Frequently Asked Questions

Getting started

What are practice items?

Practice items are the building blocks of your practice routine. An item can be anything you want to practice: a song, an exercise, a technique, a reminder, a warm-up, etc. Each item can have details like the amount of time on the timer, the tuning, notes, chord charts, a local folder path, etc.

What are routines?

Routines are organized collections of practice items. You create routines to group related items together for structured practice sessions. For example, an "Exercises" routine, a "Blues Practice" routine, or a routine for each of your guitars. On paid plans you can have multiple routines and switch between them based on what you want to work on next.

How do I create practice items?

Go to the Items page and use the "Add new item" form at the top. You can add details like the item name, notes, paths to local folders, and create chord charts. After creating items, edit a routine to add the items to the routine. (An item can be used in multiple routines.)

How do I create and organize routines?

On the Routines page, at the top of the righthand column, enter a name for your new routine and click + Add. Once created, click the edit icon (✏️) next to the routine to add items to it. Use the search field to find items quickly. You can drag and drop items to reorder them within the routine.

What is an active routine?

The active routine is the one that appears on your Practice page. To make a routine active, go to the Routines page and click the + button next to the routine you want to practice. (Only one routine can be active at a time.)

Practice features

How do practice timers work?

Each practice item can have a timer. Click the timer button to start counting down. There will be a ding sound when the timer is up (it will repeat more insistently every few seconds if you don't hear it the first time). You can stop, restart, or reset timers as needed during your practice session. The top-right of the Practice page shows the number of minutes completed so far, and the remaining minutes for the active practice routine.

How does completion tracking work?

You can mark items as complete during your practice session by clicking the checkbox next to each item. This helps you track your progress through a routine. Use the Reset progress button to uncheck all items and reset all timers on the routine.

Can I link to files on my computer?

Sort of. You can add file paths to items (like the path to a songbook folder where you keep all the files related to that song or exercise.) Then you'll be able to copy the path to quickly open it in File Explorer or Finder on your computer. (Web browsers can't open folders or files on your computer, because that would be a security nightmare.) This is especially useful if you have local resources you want to reference during practice. The app supports both Windows (and WSL), as well as Mac OS file paths. (Sorry mobile-only users. Up your game and use a laptop or desktop for practice time. That tiny screen is not your friend. It's fine for a metronome, tuner, or for recording stuff before you forget it, but beyond that, you need more screen real-estate.)

Chord charts

What are chord charts?

Chord charts are visual diagrams showing how to play chords on guitar. GPRA displays chord charts as interactive chord grids with fret positions, finger placements, and open/muted markers. You can attach multiple chord charts to each practice item, organized by song sections (intro, verse, chorus, etc.).

What is the autocreate feature?

Autocreate uses AI (Claude) to automatically generate chord charts from various sources: PDF files, images of chord charts, YouTube lesson videos, or just by typing the names of chord sections and chords. This saves a lot of time over manually creating chord charts one by one, but you will probably encounter errors and so you will need to correct some of the autocreated chord charts.

How do I use autocreate?

Free and Basic tiers: Enter your own Anthropic API key on the Account page (this is the "BYOC" model, as in Bring Your Own Claude). You'll need an Anthropic account so you can generate your API key at console.anthropic.com.

The Goods tier and above: Autocreate is included! Just use the feature without needing your own API key. (The plans above the Basic tier use my Anthropic API key, so Anthropic charges me for your usage.)

Are there limits on autocreate?

Yes! To keep the service sustainable, paid tiers have rate limits:

The Goods: 25 autocreates per day (10 per hour)
More Goods: 50 autocreates per day (20 per hour)
The Most: 100 autocreates per day (40 per hour)

Limits reset daily at midnight UTC. The hourly burst limit prevents one user from causing Anthropic to rate limit the entire app for everyone. (If we hit Anthropic's rate limit, no one can use autocreate for a period.)

Power users: Add your own Anthropic API key in Account Settings to use the rate limits on your API key instead of ours. You'll be billed directly by Anthropic for usage.

Can I create chord charts manually?

Yep. You can manually create and edit chord charts using the chord chart editor. This gives you full control over fret positions, finger placements, and chord names. You can access the editor from the Practice, Routines, or Items pages by expanding the Chord Charts section of the item.

