Practice

The Practice (練習), informally known as the tutorial, is a section that plays before starting a Rhythm Game or Endless Game.

Typically, the practice explains to the player all the actions they are going to do in the game itself. For most of the games in the Rhythm Heaven Series, practice appears before each Rhythm Game that introduces new mechanics, with a few exceptions in Rhythm Tengoku. Practice never appears before remixes, and rarely appears before arrange versions (with some exceptions, such as Rhythm Heaven Fever ' s version of Micro-Row 2 and Packing Pests 2).

Rhythm Tengoku
In Rhythm Tengoku, each practice uses one of three variations of a single song (called "Tutorial Music 1", "Tutorial Music 2" and "Tutorial Music 3" in Rhythm Tengoku Complete Music Collection) as well as a few game-specific practice themes. The practice itself will present the player with each cue in the game, and the player only needs to do a set successfully in order to advance. It can be skipped by pressing the Select button. Some pre-Staff Rhythm Games don't have a practice. Those without a practice are not distinguished in the game's description.

Air Batter has a different form of practice, in which the game loops the start indefinitely until the player hits enough balls successfully. Certain games without practice, such as Polyrhythm, additionally have instructions present on the screen for the duration of the game.

Additionally, Ninja has a cutscene at the start which can be skipped with the Select button, however it doesn't allow the player to practice the gameplay.

Rhythm Tengoku (Arcade)
In the arcade version, every practice returns unaltered in the 1 Player mode. It can be skipped by pressing the Start button instead, which in turn can no longer pause the game. Every game from the first five Stages which originally did not have a practice (and some that did) now have an animated tutorial explaining the game, without allowing the player to try it out for themselves. In the 2 Player mode, every game has the animated tutorial, including the arrange versions. The games from the Extra Stage do not have practices in either mode, however.

Rhythm Heaven
In Rhythm Heaven, each practice uses a new arrangement of the original practice theme (now called "Let's Practice!"). The player needs to complete each set successfully 3 times. It can be skipped by touching the "Skip" button on the touch screen. Games without a practice are distinguished with the line "(And no practice for you!)" in the game's description. This game marks the first time arrange versions come with a practice, as Fan Club 2, Rhythm Rally 2 and Rockers 2 use it to present new cues to the player.

Rhythm Heaven Fever
In Rhythm Heaven Fever, every Rhythm Game has it's own practice theme, mainly a chiptune version of the game's song. The player needs to complete a varying amount of sets to advance the practice, which are shown with a counter. The games also include a Demonstration (お手本中・・・) if the player spends too long on a set, in which case they can press the ① button to have the game automatically play the section to demonstrate the timing. The Demonstration is not available for the Endless Games or Extra Games, which also return to requiring only one successful set without a counter, and using a new arrangement of the old music (called "Practice Theme"). It can be skipped by pressing the ⊝ button. Games without a practice are distinguished with the line "(No Practice.)" (or "(And no practice for you!)" in Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise) in the game's description. In the Two Player games, the practice is played the same as with the One Player version, with one practice for each player.

This game also marks the only Rhythm Toy with an actual practice, that being Rhythm Fighter, which uses its practice to explain the rules of the game, albiet without allowing the players to try it out beforehand.

Rhythm Heaven Megamix
In Rhythm Heaven Megamix, every single game, regardless of origin, uses a chiptune version of their song during their practice and also need a few completed sets with a counter to advance, much like in Rhythm Heaven Fever. The original practice theme is nowhere to be found in this game. Similar to the Demonstrations, this game will show a Rhythm Help Display (お助けリズム表示) of the current set if the player spends too long during the practice, showing the rhythm in a handy visual format. It can be skipped by pausing the game and choosing "Skip". Games without a practice are distinguished with beneath their description. After the Rhythm Game has been completed once, the player can press Ⓐ to skip the prologue directly into the practice (if any) or Ⓧ to skip directly to the game.

When the player reaches a Gate, they are required to go through the practice of the respective Endless Game before attempting the trials.