A step‑by‑step look at how I used Canva AI to build a working music app
I’m no musician, but I like to put sounds together that may or may not resemble music. I’m not a programmer, either, having lost the patience for it decades ago. But put an AI-powered code generator in my hands and of course I’m going to make a music app.
I’ve been using Canva for several years now, and like all sites, it didn’t take long for them to integrate AI features. Graphic design being something I am actually good at, I didn’t need Canva AI to design graphics for me. But it didn’t take long for Canva Code to catch my eye.
On canva.com, I clicked on the three dots icon for “More” in the left navigation, then clicked on Canva AI.
When prompted what I wanted to design, I clicked on Code so Canva AI knows I want to make an app.
With Code selected, I enter the prompt:
Music app that features one octave of note keys that can be toggled on and off. Below are a variety of arpeggio options to choose from. Include a BPM slider. Include a play/pause button, and a stop button. The user selects one or more notes, chooses one arpeggio option, and presses play. Notes are played in an arpeggio style according to the arpeggio option selected.
My idea with this prompt was to give just enough information for Canva AI to know the basic concept and key features for the app I had in mind. I didn’t want to bog it down with a fully fleshed-out idea. I felt like giving it too much to work on would interrupt the flow of our collaboration. Also, my guess was that the more information I gave it, the greater the chance that things could go wrong. Baby steps.
I’ll be honest. Canva AI kind of blew me away with this first version of the app. It chose the name. (Okay, maybe “Arpeggio Player” is far from impressive.) It chose the color scheme. It chose the layout of the notes — shaped and colored like piano keys — which would have been an obvious choice to anyone but me. It chose a fairly standard yet useful set of arpeggio options. And it decided on the range and default BPM (beats per minute) for the slider.
You’ll notice, Canva AI gave a summary of how it integrated my requests with its own design choices:
You’ve got a full octave of keys to toggle on/off, six arpeggio patterns (Up, Down, Up-Down, Down-Up, Random, Skip), a BPM slider from 40–300, and play/pause/stop controls. Selected notes light up in cyan, and you’ll see a little pulse animation on each note as it plays.
But Canva AI goes a step further, suggesting a sample arpeggio to test out:
Try selecting C, E, and G, pick the “Up-Down” pattern, and hit Play to hear a classic triad arpeggio!
It then recommends possible choices for Version 2 including more octaves or sounds. In my excitement, I missed the suggestions. I immediately started playing with this fully functional — yet simplistic — app that had been generated in just a few minutes.
Though impressed by such a promising start, I was eager to move on to Version 2.
Perhaps over-confident in my partnership with Canva AI, I provided a revision prompt that lacked clear instructions. Upon first playing with the app, I noticed the BPM didn’t seem accurate: notes were played too slowly. I thought the easy solution was to tell it to add options for eighth, quarter, half, and whole notes.
Canva AI took this to mean these were references to the duration of the notes. (It went so far as to actually label it, “Note Duration.”) Fair enough.
What I intended was for it to change the frequency of the notes, i.e. the number of notes played per measure. With the miscommunication, the result was being able to change the tone of the notes from staccato to long and resonant. It did not fix what I perceived as a malfunctioning BPM slider.
But I was sold. I knew Canva AI and I would have a long and productive relationship.
Fast forward to Version 32, and the app has gone from mildly amusing to downright useful. I won’t spoil it for you. Try it yourself to check out the latest features.
Gregory Short makes apps and games as Greg Made. Follow him on YouTube for video tutorials and examples using Canva AI. He resides in Riverside, California, with his wife and two cats.
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