Notecube
Notecube for music teachers
A free game that teaches students to read rhythm. The bar is on the card in standard notation, a cube bounces down the pads to the beat, and students tap as it lands. Every precise tap makes the music grow.
- Free
- No accounts
- No ads
- In the browser — projector or smartboard
- iOS and Android app
What it teaches
Five chapters, from the steady beat to sixteenth notes. Each has six short lessons (about 30 seconds each, 60–100 BPM) and a chapter song that checks them all. The next chapter opens when the previous one is done.
| 0 · Pulse | Quarter notes and quarter rests, keeping the beat through the silence, starting on a rest |
|---|---|
| 1 · Long and Short | Half, whole and dotted half notes: holding a note and letting go on time |
| 2 · Eighth Notes | Pairs of eighths, eighth rests, the off-beat |
| 3 · Dots and Ties | Ties, the dotted quarter, syncopation across the beat |
| 4 · Sixteenth Notes | Four sixteenths, an eighth and two sixteenths, the gallop and the reverse gallop, syncopation |
Songs: the rhythm of twelve classical melodies — Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and Für Elise, Mozart’s Turkish March and Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Pachelbel’s Canon, Bach’s Minuet in G, Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Bizet’s Habanera, Offenbach’s Can-Can and more. Chords, bass and drums join in as the student plays in time.
Challenges for the strong ones — eight in all, among them the Rhythm Ladder (from 1 to 7 notes per beat), Survival (three misses and you’re out) and 3 Against 2 (polyrhythms from 3:2 to 7:4).
A 5-minute warm-up
- Open notecube.relaxgames.studio on the projector or smartboard and turn the sound on. On the first launch choose “Just starting” to begin with the pulse, or “I play” for a short placement test.
- Read the bar on the card together and count it aloud.
- Play the lesson while the class claps along with the cube.
- Invite a student to the board: tap the screen, click the mouse or press any key. Holding the key holds a long note.
- Play it again and go for three stars.
Wireless speakers add a delay. If taps feel late, the game’s Sound calibration in Settings fixes it.
Homework
- “Pass chapter 2 with three stars on every lesson.”
- “Play Ode to Joy without a single miss.”
- “Climb as high as you can on the Rhythm Ladder.”
Students play free in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer, or install the iPhone, iPad or Android app. Progress stays on the student’s own device, so ask for a screenshot of the result screen.
Show this to the class
Students scan it with a phone camera: iPhone and iPad open the App Store, Android opens Google Play, every other device opens the game in the browser. The A4 poster carries the same code for the classroom wall.
Safe for school
No sign-up, no ads, no in-game purchases, no names or email addresses. Progress stays on the device. Anonymous gameplay statistics help us make the lessons better and can be turned off in Settings. Details: Privacy Policy.
Tell us what your class needs
Notecube is made by a small studio, and teachers’ feedback decides what comes next. We are thinking about a bar editor (write your own rhythm and share it with the class by link) and a class view of students’ progress.
Write to [email protected]. We’ll also send you your own link to share with students, so you can see how many of them opened the game.