Can I create tabs or sheet music?

Not yet. Maybe someday. Reach out to let me know if you want those, so I'll know if there's enough interest for it.

Account management

How do I change my password?

Go to the Account page, expand the "Change password" section, then enter your current password along with your new password. Your new password must be at least 12 characters long and include uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols (because if someone hacks your account, they could cause problems for you and for me.)

How do I change my email address?

Email address changes need to be handled through the Stripe Customer Portal. On the Account page, scroll to your subscription tier and click Manage your subscription. This will take you to Stripe where you can update your email address.

I signed up with Google or Tidal. Can I set a password?

If you signed up using OAuth (Google or Tidal), you don't have a password on GPRA. That's the whole point of using OAuth, fewer passwords.

How do I restart the guided tour?

On the Account page, expand the "Guided tour" section and click the "Restart tour" button. This will reload the page and take you through the interactive tour again.

How do I add, change, and/or delete my Anthropic API key?

On the Account page, expand the "Anthropic API key" section. You can add, validate, update, and/or delete your API key here. Your key is encrypted and stored securely. You can use the Validate button to check if your key is working before saving it.

Why does light mode look so crappy?

Because I really just don't like light mode, or expect it to be used much, so I just added a bare-bones light mode for those who hate dark mode. (Please feel free to submit a PR with light mode improvements for consideration if it's really bugging you, I don't have any plans to do much more with light mode, other than fixing any bugs that may hinder functionality.)

Billing and subscriptions

What are the different subscription tiers?

GPRA has 5 tiers:

Free: 15 items, 1 routine, byoClaude for autocreate (ad supported)
Basic: 80 items, 5 routines, byoClaude for autocreate
The Goods: 200 items, 10 routines, autocreate included
More Goods: 600 items, 25 routines, autocreate included
The Most: 1500 items, 50 routines, autocreate included

All paid tiers are monthly, from the day you subscribe. (If the app is still around after one year, I'll add an option to get discounts by paying for a year in advance.)

How can I upgrade or downgrade my subscription?

On the Account page, in the righthand column, find the subscription tier you want to change to and click the "Upgrade" or "Downgrade" button. (You'll get prorated credit for next month if you downgrade mid-month, or you'll be charged a prorated amount for the rest of the month if you upgrade mid-month.)

How do I cancel my subscription?

There are two ways to stop your paid subscription:

Pause (recommended): On the Account page in the "Danger zone" section, click "Pause subscription when it expires". You'll keep access to your most recently active routine for free, and we'll save your other routines for 90 days in case you want to renew.
Cancel: Use the Stripe Customer Portal (click "Manage billing" on the Account page) to fully cancel your subscription. You'll keep access until the end of your billing period, then revert to the free tier. (No refunds, sorry.)

What is unplugged mode?

Unplugged mode is a grace period after your paid subscription ends, or if you need to pause payments for a couple of months. You can still access your most recently active routine for free. Your other routines are saved for 90 days in case you decide to renew. After 90 days, if you haven't renewed, your account data will be deleted, but you can still use the free plan.

How do I view my invoices and payment methods?

On the Account page, find your current subscription tier and click "Manage subscription". This opens the Stripe Customer Portal where you can view invoices, update payment methods, and manage your subscription details.

Data and privacy

How do I download my practice data?

On the Account page, expand the "Practice data download" section and click "Download CSV" or "Download JSON".

Does GPRA track my activity?

We use PostHog for usage analytics to help improve the app. This is opt-in only; you saw a cookie consent banner at the bottom of the page when you first visited (unless your adblocker sucks and blocks cookie permission dialogs), and you can change your preference anytime on the Account page in the "Analytics and privacy" section.

How do I delete my account?

On the Account page, expand the "Danger zone" section. You have two deletion options:

Schedule deletion: Your account will be deleted at the end of your current billing period (No refunds, sorry.)
Delete immediately: Your account and all data are deleted right away (No refunds, sorry.)

Both options require you to type a confirmation phrase and verify your email. Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone (Really though.)

How is my data protected?

Your data is protected with industry-standard security measures: