Real-time piano intelligence

Sound better
the day you start.

Rise Keys is a small box that upgrades the MIDI keyboard you already own. It fixes wrong notes while you play them, pedals for you, coaches you — and then proves you're improving.

$129 early adopter pre-order · price rises at launch · ships in 4–6 weeks

Pre-order — $129
<1 mscorrection decision
7,040,164notes of training
35built-in lessons
$0/mono subscription, ever
Works with the keyboard you already own
Yamaha · Roland · Casio · Korg · Kawai · Alesis · Arturia · Akai · M-Audio · Novation · Donner — any USB MIDI keyboard, 25 to 88 keys. Older 5-pin keyboards work with a $10 adapter.
Rise Keys RK-1: a matte charcoal box with a green OLED display, glowing ASSIST and SUSTAIN buttons, beside a MIDI keyboard
RK-1 — artist's rendering of the production design.
01 — The problem

Wrong notes are why people quit.

Every beginner faces the same brutal math: for months, most of what you play sounds bad. Not because you lack talent — because hands take time, and until they catch up, every slip is loud, sour, and discouraging. Most people quit right there.

Rise Keys removes the sour. It listens to every note you play, understands the key and chord you're in, and when a note doesn't fit, it corrects it to one that does — in under a millisecond, before the sound reaches your ears. You hear the music you meant. Practice becomes rewarding on day one, so you actually come back on day two.

It's not autotune for piano. It's a confidence engine — and it steps back automatically as your hands improve.

And you don't need new gear. That keyboard in the closet, the hand-me-down digital piano, the $40 mini controller — plug any of them into Rise Keys and it becomes the smartest instrument in the house.

■ what you played   ■ wrong note caught   ■ what everyone hears
02 — The intelligence

Trained on seven million notes
of real piano.

LIVE
Key
C
BPM
96
Chord
C
The real dashboard — every RK-1 serves this live to any phone on your wifi.

Inside the box is a model trained on 7,040,164 notes of real piano performances — it knows what note comes next the way a session player does. Layered on top: live key detection, chord tracking, and tempo following that lock onto your playing within a few bars.

Every note you play is scored against all of it in well under a millisecond. Notes that fit pass through untouched. Notes that don't get moved to the nearest note that does — so corrections land inside the music, never against it.

And because it all runs on the box, there's no internet required, no account, no listening microphone, and nothing leaving your home.

03 — Adaptive by design

New players sound good.
Good players sound great.
Great players sound excellent.

Rise Keys continuously classifies how you're playing and matches its help to your level — meeting you where you are, and getting out of the way as you rise. Hand the keyboard to anyone in the family; it re-adapts within seconds.

Learning

Strong correction pulls everything into key. An automatic left hand lays a bass note under your melody, and gentle timing help lands rushed notes on the beat. One finger sounds like music, today.

Getting there

Moderate correction that fixes slips but respects your choices. The coach starts telling you what to practice, and the trouble-key map shows exactly where your fingers fumble.

Solid

Nearly invisible. Your chords get smoother voice-leading, blue notes and passing tones are left alone, and the session stats prove the box is barely working. That's the goal.

04 — More teacher than crutch

A patient teacher that
never checks its watch.

COACH

Plain-English advice, live

One tip at a time, drawn from how you're actually playing: "You're rushing ahead of the beat — relax and land on it." No jargon, no judgment.

LESSONS

35 graded lessons with real rhythm

From Hot Cross Buns to Für Elise, plus scales, 12-bar blues, waltz patterns, and Hanon drills. A count-in clicks you off, an on-screen keyboard shows which keys to press, and you're graded on pitch and timing.

TRAINER

Chord quizzes that level up

It asks for a chord, listens, and names exactly which note you missed. Triads first; sevenths once you're on a streak. Correction pauses during quizzes — grades are honest.

STARS

Something to beat

Every lesson scores 1–3 stars. Full tempo and clean timing earn the third star — slow practice builds up to it, exactly like a good teacher would structure it.

PROGRESS

Proof you're improving

Every session is logged. Assist falling week over week is your playing rising — objective evidence, not a feeling. It's the reason for the name.

RECORDINGS

Every session, captured

Your enhanced performances are saved as standard MIDI files on the box. Replay them, share them, or drop them into GarageBand.

05 — An instrument, not an app

Knobs, switches, and sounds —
no subscription behind any of them.

