How to implement a rigid, phase-based interval system (for music practice) in Anki?

[MurksKutter]

Hello everyone,

I’m using Anki for a very specific learning project (learning piano music/memorizing scores) and I am trying to replicate a fixed interval system taken from music pedagogy literature. Unfortunately, I am hitting a wall with the standard learning steps logic and hope to get some creative ideas or add-on recommendations from the community.

The Target System (see the attached screenshot from the book):

I want new cards to follow an exact, predefined rhythm of practice days and breaks. The system requires the following sequence:

1. Phase 1: Practice 3 days in a row (daily), then take 1 day off.

2. Phase 2: Practice every other day three times (e.g., Mon, Wed, Fri), then take a week off.

3. Phase 3: Practice 3 days in a row again, then take two weeks off.

4. Phase 4: Practice 3 days in a row one last time.

My Current (Unsuccessful) Approach:

I tried to force this entire sequence using the Learning steps in the deck options (see screenshot of my settings). My current steps string looks like this:

⁠15h 15h 2d 15h 15h 7d 15h 15h 14d 15h 15h⁠ (Note: I used “15h” to force the card to reappear the next day, as my next-day deadline is configured accordingly).

I also set the Graduating interval to ⁠30⁠ days so that the card remains in the learning phase for the entire duration of this cycle.

The Issues in Practice:

1. Anki’s Dynamic Nature: As soon as I press “Good” on Day 1 or Day 2, Anki’s internal minute-based calculation sometimes pushes the card further ahead than the rigid sequence allows. The system doesn’t strictly anchor to calendar days but calculates precisely in hours/minutes.

2. Lapses/Failures: If I fail a card on Day 2 of the chain and press “Again”, it completely resets me to the beginning of the entire sequence instead of just letting me retry that specific day.

3. Handling Long Breaks: Synchronizing the long breaks (7 days, 14 days) between the 3-day blocks with the subsequent consecutive days via the minute/hour learning steps logic is incredibly unstable.

My Questions for the Experts:

Is there any way to “tame” the learning steps so they enforce exactly this sequence, independent of Anki’s standard algorithm?

Does anyone know of an add-on that allows defining rigid, calendar-like practice schedules (e.g., “Day 1, 2, 3, Break, Day 5…”) for cards without Anki progressively changing the intervals based on performance?

Or is my approach of using “Learning steps” fundamentally flawed, and should I handle this via specific re-memorization intervals after a quick graduation instead?

I would deeply appreciate any insights, workarounds, or advice! I’ve attached screenshots of my current configuration and the excerpt from the book.

[kaiu]

@MurksKutter

Does anyone know of an add-on

Well, if you need an add-on, it’s the desktop version. You can do a lot with the add-on, but as far as I know, for “Lapses,” the time period is set precisely in days, meaning even if 24 hours haven’t passed, but a new day has begun (the day’s start time is set in the settings), it will work.
In your example, it’s 15 hours, but if I study at 6 AM, it might ask me to study again at 9 PM because it’s already time.
I simply created a new map, and it has a 1-minute study time. I selected this map in the browser window and set the date to 0 (today: Ctrl+Shift+D). Then I have to click the “again” button for the first time, since it says “1d” above it, and that’s it. From then on, the map will follow the days set in “Lapses,” strictly according to the start of the day.
What should I do with the maps I forgot later? I think they can either be marked in red and run through an already filtered deck, or if we don’t want to ruin the statistics, we can make a “Bury Card” and at the end of the deck we’ll be offered to run them, and today if necessary, or tomorrow they’ll be offered for display.

[Eltaurus]

First, some technical remarks on the matter:

@MurksKutter

15h 15h 2d 15h 15h 7d 15h 15h 14d 15h 15h⁠ (Note: I used “15h” to force the card to reappear the next day, as my next-day deadline is configured accordingly).

You don’t have to use exact intervals in hours. If you set a step of 1d it doesn’t mean that Anki will wait for a whole 24h before showing the card next time. It means the card will be ready for review right at the start of the next day.

@MurksKutter

I also set the ** 2. Graduating interval** to ⁠30⁠ days so that the card remains in the learning phase for the entire duration of this cycle.

Graduating interval doesn’t control the point at which a card leaves the learning phase. It controls what starting interval the card will be assinged after graduating. The learning phase always goes through all steps set in the learning steps, unless you rate a card “Easy” during a review.

@MurksKutter

The system doesn’t strictly anchor to calendar days but calculates precisely in hours/minutes.

Anki treats short and long intervals differently. The due timestamps for intervals of 1d and longer are calculated in calendar days and are rounded down to the starting time of the resulting date.

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@MurksKutter

Does anyone know of an add-on that allows defining rigid, calendar-like practice schedules (e.g., “Day 1, 2, 3, Break, Day 5…”) for cards without Anki progressively changing the intervals based on performance?

I’m not aware of any existing addons, but it seems like something that can be achieved with custom scheduling instead.
Alternatively, the phases can be approximated by separate decks with different settings if the cards are manually moved between the decks after finishing each phase.

@MurksKutter

1. Phase 1: Practice 3 days in a row (daily), then take 1 day off.

2. Phase 2: Practice every other day three times (e.g., Mon, Wed, Fri), then take a week off.

3. Phase 3: Practice 3 days in a row again, then take two weeks off.

4. Phase 4: Practice 3 days in a row one last time.

Another thing to consider is that sticking to this exact scheduling might not be the best thing to do in the first place. This system looks like something designed prioritizing the accessibility of manual tracking. Since you already plan to automate this task with Anki, there seems to be no reason for imitating simplified rule-of-thumb intervals instead of taking advantage of full-fledged SRS. Using default Anki parameters won’t be optimal either, of course, since they are not geared towards this kind of practice, but maybe some combination of the two will fit your ultimate goal better. For example setting

1. Learning steps 1d 1d
2. Graduating interval 2
3. Starting ease somewhere between 1.2 and 1.25

should make the progression quite close to the original schedule if you always use the “Good” button for rating.