tuneUPGRADE News

As we get into the new year, you might have some renewed new years resolutions to pick that instrument back up and practice a bit more than last year. I've personally continued to use tuneUPGRADE consistently with my practice to hit my goals, and I want to give value to other users as well! Since the beta launch, users have practiced around  100 hours  total on tuneUPGRADE over a few weeks. Many of those users have provided feedback that have helped me focus on what to work on next, from small typo fixes to larger feature changes. A major update to tuneUPGRADE is now live, including a number of enhancements and fixes requested by the community. Timer Overhaul The biggest change is an overhaul of how the timer works on the practice screen. Users had written in explaining the timer didn't run in some cases on mobile (for example, when safari wasn't the focus on iOS, or if your phone went to sleep). I've overhauled the timer system so that it will pick up whe

As you use tuneUPGRADE as your music practice tracker, you might start refining and tweaking your daily practice routine. But what makes a good music practice routine? How do you set up routines to make your practice time as effective as possible? Here are my personal top10 aspects of an effective practice routine. 1) Don't procrastinate - start as soon as you can! According to Dr. Barbara Oakley's course Learning How to Learn , learning a new thing tends to activate areas in the brain associated with stress and pain. Your brain instead begins to focus on non-stressing tasks, like watching TV or browsing the internet - but the trick to avoiding this is simply to start! The moment you do, you'll wonder why you procrastinated in the first place. 2)   Practice more often for less time rather than less often for more time.  Cramming never works. We all know this, yet we do it anyways. To get better much more quickly, even on your busiest days, try to spend a few mi

One of the most common features asked about initially was the ability to install tuneUPGRADE as a mobile app. Most users wanted this so they could run tuneUPGRADE in the background while using other apps on their mobile phone. This was tough to do when it's opened in a browser tab, and on iOS, the timer would even stop running! In order to solve this quickly, tuneUPGRADE allows you to install as an app directly from the website itself. Simply log in, navigate to your account, and select 'Install' on the left (alternatively, click here ). If you are on Chrome on Android, PC, or Mac, an installation button will be present. Click install to simply install tuneUPGRADE as an app. If you are on Safari on iOS, on the 'Install' page, click the Share button, then 'Add to Home Screen'. Now, when launched from the home screen, tuneUPGRADE will open as an app, allowing it to live outside of Chrome/Safari, and best of all, on iOS, the practice timer will run pr

Finding time to practice your instrument can be tough. Making the most of that practice can be even harder. A while ago, I found myself having a few practice challenges. I simply wasn't practicing enough .  When I was practicing, I wasn't practicing long enough . When I was practicing, I wasn't focused on the right things for the right amount of time . I just played whatever was fun, not what caused me to learn and grow as a musician. Simple to fix, right? Just watch a clock, and plan a little better. Only watching the clock caused a big problem - it distracted my focus from my practice if I was glancing over every few minutes. And so, tuneUPGRADE  was born. tuneUPGRADE  simply helps you organize your practice and keep focus on the music, not the clock. On tuneUPGRADE , you can: Design a practice routine and just hit 'go' . At that point, tuneUPGRADE tracks your time and tells you when it's time to move forward. You don't have to watch