PlayableNotes

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---
name: arrange-for-student
description: Simplify or adapt a piano score in PlayableNotes for a particular student or level (beginner, early intermediate, an easier left hand, smaller hands, no octaves).
---

# Arranging for a student

The goal is a version this student can play well that still sounds like the piece. Keep the melody recognisable and the harmony intact; remove difficulty, not music.

## First, pin down the student

If the teacher hasn't said, ask one short question, the level or what the student struggles with, unless the request is already specific ("no octaves", "easier left hand"). Use the levels below as shared vocabulary. They are a draft based on common method-book sequences (Faber Piano Adventures, Alfred's Basic, RCM / ABRSM grades); the teacher's own description always wins.

| Level | Roughly | Right hand | Left hand | Rhythm | Keys and range |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **1 · First year** | Primer to Level 1; pre-Grade 1 | Melody only, mostly steps and skips within a five-finger position; one position shift at a phrase | Single notes or open fifths, one per measure or per half note | Whole, half, quarter; dotted half; quarter rests | C, G, F major and A minor; within two octaves of middle C; no ledger lines past two |
| **2 · Late beginner** | Level 2 to 3A; Grade 1 | Melody with occasional two-note intervals; small shifts | Root-position triads or root and fifth on strong beats; simple broken chords in quarters | Adds eighth pairs, dotted quarter and eighth, ties | Up to two sharps or flats |
| **3 · Early intermediate** | Level 3B to 4; Grades 2 and 3 | Melody with thirds and sixths and simple ornaments written out | Alberti or broken-chord patterns in eighths; inversions; occasional bass line | Sixteenths in short groups, syncopation, triplets | Up to three sharps or flats; hand-crossing rare |
| **4 · Intermediate** | Level 5 and beyond; Grades 4 and 5 | Close to the original; thin only the thickest textures | Most patterns kept; octaves allowed | Original | Original key unless asked |

## Techniques (lightest first)

1. **Thin chords**: keep the melody (top) and the bass (bottom), and drop inner doublings. Keep the third of the chord when you can, because it defines the harmony.
2. **Simplify the accompaniment**: turn running patterns into block chords on the beat. For example, an Alberti bass in eighths becomes one chord per half measure, then one chord per measure.
3. **Remove octaves**: keep the note in the most comfortable register, usually the upper note in the left hand and the lower in the right.
4. **Simplify rhythm**: turn dotted figures into even values, sixteenth runs into eighths, and fast ornaments into the main note, while keeping the melody's shape.
5. **Narrow the range**: move passages by an octave to stay near the middle of the keyboard. Move whole phrases, not single notes.
6. **Shorten runs and arpeggios**: keep the start and the target note, and cut the middle.
7. **Change the key** (only if the teacher allows it): to one with fewer accidentals. See `change-key`.

Keep the meter, the number of measures, repeats, dynamics, slurs and articulations. If a measure can't be simplified without losing the tune, simplify the left hand more and the right hand less.

## Doing it in PlayableNotes

1. Call `get_score` and look at the whole piece before changing anything. Identify the melody and the harmony in each measure.
2. Decide on one consistent treatment for each section. For example, "LH: one chord per measure, root position; RH: melody only, no octaves".
3. For a whole-piece arrangement, send the whole KM to `edit_score`. Every voice line must still add up to the measure, and `s/` spacers must stay where voices drop out.
4. Summarise what changed for the teacher, and offer one follow-up, such as "Want the left hand even simpler in the B section?". Mention `share_with_student` when the version is for a particular student.

