Should I create two basic notes for these two cards or should I use a custom note type with three fields (Q1, A1, Q2, A2) and the two cards automatically created? What are the pros and cons of these two methods?
I really like this new setup, I still have to write the two questions but I don’t have to repeat the information in the questions.
It is also really quick to add new cards by reusing the same template: here both questions are identical for different keys on the piano, I only need to change the A and B fields for the new note based on the previous one!
Thank you for your proposition, I never tried this note type but indeed I think the cloze notes could fulfill my need in some cases. In the end it is very similar to the new note type I created, the hints to the holes are the question on my custom note type.
But I feel this solution is actually inferior in some cases, it feels not suited for images and it feels like my brain needs to reword the cloze as a question every time I review the card. I will mix both types of notes, I think both could works for different purposes.
You definitely want these to come from the same note, so they are siblings to each other. There are no “pros” to creating 2 separate notes to get reversed cards.
What strikes me about your cards/notes is that there are too many words on them. You don’t need full-sentence questions, but if you want to use them, you should still put that information in your template instead.
You could similarly simplify your “C keys” notes. But a lot of it comes down to deciding where you want the complexity – in the fields of your note, which makes them harder to write – or on your card templates, which makes them less general.
This is where the difference between notes and cards will really help you. You want different card types, not different note types.
If you have a set of symbols (like musical notation), along with their names, and their meanings/definitions – you should put all the information about the symbol on the same note. Then you can have Anki use that note to make the cards you need.
I’d say this is a good setup. One more option to consider is that you can keep the answer and the question in the same field, but mark one in bold, for example. This preserves the simplicity of having only two fields and keeping related questions and answers connected, while still allowing different card types to separate each question and answer and use them according to the specification.
You can also set default generic questions, like “what is this?”, “define …”, or something similar, to be displayed when no question is entered in the card’s fields explicitly. This can be implemented using either CSS (to work with the first suggestion above), or via Anki’s conditional replacements (if the questions are kept in separate fields). Depending on how much the material you study varies, this can save a bit of work on coming up with the questions for every single card when extra specific hints aren’t necessary.
