2. Real-Time Detection

When you play your harmonica into the microphone, the app automatically identifies the current pitch and highlights the corresponding hole on the visual harmonica layout. Different techniques are color-coded: blue = blow, red = draw, orange = bend (draw/blow bends), purple = overblow/overdraw.

While waiting for input, an audio waveform animation appears at the top. Once pitch is detected, it’s replaced by a green note badge and a pitch deviation indicator.

Indicator dot color shows tuning accuracy (see in-app demo).

3. Harmonica Visualization

The harmonica layout shows all holes and techniques. The top row shows blow notes (blue), blow bends, and overblows; the bottom row shows draw notes (red), draw bends, and overdraws. The center circles display hole numbers (1–10).

Tap any note cell to hear it. Long press for sustained sound.

Note display supports three modes (see in-app demo).

4. Harmonica Settings

Key: All 21 keys are supported (Low C to High G). Select the key that matches your harmonica.
Position: Select 1st–12th position. The app calculates the corresponding modal root automatically.

Circle of Fifths: 12 note names arranged by fifths in a ring. The current position’s root is highlighted in teal, with the position number shown in the center. Tap any note to switch — e.g. on a C harp, tap G for 2nd position, tap D for 3rd. When you change keys, the ring rotates to keep the current key at the top. Selecting a position auto-switches to Jianpu display mode.

5. Tuning System

The tuning dropdown is organized into three groups: Diatonic, Chromatic, and Custom. Diatonic includes 14 presets (Richter, Country, Paddy Richter, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, Melody Maker, Power Draw, Power Bender, Wilde, Ed Harmonica, MajorCross, Newbie, 12-hole Solo, 12-hole C6). Chromatic includes Solo (8/10/12/14/16-hole), C6 (8/10/12/14/16-hole), and Richter 10-hole — slide notes are accessed via the push lever, shown with an animated slide bar on the harmonica view. Tap ’+ Add Tuning’ at the bottom of the dropdown to create a custom diatonic tuning: pick a preset as a starting point, adjust blow/draw notes per hole with ▲/▼, and the system auto-computes bends, overblows, and overdraws. Custom tunings are saved locally and can be loaded or deleted anytime.

6. MIDI Playback

Select a built-in MIDI file from the dropdown, or tap “Local file” to load your own. Playback controls include: play/pause/stop, speed adjustment (0.25x–2x), and loop toggle. Playback mode can be “Original” (triangle wave tone) or “Harmonica” (harmonica synth tone). During playback, the harmonica layout highlights the hole for each note in real-time.

Icons on the right side of the toolbar toggle panel visibility (see in-app demo).

MIDI File Compatibility

For the best experience, we recommend single-voice, single-track MIDI files. The app automatically extracts melody notes, but polyphonic passages with simultaneous notes or chords may not split perfectly into a single melody line.

Multi-voice and multi-track files can also be loaded — just select the right track and melody extraction mode manually.

After loading a multi-track file, a track selector appears in the Practice panel under “Current Song” mode. The dropdown lists all track names and note counts — select the one containing the main melody.

The melody extraction button on the toolbar cycles through three modes to handle polyphonic/chord content:
· Auto (A): Smart extraction — filters out bass and accompaniment when simultaneous notes are detected; keeps all notes for monophonic passages
· Melody Only: Always forces top-line melody extraction, ignoring all accompaniment
· All Notes: No filtering — displays all original notes as-is

7. Metronome

The built-in metronome supports BPM (beats per minute) and time signature adjustment. Beat indicator lights show the current beat position in real-time.

MIDI Sync

When playing a MIDI file, the metronome automatically syncs to the MIDI tempo and beat — no manual setup needed.

8. Dynamic Score

The dynamic score visualizes notes during MIDI playback, supporting three view modes: Piano-roll, Jianpu (numbered notation), and Staff notation.

The view toggle button (top-left) cycles through the three views. All views support playhead tracking, current measure highlighting, and beat/bar line display.

Piano-Roll View

The Piano-roll view displays notes as a horizontal scrolling strip. Y-axis maps to pitch, X-axis to time. The playhead (cyan line) shows the current position. Dashed lines mark beats, solid lines mark bar boundaries, and the current beat is highlighted with a translucent band. Note blocks are color-coded by action (blue = blow, red = draw, orange = bend, purple = OB/OD), with active notes glowing.

