Rhythm sight reading training builds your ability to read the notation on screen (the sequence of note durations) and tap it at the right time against a metronome. Because you focus only on "when to play," not on pitch, it isolates the rhythm-reading and timekeeping side of sight reading.
This page is a manual for choosing the settings. Each setting is designed around established methods from music education. For each setting that calls for a decision, we give the recommended choice, what it is for, and what it trains — with the evidence behind it. If you arrived from a "?" in the settings screen, scroll to the option you need.
Pattern Source / Pattern
Start with Curriculum at the Beginner tier. Once you can read it through and want variety, switch to Custom and mix in just the note values you find hard.
Decides where the notation you practice comes from. You choose between Curriculum (curated, fixed cells) and Custom (auto-generated fresh each time from the note values — note lengths — you pick). Choosing Curriculum reveals a Pattern list grouped into Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced, where the note values grow harder step by step (Beginner is quarter notes only, Intermediate adds eighths and dotted notes, Advanced adds sixteenths and triplets).
In Custom, turning Dotted eighth ON automatically turns Sixteenth ON to fill the end of the beat (and turning Sixteenth OFF clears Dotted eighth). A dotted eighth needs a sixteenth to complete the beat, so this keeps the display in sync with what is actually generated.
The two sources let you switch between consolidating and broadening. After fixed-cell repetition wires in the mapping "this run of notes = this rhythm," mixing in similar note values via Custom retains better long-term than drilling one fixed cell alone. The benefit of mixing similar items (interleaving) is shown by meta-analysis.
Ref.: Brunmair & Richter (2019) [1]
Repeats
When in doubt, aim for around 5. Use more for an unfamiliar pattern and fewer for a quick check of one you can already read.
Sets how many times the same pattern repeats in one session (1 to 20). Sight reading improves through "read → tap → correct the slip" over multiple passes, so this count governs session length and how well the pattern sticks. Too few ends before your hands learn it; too many drags and breaks your focus.
Each pass has you read and reproduce the notation yourself, so every repeat is one act of retrieval (recalling and re-producing it). Retrieval-based repetition retains far better than just looking again, so a moderate number of passes makes the pattern stick.
Ref.: Roediger & Karpicke (2006) [2]
Tempo
When in doubt, start around 80 BPM. Nudge it up only once you can tap that tempo without mistakes.
Sets the metronome speed in BPM (beats per minute), from 40 to 180. A slow tempo lets you read the notation and tap reliably, which suits learning a new pattern; a fast tempo demands reflexive reading and is closer to real performance. But raising it before the foundation is set ingrains sloppy taps.
Tempo is adjustable so you can build synchronization to the metronome (locking to the beat) in stages. Once you can align accurately at a slow tempo and then raise it, you can better keep your deviation from the beat in check at speed. Synchronizing taps to a beat varies in difficulty with tempo, as the synchronization literature shows.
Ref.: Repp (2005) [3]
Strictness
Start at Casual or Standard. Once high ratings come consistently, tighten one level at a time to refine accuracy.
Decides how tight the timing tolerance is for your tap to count as correct. Your rating (Perfect, Great, and so on) depends on how many milliseconds your tap deviates from the beat, and this pass line shifts across four levels. It changes the grading standard for timing accuracy, not the difficulty of the reading itself.
The tolerance is staged so that early on a loose judgment lets you focus on reading, and the accuracy load is added once you are comfortable. Demanding tight reading and tight timing at once overloads processing and pulls focus away from the reading itself. The design follows cognitive-load theory: keeping processing demands low early in a new skill aids learning.
Ref.: Sweller (1988) [4]
- Brunmair, M., & Richter, T. (2019). Similarity matters: A meta-analysis of interleaved learning and its moderators. Psychological Bulletin, 145(11), 1029–1052.
- Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
- Repp, B. H. (2005). Sensorimotor synchronization: A review of the tapping literature. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12(6), 969–992.
- Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.