Hold the dotted circle near the bottom of the screen, slide your finger gently left or right to match the incoming notes, and avoid lifting it during the song. Moving right raises the pitch; releasing your finger silences the singer. Your first mission is to finish a performance without the lights going out. High scores come next.
Released by su10 on October 20, 2026, Heta-Uma Recital is a free browser rhythm game. Instead of singing into a microphone, you physically stretch a tuxedo-clad singer’s mouth to tune his voice. Centuries of vocal training, replaced by a draggable face. The judges, unfortunately, still have standards.
1. Controls: hold, stretch, stay on the note
- Open the free game and note that it plays audio.
- Press and hold the dotted control area at the bottom to make the singer produce sound.
- Without releasing, move right for higher notes and left for lower notes. Follow the moving lyric-and-note tiles and the on-screen do–re–mi markers.
- Keep holding while moving between notes. Lifting your finger creates silence, not a dramatic rest unless the song actually calls for one.
Your finger is now a voice coach; the mouth is the instrument; the audience is the final boss.
2. Clear “Butterfly” first
The opening phrase of the first song, “Chōchō” (“Butterfly”), begins sol–mi–mi. Start high for sol, then move a little left toward mi. Rather than memorizing a distance in centimetres, calibrate against the note markers on your own screen.
On your first run, focus on sounding the full phrase without releasing. On the next attempt, make smaller pitch adjustments and look ahead to the next note before it arrives. Resist adding exaggerated wobbles too early: an elastic mouth does not imply elastic grading.
3. Use your results to diagnose the problem
| What you see | What to change |
|---|---|
| Silent or lip-sync themed title | Hold the control more consistently |
| “Lost pitch” or “Wrong key” messages | Make smaller horizontal corrections toward the note marker |
| “Heta-uma!” | A slightly off-key, charming performance; aim for more “Bravo” judgments |
| “Bravo” | Repeat the finger position that matched the note |
| Stage lights go out | Stop chasing vibrato and prioritize stable pitch and continuous sound |
The results screen can show the singing score, vibrato points, average pitch error, judgment counts, a title and a critic’s remark. Fix one variable per replay: holding first, pitch second, added expression last.
4. All five songs and venues
| Act | Venue | Song | Practical focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Community hall | Chōchō (Butterfly) | Sol–mi–mi and uninterrupted input |
| 2 | Shopping street | Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star | Read the next note before moving |
| 3 | Civic hall | Jingle Bells | Avoid large jumps of the finger |
| 4 | Central theater | Happy Birthday | Watch the target notes, not just your memory of the tune |
| 5 | National opera house | Ode to Joy | Keep the pitch steady through the finish |
These are the reported stage order and general playing tactics, not a verified note-by-note score chart. The game has a spectacular career ladder: one minute you're in a neighborhood hall, and a few mouth-stretches later you are auditioning for the opera house.
5. Can you score 100?
A player has shared a 100-point “Chōchō” result with the title “正統派下手ウマ” (roughly, “Classic Heta-Uma”). An October 20 playthrough estimated a passing score of around 80, but the creator announced bug fixes and a difficulty rebalance on October 21. Treat any old threshold as provisional and rely on the current in-game result.
For improvement, use this order: complete the song while holding, lower average pitch error, collect more Bravo judgments, then experiment with vibrato. Otherwise you risk becoming a highly accomplished bad singer. Hold steadily, move in small increments, and read ahead. The spotlight operator has the last word.
Play: Official Heta-Uma Recital game
Sources (checked October 24, 2026): Creator’s announcement, October 21 balance update, and October 20 hands-on description. Strategy suggestions are deductions from reported mechanics, not a confirmed current scoring formula.