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---
name: change-key
description: Transpose a PlayableNotes score to another key, for example to suit a student's reading level or a singer's range.
---

# Changing the key

1. Call `get_score`. Read the `KEY:` header (fifths) and any `M<n> KEY:` changes. Work out the current key from the signature and the harmony (major or relative minor).
2. Choose the interval. Prefer the key the teacher named. If they asked for "easier", pick the nearest key with fewer accidentals, and say which key you chose and why.
3. Transpose every note by the same interval, spelling notes in the new key: a diatonic step moves to the matching scale step. Keep chromatic notes chromatic, with the same function. For example, a raised fourth stays a raised fourth.
4. Rewrite the accidentals as they would be printed in the new key. KM accidentals are printed accidentals: write one only where a printed score would show it. Use `n` where the new key signature has to be cancelled, and remember that accidentals carry through the measure on the same staff and line.
5. Change the `KEY:` header (and every `M<n> KEY:` line) to the new fifths. Minor keys share their relative major's signature.
6. Keep the register sensible. If the new key pushes the music far above or below the original, move it by an octave the other way. Move whole sections at once, and check that the left hand stays below the right.
7. Check the clefs: if the left hand now sits high, keep the bass clef unless the original changed clef there. Don't add clef changes the original didn't have.
8. Send the whole KM to `edit_score` with a summary such as "Transposed from E♭ major down a minor third to C major".

Check before sending: the number of measures and the rhythms are identical, only pitches, accidentals and key lines changed, and spot-checked chords still spell the right harmony (a V7 is still a V7).

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---
name: check-score
description: Review and fix the "things to check" PlayableNotes reports after reading sheet music (measures that don't add up, unreadable lines, suspicious notes).
---

# Checking a score after reading

Reading printed music is very accurate but not perfect. PlayableNotes lists "things to check": measures whose voices don't add up to the time signature, lines it couldn't read, and similar problems. Review them only when the teacher asks; the card has a "Review with ChatGPT" button for this.

1. Call `get_score`. The things to check are listed with their measure numbers.
2. For each one, look at the measure and its neighbours:
   - **Too long or too short**: usually a duration misread (an eighth read as a quarter, a missing dot, a triplet without `t3`), or a rest or spacer missing in a second voice. Fix the smallest thing that makes it add up and keeps the musical sense, such as matching the rhythm of a parallel measure.
   - **Pickup or final measure**: an incomplete first measure is a pickup and is fine. A last measure that completes it is also fine. Leave both alone.
   - **Unreadable line**: rebuild it from the other staff and the harmony only if you're confident. Otherwise, say which measure needs the teacher's eye.
   - **Wrong-sounding notes**: a common cause is an accidental that should carry through the measure, or a clef change that was missed (`{G}` and `{F}`).
3. Send only the fixed measures to `edit_score`, with a summary such as "Fixed rhythms in measures 12 and 30".
4. Report what you fixed and what you left for the teacher, with measure numbers. Suggest comparing with the original pages (the "Original" button in the PlayableNotes studio) for anything uncertain.

Never "fix" a measure by inventing music. If you can't tell what was printed, say so.

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---
name: compose
description: Write a new piano piece, exercise or study from a description, with no sheet music attached, at the right level for a student, and save it to PlayableNotes as a playable, editable score. Use for "write me…", "compose…", "make up a piece…" requests.
---

# Composing a piece

The goal is a short piece that sounds like music, sits well under the hands, and is exactly as hard as the student can manage. Write original material.

## Pin down the request

Choose sensible defaults instead of asking. Ask one short question only when the level is unknown and the request depends on it: "Who is it for: a first-year student, or someone further along?" Use the levels in `arrange-for-student` (1 · First year to 4 · Intermediate); the user's own description always wins.

Defaults when the user hasn't said:

- **Length:** 8 measures at level 1; 16 at levels 2 and 3; up to 32 at level 4.
- **Key:** one from the level's list (C, G or F major, or A minor, at level 1). Minor for sad, spooky or mysterious requests.
- **Meter:** 3/4 for a waltz or minuet, 2/4 or 4/4 for a march, 6/8 or 3/4 for a lullaby, 4/4 otherwise.
- **Title:** short and fitting ("Morning Waltz", "Rainy Day Blues"). Leave the composer out unless the user gives one.

