Practice Tools

Tools for structured practice: tempo training, targeted drilling, session tracking, and difficulty-based prioritization.

Speed Trainer

Automates the "start slow, build up" approach to learning a passage. Lives in the Metro tab of the Tools panel.

Setup
  1. Set an A-B loop around the passage you want to practice (Shift+[ / Shift+])
  2. Open the Metro tab in the Tools panel
  3. Set Start % - the starting tempo as a percentage of the score's BPM (e.g. 60 = 60%)
  4. Set End % - the target tempo (e.g. 100 = full speed)
  5. Set Step - how much to increment each time (e.g. 5 = +5% per cycle)
  6. Set Loops per step - how many loops to play before advancing (e.g. 3)
  7. Hit Start - playback begins at the start % and advances automatically
Progress Overlay

A floating overlay appears showing current BPM, current %, and progress through the step sequence. Dismiss it or let it run - it doesn't block the score.

The trainer stops automatically when it reaches the End % and completes its final set of loops.

Combine Speed Trainer with Bar Roulette for a full session: use Roulette to identify which bars need work, then drill each one with Speed Trainer.

Bar Roulette

Picks a random bar from the score and queues it for drilling. Good for avoiding the habit of always starting from the top.

How to Use

Click the 🎲 button in the player bar. Riffwork picks a random bar, sets the A-B loop to that single bar, and begins playback. Keep clicking 🎲 to jump to the next random bar.

Roulette can be configured (Dwell Time, Loop Count) in the Metro tab. Set a dwell time to have it automatically advance to the next bar after N seconds.

Roulette from Hardest Bars

In the Difficulty tool (Analysis section), click "Drill top-25% hardest". This seeds the Roulette pool with only the bars rated in the top difficulty quartile - so you spend your time on the bars that actually need work.

Smart Practice

A structured drill session that targets the hardest bars at progressively increasing speeds.

How it Works

Click Start Smart Drill in the Practice tab. Riffwork selects the top-N hardest bars (based on difficulty scoring) and drills each one through a speed progression:

A floating progress overlay shows which bar you're on, current speed, and loops remaining. The drill advances automatically - no manual intervention needed.

Loop Manager

Save and recall named A-B loops per file. Useful when you have multiple passages you return to regularly.

Saving a Loop
  1. Set your A-B loop (Shift+[ / Shift+])
  2. Open the Tools panel → Loop Manager tab
  3. Click Save Loop and give it a name (e.g. "Chorus riff", "Bridge solo bars 64-72")

Loops are saved per-file in your browser and persist across sessions.

Recalling a Loop

Click ▶ next to any saved loop to restore its A-B range and start playback. Click ✕ to delete a saved loop.

Practice Session Log

Tracks your practice time automatically. Every time you start playback, the session timer runs. When you stop or close the tab, that session is logged.

What's Tracked

All data stays in your browser (localStorage). Open the Practice tab in the Tools panel to view it.

Practice Heatmap

A GitHub-contribution-style calendar shows 13 weeks of practice history. Darker squares = more time that day. The heatmap lives at the bottom of the Practice tab.

Bar Difficulty

Every bar in the score is scored 0–100 based on: note density, maximum fret position, position shifts, and chord size. Open the Analysis → Difficulty view to see the full chart.

Difficulty Heat Chart

A horizontal bar chart shows each bar as a colored block - green (easy) to red (hard). Hover any bar to see its difficulty score breakdown. Click a bar to jump playback there.

Drill Top-25% Hardest

A button at the top of the Difficulty view seeds Bar Roulette with only the hardest-quartile bars. From there, 🎲 will only pick from those bars.

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