For improvisers with a MIDI keyboard
Play anything.
In E♭.
Pick a lick. Play it on your keyboard. LickBook hears the shape of the phrase — any key, any octave, any tempo — and keeps score around the circle of fifths.
Runs in Chrome & Edge on desktop · no account · your licks stay in your browser
Pick a lick
Start with The Lick (obviously) or paste any phrase. Your whole library is one plain-text ABC file — edit it like a form, or like source.
Play it
The matcher listens for interval shape: transposition-proof, octave-proof, tempo-proof. Strictness is a dial — from cheat-code loose to metronome tight.
Round the wheel
Every key you nail lights a wedge. Set required reps and tempo floors if easy isn’t the point. Twelve wedges, one lick, no hiding.
— your book, not ours. Plain ABC, portable forever.
It’s a book because you can hold it
No proprietary library, no lock-in. Twenty licks live in a single readable file you can edit, version, or carry to any other tool that speaks ABC. LickBook just makes the pages light up.
It grades your feel, not the chart’s
Swing isn’t cheating. Rhythm is scored against your own time-feel — straight, swung, or in between — measured from the playing, never assumed from an R: field.
Coming: LickBook for iPad & Mac
- Background capture — it notices when you practice, whatever else is open
- Backing tracks — loop, slow down, play licks over real changes
- Spaced repetition — the right lick resurfaces on the right day
- Your whole history — unlimited licks, streaks, sync, Bluetooth MIDI on the stand
One-time purchase. No subscription.