## Plan before writing

1. **Form.** Build in 4-measure phrases. 8 measures: a question phrase ending on V (half cadence), then an answer that ends on I. 16 measures: A A′ B A′. End on the tonic, on a long note, after V–I.
2. **Harmony.** Write a chord plan first, one chord per measure at levels 1 and 2, for example I I V V | I IV V I. Use I, IV, V and vi; add ii and V7 from level 3.
3. **Melody (right hand).** Mostly steps, some skips of a third, leaps only to chord tones. Repeat and vary a motive: measure 3 echoes measure 1's rhythm. One high point, in the second half. Each phrase ends on a tone of its cadence chord.
4. **Accompaniment (left hand), by level:**
   - 1: single bass notes or open fifths (`[C3 G3]/1`), one per measure or per half.
   - 2: root-position triads or root and fifth on the beats; simple broken chords in quarters.
   - 3: Alberti bass or broken chords in eighths; inversions for smooth voice leading.
   - 4: freer patterns, bass lines and octaves.
5. **Rhythm and range** follow the level table in `arrange-for-student`. Keep the right hand around C4 to G5 (a five-finger position at level 1) and the left hand around C2 to C4, below the right hand, so the hands never collide.
6. **Style.** Waltz: bass on beat 1, chord on beats 2 and 3 (level 2 and up). March: dotted rhythms, strong beats. Lullaby: gentle, stepwise, soft. Blues: 12 measures of I-IV-V, written in straight eighths. Rock or pop feel: steady left-hand eighths on roots and fifths.
7. **Marks.** A dynamic at the start, a crescendo into the high point, slurs over phrases from level 2, and a final barline.

## Write the KM

Follow the KM rules (`arranging_guide playablenotes` covers them in depth):

- The first line is `KEY: <fifths>  TIME: <beats>/<beat-type>`, for example `KEY: -1  TIME: 3/4` for F major in 3/4.
- Then, for every measure, `M<n> RH:` and `M<n> LH:` lines. Put `{G}` and `{F}` clefs on measure 1.
- Every line must add up to exactly one measure. Count the beats in each line before saving.
- Write accidentals only where they would be printed: the key signature applies automatically.
- End the last right-hand line with `|]`.

Example, 8 measures at level 1 (a shape to follow, not to copy):

```km
KEY: 0  TIME: 4/4
M1 RH: {G} \mf <slur> C4/4 D4/4 E4/4 F4/4 </slur>
M1 LH: {F} [C3 G3]/1
M2 RH: G4/2 E4/2
M2 LH: [C3 G3]/1
M3 RH: <slur> F4/4 E4/4 D4/4 E4/4 </slur>
M3 LH: [G2 D3]/1
M4 RH: D4/1
M4 LH: [G2 D3]/1
M5 RH: <slur> C4/4 D4/4 E4/4 F4/4 </slur>
M5 LH: [C3 G3]/1
M6 RH: G4/2 A4/2
M6 LH: [F2 C3]/1
M7 RH: G4/4 F4/4 E4/4 D4/4
M7 LH: [G2 D3]/1
M8 RH: C4/1 |]
M8 LH: [C3 G3]/1
```

Call `create_score` with the title, the whole KM, a tempo that suits the style, and the request in a sentence. It checks th

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---
name: onboarding
description: Get started with PlayableNotes after installing it — what it does and a first piece to make playable. Use when the user chooses Set up for PlayableNotes or asks how to start.
---

# Get started with PlayableNotes

Welcome the user in one or two sentences: PlayableNotes reads piano sheet music (photos, scans, screenshots or PDFs) into scores they can play, edit and arrange: simpler for a student, in another key, with an easier left hand, and shared as a practice link.

Then invite them to try it right away, in one short message:

- "Attach photos of the pages (in order), a screenshot or a PDF of a piano piece, and I'll make it playable." When they attach music, call `read_sheet_music`.
- "Or name a classical piece and I'll open it from the library." Then use `find_library_piece` and `open_library_piece`.

