20-Hour Course Tracker

How to Use This Tracker

This document tracks two things:

Your 20 guided sessions (1 hour each = 20 hours of instruction)
Your daily practice hours (the real skill-building happens here)

Print this out or copy it into a notebook. Fill it in as you go. Tracking your hours is not busywork — research by Harmon-Jones (2011) shows that visible progress tracking increases persistence by up to 33%. When you can see the hours adding up, you stay motivated through the hard middle.

Part 1: Session Log (20 Sessions)

Record each session as you complete it. The “Notes” column is for anything you want to remember — what clicked, what was confusing, what to review.

Session	Date	Duration	Title
1	//___	___ min	Meet Your Keyboard
2	//___	___ min	The White Keys
3	//___	___ min	Reading Treble Clef
4	//___	___ min	Left Hand Joins In
5	//___	___ min	Preparing for Both Hands
6	//___	___ min	Both Hands Together
7	//___	___ min	The C Major Scale & First Chord
8	//___	___ min	Rhythm & More Chords
9	//___	___ min	Chord Progressions
10	//___	___ min	Putting It Together
11	//___	___ min	The Minor World
12	//___	___ min	Minor Chords & Smooth Changes
13	//___	___ min	The 4-Chord Song
14	//___	___ min	Accompaniment Styles
15	//___	___ min	F Major & Beyond
16	//___	___ min	Musical Expression
17	//___	___ min	Sight-Reading & Ear Training
18	//___	___ min	Repertoire Workshop
19	//___	___ min	Extra Scales & Review
20	//___	___ min	Graduation & Roadmap

Total session hours: ___ / 20 hours

Part 2: Daily Practice Log

This is where you track your practice between sessions. Each row = one practice day. You don’t need to practice every single day, but aim for at least 5 days per week. Even 15 minutes counts.

Week 1 (After Session 1)

Date	Duration	What I Practiced	How It Went (1-5)
//___	___ min
//___	___ min
//___	___ min
//___	___ min
//___	___ min
//___	___ min
//___	___ min

Weekly total: ___ min | Running total: ___ hours

Weekly Reflection (copy for each week)

Week ___

What improved this week?
_________________________________________________

What's still hard?
_________________________________________________

What will I focus on next week?
_________________________________________________

One thing I'm proud of:
_________________________________________________

Repeat this table and reflection for each of the 20 weeks. Print multiple copies or use a notebook.

Part 3: Milestone Checkpoints

These checkpoints help you gauge whether you’re on track. Don’t panic if you’re not hitting every milestone exactly on time — everyone progresses differently. But if you’re consistently behind, it may be time to increase practice time or revisit earlier material.

Hour 5 Checkpoint (After Session 5)

By now you should be able to:

Find any white key on the keyboard within 3 seconds
Play C-D-E-F-G with your right hand using correct finger numbers (1-2-3-4-5)
Play C-D-E-F-G with your left hand using correct finger numbers (5-4-3-2-1)
Read at least 5 notes on the treble clef staff
Play “Hot Cross Buns” or “Mary Had a Little Lamb” from memory with one hand
Tap along to a metronome beat at 60 BPM

Self-assessment: ___ / 6 items checked

If less than 4: Review Sessions 1-5 before moving on. Spend extra time with the note-reading quick reference (Note Reading Quick Reference).

Hour 10 Checkpoint (After Session 10)

By now you should be able to:

Play the C major scale with right hand, correct fingering, at 60 BPM
Play the C major scale with left hand, correct fingering, at 60 BPM
Play C, F, and G major chords
Count aloud in 4/4 time while playing a simple piece
Play at least one complete song with both hands (even slowly)
Use the CT-X9000IN metronome independently
Record yourself on the CT-X9000IN and play it back

Self-assessment: ___ / 7 items checked

If less than 5: This is normal — Session 6-10 material is a big jump. Revisit the technique handouts (handouts/technique/) and practice hands-separate for another week before moving on.

Hour 15 Checkpoint (After Session 15)

By now you should be able to:

Play the A minor scale with both hands
Play Am, Dm, and Em chords
Play a I-V-vi-IV chord progression in C major (C-G-Am-F)
Use at least one accompaniment pattern (arpeggios or broken chords)
Play 2-3 songs with both hands at a steady tempo
Hear the difference between a major chord and a minor chord
Play with basic dynamics (soft sections vs loud sections)

Self-assessment: ___ / 7 items checked

If less than 5: Focus your remaining sessions on coordination and chord transitions. These are the most common sticking points at this stage.

Hour 20 Checkpoint (After Session 20 — Graduation!)

By now you should be able to:

Play 6 scales (C, G, F major + A, D, E minor) with correct fingering
Play 6 chord types (C, F, G, Am, Dm, Em) in root position and 1st inversion
Read notes in both treble and bass clef
Sight-read a very simple melody you’ve never seen before
Play 3+ complete songs from memory or sheet music
Maintain a steady tempo using the metronome
Play with intentional dynamics and expression
Explain what a key signature, time signature, and chord progression are
Record a full performance on your CT-X9000IN

Self-assessment: ___ / 9 items checked

If 7+ checked: Congratulations — you’ve completed the 20-hour course and are ready for intermediate study! See Intermediate Readiness Checklist for a detailed evaluation.

If less than 7: You’re close. Identify the unchecked items and dedicate focused practice to those areas. Most students need 1-2 extra weeks of targeted review to hit all milestones.

Part 4: Total Hours Summary

Track your cumulative hours here. Include both session time and practice time.

Milestone	Session Hours	Date Reached
Hour 5		//___
Hour 10		//___
Hour 15		//___
Hour 20		//___
Hour 30	—	//___
Hour 50	—	//___
Hour 100	—	//___

The 20 hours of sessions are just the beginning. With daily practice of 30-45 minutes over 20 weeks, you’ll accumulate 70-100+ additional hours. That’s where the real transformation happens.

A Note on Honesty

Track your actual time, not what you wish it was. If you practiced for 12 minutes, write 12 minutes. If you skipped a day, leave it blank. This tracker is for YOU — not a teacher, not a grade. Honest tracking reveals patterns: maybe you always skip Thursdays, or your best practice days are mornings. Use that data to build better habits.

“What gets measured gets managed.” — Peter Drucker

See also: Daily Practice Guide for how to structure each practice session, and Motivation And Mindset for what to do when the numbers feel discouraging.