Streaks, XP and badges

A little reading most days does more than a long session once a week. Your streak, XP and badges make those days easy to keep up, and mark the milestones along the way. All of it works the same on the free plan as on Pro.

Your streak

Your streak counts the days you have practised in a row. Every kind of practice counts: a piece, a lesson, a level in Grades, an exercise, or a Notes, Scales or Chords drill. Even a few bars practised on their own keep the day. Days follow your own clock, so an evening’s practice counts for that evening wherever you are.

Your streak forgives one missed day. Miss a single day between two days of practice and the streak carries on, although the missed day doesn’t add to the count. Miss two days in a row and it ends. The week strip on Progress marks a forgiven day, so you can see the day off your streak survived.

The flame at the top of every page shows your streak. Tap it to open Progress.

When your streak is at risk

• Not practised yet today: the flame dims, and Home tells you to practise today to keep it.
• The last chance: after a missed day, today is the last day your streak can be kept. Home and the flame both say that one piece today keeps it going.
• Safe again: once you have practised, a short message confirms your streak is safe for the day.

In the iPhone and Android apps you can also have a reminder: one on a day you haven’t practised yet, around the time you usually play, and one on a last-chance day. Reminders are off until you turn them on. Find Streak reminders in Preferences, under Notifications, where you can also set a Reminder time of your own. Settings and appearance covers the rest of that section.

XP and levels

XP is what your practice earns, and it adds up to your level.

• Pieces earn XP for each new star you reach, and harder pieces earn more. Playing a piece again without beating your best earns a token amount, so new music always pays better than repetition.
• Pitch & Rhythm earns half as much again, when you play the whole piece with the metronome on.
• Lessons and Grades earn XP too, and a piece quiz pays a little for each right answer the first time.
• Drills earn smaller amounts, with a ceiling each day, so they top up your practice rather than replace it.
• One hand at a time earns a token amount, and practising some bars earns none. Both still count for your streak.

As your XP grows you climb levels, and levels group into eight ranks, from Novice to Legend. Set a Daily XP goal in Preferences if you like a target for the day. The table of ranks is in Questions people ask.

Badges

Open Badges from the Me tab to see every badge, and how close you are to the next one.

• Most badges climb. They rise through five metals, from Bronze to Diamond, as a number grows: notes read, days practised, lessons finished, chords played and more.
• Collections fill up as you cover a set, such as every key or every stage of Lessons.
• One-offs are earned once, for a moment worth marking.
• A few are secret. They show as Secret until you earn them, and we won’t spoil them here.

When a new badge arrives, what you have already done counts towards it. Use Earned and Unearned to see what you have and what is left. Your badges also appear on your public profile, if you switch it on (Your account and Pro).

The weekly league

Once your account is a week old, Progress shows Your weekly league: this week’s XP ranked against your own last four weeks. Nobody else is in it, so only you can see it, and it reads the same whether you practise five minutes a day or an hour.

It tells you roughly how many pieces it takes to move up a place, and it starts again every Monday. Tap a week to see what you played in it.

Rather not? Switch off Weekly league in Preferences, under Goals and classes. Your XP and streak carry on as usual.

Famous riffs

Between pieces, play the opening of a well-known tune on your keyboard or the on-screen piano, in any key, and SightReader names it. The tunes run from folk songs and classical themes to pop and the screen.

Every riff you find is kept on Progress, under Your riffs, and counts towards the Riff Collector badge. A few riffs are secret and stay hidden until you play them. SightReader listens for riffs only between pieces, never during one, and not through the microphone.

Handbook stamps

Each chapter of this Handbook has a stamp. You earn it the first time you use what the chapter describes, not by reading it: choosing a theme, say, or opening Review mistakes after a run. Your stamps sit on the Handbook’s contents page, and collecting them earns the Well Thumbed badge.