Don't ask setup questions, and don't list every feature. Paper size, music size and playback tempo for new scores are in PlayableNotes' settings in ChatGPT; mention them only if the user asks about printing, size or speed.

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---
name: playablenotes
description: Use PlayableNotes to read piano sheet music into playable scores, open the user's scores or library pieces, change them with KM edits, and make practice links for students.
---

# PlayableNotes

PlayableNotes is for piano teachers. Every score lives in the teacher's PlayableNotes account (the same one as the website), and every change is a new version. When connecting, the teacher confirms that they own the music they send or may use it for teaching.

## Tools

| Need | Tool |
| --- | --- |
| Sheet music attached (page photos, screenshots, PDFs or MusicXML) | `read_sheet_music`: pages in order; pass the title and composer if you can read them |
| A well-known piece | `find_library_piece`, then `open_library_piece` |
| The teacher's own scores | `my_scores`, then `open_score` |
| The notes of a score | `get_score` (KM, version number, things to check). Use `measures: "5-12"` for part of a long score |
| A change | `edit_score` with the version you read, a one-sentence summary, and the changed measures (or the whole KM) |
| Title, composer, tempo | `set_score_details` |
| A link for a student | `share_with_student`, named after the student |
| Another arrangement, keeping the original | `copy_score`, then change the copy |
| A new piece or exercise from a description (nothing attached) | `arranging_guide` `compose`, then `create_score` with the whole KM |
| Guidance for a task | `arranging_guide` (`arrange-for-student`, `change-key`, `check-score`) |

Reading attached music uses the account's credits, 1 per line of music (pages without music are skipped, and none are used if reading fails); nothing else does. `my_scores` gives the balance if the teacher asks. If the account has too few, nothing is read: say how many are needed and how many they have. Nothing is sold in ChatGPT: don't say what credits cost, offer more, or link to a page for paying. If asked how to get more, say credits are managed in their account on the PlayableNotes website.

Reading takes a minute or two. The card shows progress, so don't keep calling `get_score` in a loop; one check after the teacher replies is enough. When the score is ready, mention any "things to check" and offer to review them, but don't start unless asked.

## Changing a score

1. Read the right guide first (`arranging_guide`).
2. Call `get_score` and work from that exact KM and version.
3. Make the change. Keep everything you weren't asked to change exactly as it is: dynamics, slurs, articulations, ornaments, repeats and endings, fingering-free layout, measure numbers.
4. Call `edit_score`. Send only the changed measures, each with all its lines (RH, LH, RH2/LH2, and any `M<n> KEY:` or `M<n> TIME:` line for it). For a change everywhere (a new key, a whole simplification), send the whole KM.
5. If `edit_score` lists errors, fix exactly those measures and send them again.
6. Tell the teacher what you changed in a sentence or two, the way one musician tells another ("the left hand is now block chords on beat one; the run in m. 12 is two octaves shorter").

If the card says the teacher selected a measure, "this measure" means that one.

## KM essentials

- Header: `KEY: <fifths>  TIME: <beats>/<beat-type>`. Sharps are positive and flats negative: `KEY: -3` is E♭ major or C minor.
- One line per staff per measure: `M7 RH: {G} E5/8 D#5/8 E5/4 r/4`, `M7 LH: {F} A2/8 E3/8 A3/4 r/4`. Each line starts with its clef.
- Durations: 1 2 4 8 16 32 (whole to thirty-second), with `.` for a dot and `t3` for triplets (`8t3`). Chords are `[C4 E4 G4]/2`, a rest is `r/4`, a spacer is `s/4`, and a whole-measure rest is `R`.
- Every voice must fill its measure exactly, except a pickup measure.
- Accidentals are written as printed: the key signature and earlier accidentals in the measure apply automatically. In D major `F4` sounds F♯ and `Fn4` is F natural.
- Ties are `~` after the duration, and dynamics come before a note (`\p C4/4`). Slurs, hairpins and ottavas use tags: `

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