Let's Frets! Mastering Guitar Playing with Capacitive Sensing and Visual Guidance

Karola Marky, Andreas Weiß, Florian Müller, Martin Schmitz, Max Mühlhäuser, Thomas Kosch

CHI EA 2021

Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

TL;DR

What we did: We built Let’s Frets, a modular guitar support system that integrates capacitive sensing and visual guidance through an augmented fretboard and a mobile application.

What we found: We found that Let’s Frets effectively supports both beginners and advanced guitarists in practicing chords, scales, and melodies, while also facilitating remote collaboration and feedback.

Takeaway: Our work contributes to the field of Human-Computer Interaction by providing a novel approach to guitar learning that enhances user engagement and skill development without altering the traditional form of the instrument.

Abstract

Mastering the guitar requires regular exercise to develop new skills and maintain existing abilities. We present Let’s Frets - a modular guitar support system that provides visual guidance through LEDs that are integrated into a capacitive fretboard to support the practice of chords, scales, melodies, and exercises. Additional feedback is provided through a 3D-printed fretboard that senses the finger positions through capacitive sensing. We envision Let’s Frets as an integrated guitar support system that raises the awareness of guitarists about their playing styles, their training progress, the composition of new pieces, and facilitating remote collaborations between teachers as well as guitar students. This interactivity demonstrates Let’s Frets with an augmented fretboard and supporting software that runs on a mobile device.

Abstract

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