Nine instrument sounds — grand piano, electric piano, vibraphone, organ, strings, and four synth voices we wrote from scratch. No licensed samples, no downloads, nothing to unlock.

Implied sustain pedals like a pianist: harmonies ring, fast runs stay clean, and lifting your hands ends the phrase — no pedal required (though a real one takes over the moment you plug it in).

Real controls: metronome with tap-along tempo, transpose, master volume, correction strength, sustain feel, key lock, flats/sharps — physical buttons on the box, full knobs on the dashboard.

And updates are free, forever. The RK-1 you reserve keeps getting better.

assist needed, week by week (illustrative)
Less help needed = real skill gained. Your dashboard draws this from your actual sessions.
06 — Specifications

Small box. Complete instrument.

Correction latencyUnder 1 ms decision time — faster than sound leaves a speaker
Works withAny class-compliant USB MIDI keyboard — every major brand, 25 to 88 keys
ConnectionsUSB-A (keyboard) · 3.5 mm audio out (speakers or headphones) · USB-C power · Bluetooth MIDI for wireless keyboards (via free update; adds ~10–20 ms latency — wired stays the fastest way to play)
On the boxOLED status display · backlit ASSIST and SUSTAIN buttons
DashboardServed by the box to any phone, tablet, or computer on your wifi — nothing to install
Sounds9 instruments, including 4 original synth voices — all license-free
Lessons35 graded lessons · chord trainer · live coach · session recordings
PrivacyFully offline operation · no account · no microphone · your data stays on the box
SizeApprox. 10 × 7 × 2.8 cm · desk-friendly · powered by any USB-C supply
UpdatesFree software updates for life
07 — The honest comparison

What $129 buys, once.

Rise Keys RK-1 Piano appWeekly lessons
Cost$129 once $60–180 every year$150–400 every month
Helps while you playYes — fixes notes liveNo — scores you after Once a week
Sounds good on day oneYes NoNo
Adapts to your levelContinuously Fixed course orderYes
Needs internetNo Usually—
Screen required to practiceNo AlwaysNo
Proof of progressLogged every sessionStreaks and badgesTeacher's opinion

A great human teacher is irreplaceable — Rise Keys makes the other six days of the week count.

08 — Questions

Fair questions, straight answers.

Won't I just become dependent on it?
The opposite, by design. Assist strength falls automatically as your accuracy rises, the lessons and chord trainer pause correction entirely so grades are honest, and the progress chart shows assistance declining over weeks. The product's goal is to need itself less. You can also switch assist off with a physical button any time.
Does it work with my keyboard?
If it has USB MIDI (nearly every keyboard made in the last 15 years, from a $40 mini controller to a full digital piano), yes — plug it into the KEYBOARD port and play. No drivers, no setup. Bluetooth MIDI keyboards will pair too (via a free update) — worth knowing: Bluetooth adds roughly 10–20 ms of latency, so the USB cable is always the fastest, tightest way to play.
Do I need the internet or an account?
No. Everything — the model, the sounds, the lessons, your recordings — lives on the box. Wifi is only used to show the dashboard on your phone, and only on your own network.
What if I already play reasonably well?
The box classifies you as "solid" within seconds and gets out of the way: near-zero correction, smoother chord voicings, and the full practice toolkit — metronome, drills with timing scores, trouble-key mapping, session recordings.
Is there really no subscription?
Really. $129 buys the device, all 35 lessons, all 9 sounds, and free software updates for life. We sell a box, not a membership.
When do I pay, and when does it ship?
You pay at checkout — this is a pre-order at the $129 early adopter price. Your RK-1 ships in an estimated 4–6 weeks from your order, with a confirmation email immediately and tracking the day it ships. Change your mind before it ships? Cancel for a full refund, no questions asked.
What's the return policy?
30 days from delivery, full refund. If the unit is faulty, that's on us — replacement or refund and we pay the shipping. If you simply changed your mind, return it complete and working and you cover the return postage. Full details on the policies page.
What's in the box?
The RK-1, a USB-C power supply, and a quick-start card that says: plug in your keyboard, plug in your speakers, play.
Early adopter pre-order

RK-1 — $129

This is a pre-order: you check out securely, get a confirmation email immediately, and your RK-1 ships in an estimated 4–6 weeks — with tracking the day it leaves. Cancel any time before it ships for a full refund. The price goes up at retail launch.

Pre-order — $129
 ·  © 2026 Rise Keys  ·  hello@risekeys.com  ·  Shipping & returns  ·  Made for people who always wanted to play.