Music Instrument Games

• Many online games allow the user to understand the basics of playing an instrument. These games relate to a variety of different instruments, but the most common is the piano. The main issue with these games is that the real instruments are almost invariably more complicated than the game version. For example, a game may allow you to play an octave of a piano but only press one key at a time. "Virtual Keyboard" is an example of a musical instrument game, and it presents the player with just under two octaves of a keyboard. You can select different voices or learn to play simple tunes like the "Mario Bros." theme tune.
  
  

Rhythmic Games

• Other music games focus more heavily on the rhythmic qualities of instrumental music. These games often focus on dancing, because it is an enjoyable pastime that can be used as a way to understand the rhythmic qualities of music. One such dance game is "Jungle Jiggy," which gives the user control over a monkey, which dances to the music if you press the buttons correctly and in time. This game uses different genres of music, and the buttons "Up," "Down," "Left" and "Right" on the keyboard. Press the buttons in time with the music as they appear in the square at the bottom of the screen to score highly.
  
  

Music Note Identification Games

• Some games are concerned more with teaching the player to identify notes that are played than other aspects of instrumental music. Being able to identify notes is a valuable skill, and it can help musicians learn to play songs more quickly. These games play the user a note, and they have to identify that note on the game interface. "Play it by Ear" is one such game, and presents the user with an audible note and three options displayed on a musical staff to choose from.
  
  

Composition Games

• Many different instrumental music games focus on music composition rather than the playing of one specific instrument. This means that the games are more concerned with being able to write music through music theory than play it on an instrument. For that reason they are somewhat similar to the music instrument games, but they also teach reading music and about the different types of notes. One such composition game is "Compose Your Very Own Music," which presents the user with four bars to fill with music as they desire.