# Arpezia voice and tone

Source: `uploads/Arpezia Voice Directions-3be18c2b.md` (Brand Central draft, updated Sept 30 2026). Companion: `guidelines/style.md`, the Arpezia Style Guide, which wins on punctuation, capitals, numbers, notation, and the word list. Direction adopted: **The Teacher**, leaning toward **The Stand Partner** on social and in celebrations, and toward **The Quiet Coach** in proof mode. Four open questions below are unresolved; copy in this system follows the draft’s recommendation and is marked where a decision would change it.

## Voice (never changes)
Warm, patient, and always explains why. Sounds like the best private teacher you ever had.

| Brand word | Sounds like | Never |
|---|---|---|
| Friendly → warm | Greets by name, notices effort | Gushing, praising everything the same |
| Approachable → patient | Grade 4 to 5 words; defines a term the first time | Babyish, or talking down to adults |
| Trustworthy → honest | Says exactly what Arpezia measures and keeps | “Don’t worry about it” |
| Knowledgeable → explains why | One short line of why, next to the thing | A lecture, or jargon without a reason |

## Always true
- Grade 4 to 5 reading level anywhere a child might read; up to grade 8 on parent, teacher and school pages.
- Errors help, never blame: what happened, likely reason, what to do next. No apology filler.
- Honest numbers, rounded at the screen: “23 minutes,” never “23.4.”
- Celebrate what is real, named specifically. No points-for-nothing currency, no “crush it,” no fire emoji.
- Privacy in plain words whenever the mic comes up: what is measured, what is kept.
- No guilt, no pressure. Reminders inform, never threaten. Coming back is always easy.
- Claims are earned: “built on” / “designed around,” never “proven” / “guaranteed.”
- Talk to the right person: consent to the adult, Studio to the teacher, Practice to the player.
- One word per thing: Routine, Exercise, Lesson, Song, Plan, Goal. Same word in nav, headings, buttons.
- Built to translate: whole sentences, no stitched fragments, no idioms in core UI, room for 30% longer text.
- Written to the style guide: Oxford comma, no em or en dashes, sentence case, curly quotes, American English, buttons start with a verb, the name is always Arpezia. Full rules in `style.md`.

## House rules (Teacher)
- **Person.** “You” for the player. “We” means Arpezia and only when Arpezia is doing something. Prefer “Arpezia” by name in privacy and billing.
- **Exclamation marks.** At most one per screen, only for a real achievement. None in errors, billing, privacy, consent.
- **Humor.** Gentle and rare. Never in errors, billing, or privacy.
- **Sentences.** Under 15 words where possible. One idea each.
- **Emoji.** None in the app or on the website. Social: open question 3 (draft says one music emoji per post when it adds meaning).
- **Use:** your sound · practice · nice work (after real effort) · let’s (to start together) · set list (from B, when it teaches) · exact numbers (from C).
- **Avoid:** “Great job!” on everything · Oops · user, session data · just, simply · awesome, amazing · passive voice for actions · engineering words (chain response, stack trace, skeleton).

## Tone by channel
| Channel | Job | Energy | Lean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social | Stop the scroll with a Why | Highest | B: short, upbeat, one exclamation, links to proof |
| Celebrations | Mark real progress | High | B: name the skill and the number |
| Website | Why, then How, then What | Medium | A, Golden Circle order, never salesy |
| Email and notifications | Bring people back, one ask | Medium-low | A: personal, brief, no pressure |
| App | Help them practice right now | Home register | A: patient, one line of why |
| Help center | Fix it fast | Low | C: steps, not stories |
| Proof mode | Show the evidence | Lowest | C: finding, who was studied, source, how Arpezia applies it |

## Golden Circle (pending approval, open question 1)
- **Why.** Music grows one note at a time. Every player, at every age, deserves to hear themselves getting better.
- **How.** A century of trusted method books becomes a clear daily plan. Arpezia listens as you play. Your progress becomes something you can see and hear. Three pillars: a plan · a coach that listens · progress you can see.
- **What.** A practice coach for brass players, with woodwinds next. Daily plans, a library of classic studies, progress tracking, and four tools: the Tuner, Metronome, Tone Generator, and Tone Meter. In any browser.

## Celebrations
- **Nod** (every session): a quiet line, no animation. “Practice done: 23 minutes, every step finished.”
- **Cheer** (milestones): one exclamation, names skill and number. “14 days in a row! Practicing a little every day is how real progress happens.”
- **Moment** (rare, big): full-screen + share card, still specific. Badges are musical skills: “Long-Tone Keeper,” “First High C.”
- Never: threaten loss, invent a currency, show the bottom of a leaderboard, stack celebrations.
- Leaderboards for under-13s: open question 4.

## Proof mode ladder
1. Belief (“We believe”) needs no evidence; lives only in the Why.
2. Design (“built on,” “designed around”) cites the principle.
3. Function (“Arpezia measures”) must be true today and checkable.
4. Outcome (“players improve”) only with Arpezia’s own data. Not available yet, so not used.
Cite as: finding in plain words → who was studied → source (authors, year) → how Arpezia applies it. A music educator reviews before publishing (open question 2).

## Patterns
| Pattern | Shape | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Empty state | What it is, why empty, how to start | You haven’t made a routine yet. A routine is a practice list you can run again and again. Build your own, or start with one below. |
| Error | What happened, likely reason, one fix | We couldn’t open your library. Another Arpezia tab might be using it. Close other tabs, then reload. |
| Mic permission | What is measured, what is kept, then the ask | Arpezia listens while you play so it can help you. We measure your pitch and tone. We don’t keep a recording unless you save one. Allow the microphone to start. |
| Reminder | Fact, small ask, why it counts | You’ve practiced 13 days in a row. Five minutes today keeps it going. Even one long tone counts. |
| Return after absence | Welcome, gentle restart | Welcome back, Maya. Let’s start gently with a short 10-minute plan. |
| Money | What stays free first, then the offer | Your free trial is over. The Tuner, Metronome, Tone Generator, and Tone Meter stay free. To keep your plans and progress, choose Arpezia Plus. |
| Destructive dialog | Name the object, answer the real worry | Delete “Morning warm-up”? This removes the routine from your library. Your practice history stays. · Delete routine / Keep it |
| Step hint | One line of why | Long tones · Wakes up your sound before harder work. |
| Trial banner | Deadline as a day, not a countdown | 3 days left in your free trial. Everything is unlocked until Friday. |

## Vocabulary
The style guide’s word list is the authority. Highlights: player (never user) · teacher (not instructor) · parent or guardian · free trial (not free week) · sign in (not log in) · The Musicians' Room (not Conservatory) · choose, start, open (not click, tap, select) · the four free tools in this order: Tuner, Metronome, Tone Generator, and Tone Meter · Tone Meter is the tool, tone map is its chart · routine, exercise, lesson, song, plan, goal (lowercase) · badge, streak, challenge (never achievement, points, XP) · outline (never skeleton) · practice (session only for a timed run) · reference player, “modeled from recordings.”

## Open questions (from the draft)
1. Approve the Why.
2. Who signs off on teaching claims.
3. Emoji on social.
4. Leaderboards under 13.

Resolving these changes: hero copy on the website, the social templates, and challenge copy in Studio.