Label modes (Piano-roll only): Labels are shown inside each note block. The top-left button cycles between three modes:
· TAB (1+2): Harmonica tablature (number = hole)
· Jianpu (123): Numbered notation (dot above = higher octave, dot below = lower octave)
· Note (ABC): Fixed pitch names — e.g. C♯, B♭, G

TAB notation: Blow, Draw, Draw bend (apostrophes = semitones), Blow bend, Overblow / Overdraw.

Jianpu View

The Jianpu view shows the score in traditional Chinese numbered notation format, with full annotation support: underlines (eighth/sixteenth/thirty-second notes), dots, ties, triplets, octave dots, accidentals, bar lines, repeat signs, and more. During playback, the current measure is highlighted and the playhead indicates the exact position. Jianpu mode is especially suited for users familiar with numbered notation.

Staff View

The Staff view displays the score in standard Western notation with note heads, stems, accidentals, and ledger lines. During playback, the current measure is highlighted and the playhead indicates the exact position. Staff mode is ideal for users with music reading skills.

Common Features

The expand button (top-left) enlarges the score height for viewing dense passages. Tap again to collapse.

Bottom-left shows note count: green number = total notes. If the MIDI contains notes outside the harmonica’s range, they appear in red (e.g. 2/16 means 2 out of 16 notes are out of range).

9. Practice Mode

Practice mode offers four approaches: pattern exercises, current-song follow-along, improvisation, and rhythm training.

Pattern exercises: Choose from scales (13 types), arpeggios (9 types), intervals (4 types), or sequence patterns (7 types). Set direction (ascending/descending/both), rhythm type (6 types), and repeat count, then play along with the guide.

Current-song follow-along: After loading a MIDI file, select “Follow Along” to practice with the current song. You can set a measure range (e.g. measures 3–8) for looped section practice, or tap measure numbers directly on the dynamic score to quickly select a practice range.

Improvisation

Improvisation offers three style categories:

Blues: Standard 12-bar, quick change, minor blues progressions.
Jazz: Jazz Blues (with ii-V substitutions), ii-V-I (4 bars), ii-V-I-VI, chromatic descent, minor ii-V, and more.
Pop: I-V-vi-IV (universal), vi-IV-I-V (melancholy), I-IV-V-IV (rock), I-vi-IV-V (50s classic), Canon progression (8 bars), and more.

Backing modes: Synth (SoundFont samples, piano + drums), Synth 1 (pure Web Audio), or Sample (blues-only recordings). The app generates drums, bass, and keyboard tracks. The chord grid highlights the current bar in real-time. Each progression has its own default BPM, adjustable and auto-saved.

Rhythm Training

Rhythm training focuses on pure rhythm practice using drum sounds. 10 difficulty levels from simple to complex:

Levels 1-2: Whole notes, half notes, quarter notes (basic pulse)
Level 3: Eighth note pairs + quarter/half rests
Level 4: Dotted quarter + eighth, two-quarter combos
Level 5: Sixteenth note groups
Level 6: Syncopation + eighth rest combos
Level 7: Triplets
Level 8: Dotted eighth + sixteenth, mixed subdivisions
Level 9: 3/4 time + dotted half notes
Level 10: All elements randomly mixed

Each level includes all lower-level patterns with weighted probability — current level appears most often, earlier levels provide variety. Tap the dice icon to generate a new random pattern.

Rhythm is displayed in standard percussion notation (percussion clef, single-line staff, standard note heads and rests). During playback, green highlighting tracks the current beat with strong/weak dynamic accents.

10. Other Settings

Language: Supports 7 languages — 简体中文, 繁體中文, English, Español, Português, Italiano, Русский.
Dark Mode: Tap the moon/sun icon to switch between light and dark themes. There is also an Auto mode (switches to dark automatically between 18:00–6:00).
Orientation: Tap the ⇅ button to manually switch layout; in landscape the harmonica is centered, in portrait panels are below.
About: Tap the ⓘ icon to view app info, help, as well as Remove Ads and Restore Purchases.
Privacy: Practice history, recordings, and settings are kept on your device. To improve the product and your experience, the app also registers a device identifier and sends pseudonymous usage events and crash reports — see the privacy policy for details.
A4 Reference: Located in the control bar, adjustable from 438–445Hz (default 442Hz), affecting both detection and playback pitch standard.

11. Remove Ads

HarpMaster provides all features for free. If you prefer an ad-free experience, you can make a one-time purchase on the About page to permanently remove all ads.

If you’ve previously purchased, after switching devices or reinstalling the app, tap “Restore Purchases” to restore your ad-free status at no additional cost.