Terms of use

These terms

These terms are an agreement between you and Jayme Schroeder, an independent developer in Alberta, Canada, who makes and runs Melodic (“we”, “us”). They cover the Melodic game at game.playmelodic.com and playmelodic.web.app, and this website at playmelodic.com (together, “Melodic”). Our privacy policy explains how we handle information.

By using Melodic you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use it. If you’re under the age of majority where you live, a parent or guardian should read these terms with you and agree to them for you.

Melodic is free

Melodic is free to play: there’s nothing to buy, no subscription and no ads. If we ever offer something paid, we’ll say so clearly before you pay, it will come with its own terms, and you’ll never be charged without choosing to pay.

Using Melodic

We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence, which we can withdraw, to use Melodic to play, practise and learn, on your own or in music lessons. In return, please don’t:

• copy, sell, rent, redistribute or republish Melodic or any part of it, such as its code, art, stages, sounds or songs, or put it inside another website or app;
• modify or reverse engineer Melodic’s code, except as far as the law allows you to anyway;
• interfere with Melodic, its servers or its database: don’t overload them, send them made-up stats, spam the contact form, or try to reach data that isn’t yours;
• use Melodic to break the law or anyone else’s rights, or suggest that Melodic endorses you or something you do.

Your songs

You can import tab files (such as Guitar Pro and MusicXML files) to learn songs. They stay on your device: Melodic reads them in your browser to build playable parts, and never uploads, hosts or shares them.

You’re responsible for having the right to use the files you import, and for how you use them. Many tabs are transcriptions of songs owned by others; whether you may download or use one is between you, the site you got it from and whoever owns the song.

The game’s Get songs screen links to other websites where tab files can be found, to save you searching. We don’t run those sites and aren’t responsible for what they offer or how they behave; their own terms apply to what you do there.

What’s ours

Melodic’s code, look and art, its stages and characters, its sounds, the music and tabs of the Tour and the free songs, and the name “Melodic” and its logo belong to us or are used with permission. They aren’t yours to copy or reuse, except as these terms or the law allow. Some parts of Melodic are open-source software, fonts and sounds that come with their own licences (see Credits); those licences apply to those parts.

Other product and company names mentioned in Melodic belong to their owners. Melodic isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by them, or by the artists and websites it mentions.

Messages and ideas

When you write to us, please be respectful, and don’t send anything unlawful, anything you don’t have the right to share, or other people’s personal information. If you send feedback or ideas, you agree that we can use them to improve Melodic, without owing you anything for them. We’re grateful for every one. We read every message, but can’t promise to answer each one.

Playing safely

Your hearing. Melodic plays music, sound effects and your own guitar through your speakers or headphones. Keep the volume at a comfortable level, especially with headphones, and turn it down before you plug in or put headphones on. Take breaks, and stop if your ears ring or feel blocked: hearing damage from loud sound is permanent. With a microphone near your speakers, sound can loop back into a loud howl, so headphones are best.

Flashing lights. Melodic’s stages flash, pulse and move with the music. A small number of people may have a seizure when exposed to certain lights, flashing or patterns, even with no history of seizures or epilepsy. If you, or anyone in your family, have had seizures or epilepsy, talk to a doctor before playing. Stop playing at once and see a doctor if you have dizziness, altered vision, eye or muscle twitches, loss of awareness, disorientation, any involuntary movement or convulsions. Play in a well-lit room, sit back from the screen, and rest when you’re tired. Settings → Stage → Reduced effects, or your device’s reduce-motion setting, tones the stages down, but some flashing remains.

Your body. Playing guitar is physical. Warm up, take regular breaks, and stop if you feel pain, numbness or tingling in your hands, wrists, arms, neck or back. See a doctor if it doesn’t go away.

Your gear. Take care with cables, amps and other equipment, and keep cables where no one will trip on them.

Melodic is a game and a way to learn. Nothing in it is medical advice.

Your progress

Your progress, settings and songs are saved in your browser, on your device, and nowhere else. Clearing your browser’s data, or switching to another browser, device or web address, starts you afresh, and we can’t bring them back. Keep your own copies of any tab files you care about.

Changes to Melodic

We keep working on Melodic, so its features, songs, scoring and progression will change over time, and some things may be removed. It may sometimes be unavailable, and we may stop running it one day; if we plan to, we’ll try to say so in the game or on this website first. We may block access for anyone who abuses Melodic or breaks these terms. You can stop using Melodic at any time.

No guarantees

Melodic is provided free, “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no promises or warranties about it, express or implied, including that it will be accurate (note detection, tuning, timing and tabs can all be wrong), that it will always work or be free of errors, that it will suit a particular purpose, or that it will make you a better player. You use it at your own risk.

Limits on liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we aren’t liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, progress, profits or goodwill, that comes from using Melodic or not being able to use it. For anything else, our total liability to you for all claims about Melodic is limited to fifty Canadian dollars (CAD $50).

Nothing in these terms limits liability that the law doesn’t allow to be limited, such as for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud. Some places don’t allow some of the limits in these terms. If you live in one of them, those limits apply only as far as your local law allows, and you keep every right your local consumer law gives you.

Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Alberta and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. If you have a concern, please contact us first: most things can be sorted out quickly. Any dispute will be decided by the courts of Alberta, unless the law where you live gives you the right to bring it in your own courts, in which case you can.

If any part of these terms can’t be enforced, the rest still applies. If we don’t enforce part of these terms at some point, we can still enforce it later.

Updates to these terms

We may update these terms as Melodic changes. We’ll change the date at the top, and if a change is significant, we’ll also say so in the game or on this website before it takes effect. If you keep using Melodic after that, you accept the new terms; if you don’t accept them, please stop using it. Questions: use the contact form.

Credits

Melodic is built with open-source software, fonts and sounds, used under their own licences:

• alphaTab, which reads tab files and plays the songs: Mozilla Public License 2.0 (its source code is at the link).
• three.js (MIT), React (MIT), fflate (MIT) and idb (ISC).
• The GeneralUser GS SoundFont by S. Christian Collins, and the Sonivox EAS SoundFont (Apache License 2.0).
• The Bravura music font by Steinberg, and the Oswald, Barlow, Barlow Condensed, Big Shoulders Display, Knewave and Fraunces fonts: SIL Open Font License 1.1.