A spiral, like a sea shell.
The keys of a piano wound round and round, so a whole octave sits under your thumb. This is where Panjo began.
New for iPhone, iPad and Android
A brand-new instrument that fits in your hand.
Half steel pan, half piano. Play it as a shell, as rings, as a piano or as a real steel pan, and play real songs in colour. No lessons needed to start.
Go on, tap the pan. It plays.
Four instruments. Any sound.
One ring for every octave.
C sits at the top of every ring, so a note always points the same way. Step out a ring to go higher.
The keys you already know.
A piano in rows, one octave each, the high notes on top. Same colours, same songs.
A real steel pan.
The keys themselves form the pan, each note where it sits on a real tenor pan: round the circle of fourths and fifths, like the steelbands at Carnival.
From lead to bass.
Slide through the whole steelband: lead, double tenor, double second, guitar, cello and bass. The pan changes shape with every voice.
Any instrument plays any sound: steel pan, piano, marimba, kalimba, music box and more.
The Shell
One turn is one octave.
Go once around and you land on C again, one octave higher. Show one, two or three turns, pinch to change, and slide up and down the scale.
- C4First turn
- C5Second turn
- C6Top of the spiral
Learn by colour
Colours that teach you.
Every note has its own colour. Letters help at first, then fade away as your ear takes over.
Every key named, and the next note glows.
Coming soonLessons
Music theory, taught on the pan.
A new Learn tab with short lessons you play, not just read: hear it, tap it, play it back. From notes and octaves to rhythm, scales, chords and reading music, and every idea ends with a real song.
- 1Meet the PanjoHigh and low, round the spiral
- 2The musical alphabetA to G, and why C sits on top
- 3OctavesOne turn of the spiral is one octave
- 4Sharps, flats and half stepsThe dark keys, and two names for one key
- 5Rhythm and melodyBeat, tempo, steps, leaps and call and response
- 6Scales and keysMajor, minor and pentatonic
- 7Chords and harmonyBuild a triad; hear major and minor
- 8Reading musicFrom the pan to the staff
Practice that feels like play
Four games. Endless practice.
Memory Game
Listen, remember, play it back. The tune grows one note each round until you've got the whole song.
Time Challenge
The whole song against the clock. Fast and right earns the most.
Perfect Pitch
Hear a note, find it on the pan. Train your ear one note at a time.
Name That Tune
A few notes play. How fast can you guess the song?
Song of the Day. A new song every day, with bonus shells.
35
Trophies to win. Streaks, speed, perfect songs and more.
100
Levels to climb. Points for playing right and playing fast.
The songbook
From Carnival to Beethoven.
97 songs to play: Caribbean folk songs and anthems, nursery favourites, carols, classical themes and more. New songs arrive in the app all the time.
Brown Girl in the RingOde to JoyTingalayoFür EliseLinstead MarketJingle BellsMango WalkTwinkle Twinkle Little StarJamaica, Land We LoveAmazing Grace
The Blue DanubeCielito LindoForged from the Love of LibertySakura SakuraDanny BoyLa CucarachaHava NagilaThe EntertainerGreensleevesHappy Birthday
When the Saints Go Marching InKum Ba YahSilent NightFrère JacquesSwan LakeAuld Lang SyneCanon in DYankee DoodleAlouetteHot Cross Buns
One pan, your size
Two octaves. Or three.
Start small and grow. Slide the size and the spiral opens up, with every note colour-matched across the pan.
Play together
Better in a band.
Start a band with up to four friends and join with a code. Then pick how you play.
VersusEveryone races through the same song.
RelayPass the melody around, one turn each.
EnsembleSplit a song into parts and play it together, on the beat.
Make it yours
Sixteen sounds. Your own songs.
Every instrument can sound like anything: a steel pan, piano, marimba, kalimba, music box or trumpet. Record a melody and send it to a friend: the whole song travels inside the link.
Where it comes from
Born in the Caribbean.
Music runs through every island: calypso and soca, mento and reggae, steelbands at Carnival. The steel pan itself was born in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1930s and '40s, hammered from oil drums, and is often called the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th century.
Panjo carries that spirit into your pocket, and adds a piano's keys so anyone can play.
Phone, tablet, Android
Even bigger on a tablet.
On iPad, two pans sit side by side, with room for four octaves under your fingers.
- No account needed. Play as a guest. Sign in with Apple or Google only if you want your progress everywhere.
- Four languages. English, français, español and Kwéyòl.
- Light and dark. Daylight colours by day, a cosy night theme after dark.
Pick it up. Play something.
Free to download on iPhone, iPad and Android.