What this skill is

Clean entry and clean exit are how musicians lock in with each other. The accent on beat 1 of an introduction tells everyone “here we go”; the final beat of a phrase tells everyone where it ends. Late entries, early stops, or stray taps in between all cost the ensemble its lock.

How this builds on the prior lessons

Pulse-finding taught steady tap. Steady quarter notes taught lock-in across measures. 2/4 vs 4/4 and 3/4 meter taught counting groups. This lesson tests the endpoints: can you start AND stop on the right beat? Higher tiers strip the audio: T3+ removes the last-beat accent (you must count from beat 1 to N internally); T5 removes both accents (uniform clicks); T4+ varies the trial length (6, 8, or 10 beats — no pre-baking the duration).

Common misconception

“If I tap when I hear the loud click, I’m doing it right.” That works at T1-T2 because the audio plays an accent on beat 1 and the last beat — you’re reacting, not counting. The tier ramp progressively erodes that shortcut so the only way to pass T5 is to count internally.