Tutorial 6 of 7
Play Tonegrid with the keyboard
Beginner 5 min
Move through the grids with arrow keys, toggle squares with Space, use shortcuts or switch them off, and adjust the playhead for reduced motion and screen readers.
Every part of Tonegrid works without a mouse, and with a screen reader. Each square is a real button named after its note and step — for example “E4, step 5” — and is announced as pressed when it is on.
Moving around
Press Tab to move between the toolbar, the pattern buttons, the two grids and the panels. Each grid is a single Tab stop; inside it:
| Keys | What happens |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys | move one square |
| Home / End | first or last step of the row |
| Page Up / Page Down | top or bottom row |
| Space or Enter | switch the square on or off |
When you Tab back into a grid, you land on the square you left.
Shortcuts
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| P | Play or stop |
| 1 – 8 | select pattern A to H |
| [ and ] | shift the pattern one step earlier or later |
| ? | show the list of shortcuts |
| Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Shift+Z | undo, redo |
| Ctrl+S, Ctrl+O | save and open project files |
| Esc | close a menu or dialog |
The menus in the toolbar (File, Edit, Export, Help) open with Enter, Space or the down arrow; arrow keys move inside, Home and End jump, and Esc returns you to the menu button.
Switch single-key shortcuts off
Single-key shortcuts like P can get in the way of speech input or other assistive tools. Open Help → Keyboard shortcuts and clear Use single-key shortcuts (P, 1–8, [, ], ?). The setting is remembered in this browser. Shortcuts never fire while you type in a field.
Sound and motion
- Tonegrid never plays sound on its own — not when the page opens, not when a template or link opens. Playback starts only with Play.
- Play a short preview when I turn a square on (in Options) plays one note when you switch a square on. Clear it for silent editing.
- Playhead (in Options) chooses how the playing step is shown: Highlight the playing column, Small marker above the grid, or Hidden. If your system asks for reduced motion, the small marker is the default.
Screen readers hear status messages such as “Playing pattern A” or “Pattern B selected” in the status bar; the moving playhead itself is not announced, so it never talks over the music.
Light and dark
Tonegrid follows the light or dark theme you chose for usefulweb.site, or your system setting.
Ready to try it?