An interactive basso continuo trainer that analyzes your performance on a MIDI keyboard against a displayed bassline, giving feedback on harmony, rhythm, and style while adapting exercises through spaced repetition and gamified learning.
cd continuo_trainer
make
bin/run src/play.dot
The app consists of a graph of tiny programs communicating mostly via their
standard input and output. (See play.dot for the graph.)
Goal: every musical excerpt — full lesson or skill slice — is a chunk in
chn/, identified by SHA1 hash and tagged with a level: integer. Level-0
chunks are full lessons; level-1 chunks are skill slices derived from them;
higher levels are reserved for future sub-slices. The parent→child tree is
implicit: all.lua re-derives children on demand from the note data rather than
storing the mapping.
Each stage touches one or two files, leaves the app runnable, and can be
committed and tested independently. src/karaoke.rs and src/group.rs
require no changes throughout: they consume the unchanged LESSON /
BASSNOTE / FIGURES / MELODY / LESSON_END protocol.
Stage 1 — all.lua absorbs chunk.lua
Files: src/all.lua (rewrite), src/chunk.lua (delete)
Move all logic from chunk.lua into all.lua: SHA1, write_chunk, skill-slicing,
bar/partial computation. In addition, for each seq file generate the
corresponding level-0 chunk (seq body + level: 0 + bpm:). Change
CHUNK_NAME output to CHUNK_NAME <hash> <level>. RESCAN repeats the
full scan as before. all.lua does not cache the parent→children mapping;
it re-derives children from the note data each time QUERY_CHILDREN is
received (added in Stage 5).
Verify: lua src/all.lua exits cleanly; chn/ contains both level-0 and
level-1 files each with a level: field; CHUNK_NAME lines carry a level
suffix. Downstream programs ignore the extra token for now.
Commit: "all.lua absorbs chunk.lua; emit level-0 chunks"
Stage 2 — all.lua handles LOAD_CHUNK (absorbs load.rs for chunks)
Files: src/all.lua, src/play.dot
Add LOAD_CHUNK <hash> command to all.lua: read chn/<hash>.txt, parse it
with the same logic as the old bin/load, and emit LESSON / BASSNOTE /
FIGURES / MELODY / LESSON_END. In play.dot, add the all.lua →
group/karaoke/stats edges that carry this protocol. Keep bin/load alive for
LOAD_LESSON (gui still uses it); the two paths coexist temporarily.
Verify: echo "LOAD_CHUNK <any-hash>" | lua src/all.lua produces the same
output as echo "LOAD_CHUNK <same-hash>" | bin/load.
Commit: "all.lua: handle LOAD_CHUNK; add protocol edges to play.dot"
Stage 3 — gui.cpp switches to LOAD_CHUNK; bin/load deleted
Files: src/gui.cpp, src/play.dot, src/load.rs (delete), bin/load
(delete)
GUI now holds a list of level-0 chunk hashes (from CHUNK_NAME … 0 lines)
instead of lesson numbers. Prev/Next send LOAD_CHUNK <level0-hash> to
all.lua. Remove LOAD_LESSON handling from gui.cpp. Delete src/load.rs
and bin/load; remove them from play.dot and the Makefile.
Verify: app starts, Prev/Next/Suggest load pieces, karaoke and group behave as before.
Commit: "gui: LOAD_CHUNK only; delete bin/load"
Stage 4 — stats.lua: unified chunk table; remove CHUNK_SESSION
Files: src/stats.lua
Replace the separate lessons and chunks tables with a single
stats.chunks table keyed by hash. Populate level from the new
CHUNK_NAME <hash> <level> lines. Drop all CHUNK_SESSION handling (every
session is already a chunk session after Stage 3).
Verify: play a session; src/report.lua (or log file) shows scores recorded
against hash keys; no crashes on startup.
Commit: "stats: unified chunk table; remove CHUNK_SESSION"
Stage 5 — stats.lua: downward finalize via QUERY_CHILDREN
Files: src/all.lua, src/stats.lua, src/play.dot
Add QUERY_CHILDREN <hash> command to all.lua; response:
CHILDREN <hash> <child>:<s>:<e> … (one token per child). After finalising
a score, stats sends QUERY_CHILDREN and recursively updates each child with
its sub-range score, then discards the children list — do not store it
between sessions. The recursion handles arbitrary depth (level 2+), not just
two levels. Add the bidirectional stats ↔ all.lua edge pair to play.dot.
Cyclic edges in the graph are safe: programs never echo their input, so
messages cannot circulate indefinitely.
Verify: play a level-0 chunk; confirm that each level-1 child accumulates a score in the stats table without playing it directly.
Commit: "stats: downward finalize; all.lua: QUERY_CHILDREN"
Stage 6 — stats.lua absorbs sched.lua; level-aware scheduler
Files: src/stats.lua (add scheduler), src/sched.lua (delete),
src/play.dot
Move next-chunk scheduling from sched.lua into stats.lua. A level-N chunk is eligible only when all its level-(N+1) children are mastered (or it has none). This applies at every depth: walk before you run — drill the small slices before the full lesson. Remove sched.lua from play.dot.
Verify: [S]uggest returns level-1 chunks until they are mastered, then promotes to level-0.
Commit: "stats absorbs sched.lua; level-aware scheduler"
Stage 7 — report.lua: unified table
Files: src/report.lua
Single table with columns: hash (short), Lvl, title, and performance metrics. Rows sorted by level then mastery.
Verify: lua src/report.lua renders without error; both level-0 and level-1
rows appear.
Commit: "report: unified single table with Lvl column"
Stage 8 — gui.cpp: suggest-only navigation
Files: src/gui.cpp
Remove Prev/Next buttons; only the Suggest button remains for navigation.
Verify: UI compiles; suggest loads the recommended chunk.
Commit: "gui: remove prev/next; suggest-only navigation"
- skill order for new lessons/chunks
- add all lessons from Handel, Purcell, Couperin
- overlearning: require 5-10, depending on how many mistakes made recently (exponential moving average)
- mistakes hurt power
- slow exp decay of mastery on startup using
last_played(or, better yet,last_updated_masteryto distinguish playing from mere algorithmic adjustment) - each chunk should have independent and transitive properties: independent are adjusted only when chunk is practiced directly, and transitive ones are adjusted when a lower-lever chunk is played
- combine into a single rust program without losing modularity, testability
- make a web app