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Show HN: A virtual guitar teacher (after 18 months of dev)

20 points by b1ake 14y ago

b1ake 14y ago
Hi everyone, this is v1 of an app we've been working on for a really long time. It uses pitch detection and note-by-note feedback to guide beginners through their first songs on the guitar. Everything's homemade, including the pitch detection and the animated guitar teacher. We decided to go web-first (which was definitely out of style when we started) and built everything in JS (Backbone/Node/Couch). Today we finally launched, would love any feedback people have.
pan69 14y ago
Can you please show me what it is and does without me having to sign up? At least, explain what it is on the About rather than talking about your dream and effort.
- b1ake 14y ago
  Good feedback, we're considering moving the signup flow to after the first lesson.
- ScottWhigham 14y ago
  This seems awesome to me as well but I don't want to sign up without learning more. Who are the teachers? How does it work? Does it cost anything? etc. Really cool concept, I think.
  - b1ake 14y ago
    Actually there are no human teachers, the lessons are interactive and automated much like Codecademy. You're shown a few notes at a time and then as you play, the software detects each note and gives you feedback. There's also a virtual guitar mode so you can try it out without a guitar (it does require a signup though, at least for now).
    - ScottWhigham 14y ago
      That's good info - you need to have a "How it works" page rather than ask for the details before you share that. I love the idea though!
- hdx 14y ago
  Same here, I love guitars and I love web apps but I hate signing up for something without knowing what it does... A video would be awesome!
shimsham 14y ago
Hi Who is your audience? It's not that clear from my first visits.
- b1ake 14y ago
  Right, good question. We're focused on beginners, especially people who have never touched a guitar. The goal is to get them playing recognizable songs within the first few minutes. To that end, we want the experience to be as friendly and patient as possible.
  - shimsham 14y ago
    ok. that wasn't obvious from my initial sign-up and look around, from my mobile. I'm a big fan of cartoon-style graphics but not at the expense of clarity and focus. I'm not really your target audience; I play piano, however my brother and father are definitely in your group. so, I could really use more information to help me decide if this could be for me. what do I need? why the wide-open space, sky and clouds? is my choice of avatar important? wasn't avatar an expensive movie? is this free? (hope this isn't too negative but I presume u would prefer constructive comments rather than 'awesome graphics' statements. we know they're awesome but that don't get u signups converting to payments.)
    - b1ake 14y ago
      Yeah I'm with you. We've had trouble conveying the experience in words. Once people try it, they get it, and that suggests that we need to reduce the friction in trying it. Some answers to your specific questions - Yes it's free, and all you need is a guitar (any acoustic or electric is fine) and a computer that has a microphone built in. There's no special cables or microphone required.
      - shimsham 14y ago
        Thanks for the replies, I'll give it a roll and let u know how it goes.
kaahne 14y ago
This is awesome ! I tried my hand at some chord recognition a few days ago : https://github.com/jcaille/Chords https://github.com/jcaille/Chords. I only compare chords to fingerprints I recorded, and do not extract pitch or anything. I'm looking for feedback or pointers on how to go further (mainly, discarding the fingerprints altogether) Have you considered teaching chords and such ? Another cool feature would be to let people enter their own songs, or connect with a tab API to expand the library.
- b1ake 14y ago
  Just browsed through your code, very cool! We're working on chord recognition as we speak and went down a similar road in the beginning. Would love to chat more about this, shoot me an email (blake at getinstinct).
joezhou 14y ago
WOW. I play guitar, and I love this concept!
pyroMax 14y ago
Hmm... No love for bald folk?
- bjennelle 14y ago
  Ha maybe we need to make more avatars. ;)

20 points by b1ake 14y ago

b1ake 14y ago

Hi everyone, this is v1 of an app we've been working on for a really long time. It uses pitch detection and note-by-note feedback to guide beginners through their first songs on the guitar. Everything's homemade, including the pitch detection and the animated guitar teacher. We decided to go web-first (which was definitely out of style when we started) and built everything in JS (Backbone/Node/Couch). Today we finally launched, would love any feedback people have.

pan69 14y ago

Can you please show me what it is and does without me having to sign up? At least, explain what it is on the About rather than talking about your dream and effort.

b1ake 14y ago
Good feedback, we're considering moving the signup flow to after the first lesson.
ScottWhigham 14y ago
This seems awesome to me as well but I don't want to sign up without learning more. Who are the teachers? How does it work? Does it cost anything? etc. Really cool concept, I think.
- b1ake 14y ago
  Actually there are no human teachers, the lessons are interactive and automated much like Codecademy. You're shown a few notes at a time and then as you play, the software detects each note and gives you feedback. There's also a virtual guitar mode so you can try it out without a guitar (it does require a signup though, at least for now).
  - ScottWhigham 14y ago
    That's good info - you need to have a "How it works" page rather than ask for the details before you share that. I love the idea though!
hdx 14y ago
Same here, I love guitars and I love web apps but I hate signing up for something without knowing what it does... A video would be awesome!

shimsham 14y ago

Hi Who is your audience? It's not that clear from my first visits.

b1ake 14y ago
Right, good question. We're focused on beginners, especially people who have never touched a guitar. The goal is to get them playing recognizable songs within the first few minutes. To that end, we want the experience to be as friendly and patient as possible.
- shimsham 14y ago
  ok. that wasn't obvious from my initial sign-up and look around, from my mobile. I'm a big fan of cartoon-style graphics but not at the expense of clarity and focus. I'm not really your target audience; I play piano, however my brother and father are definitely in your group. so, I could really use more information to help me decide if this could be for me. what do I need? why the wide-open space, sky and clouds? is my choice of avatar important? wasn't avatar an expensive movie? is this free? (hope this isn't too negative but I presume u would prefer constructive comments rather than 'awesome graphics' statements. we know they're awesome but that don't get u signups converting to payments.)
  - b1ake 14y ago
    Yeah I'm with you. We've had trouble conveying the experience in words. Once people try it, they get it, and that suggests that we need to reduce the friction in trying it. Some answers to your specific questions - Yes it's free, and all you need is a guitar (any acoustic or electric is fine) and a computer that has a microphone built in. There's no special cables or microphone required.
    - shimsham 14y ago
      Thanks for the replies, I'll give it a roll and let u know how it goes.

kaahne 14y ago

This is awesome ! I tried my hand at some chord recognition a few days ago : https://github.com/jcaille/Chords https://github.com/jcaille/Chords. I only compare chords to fingerprints I recorded, and do not extract pitch or anything. I'm looking for feedback or pointers on how to go further (mainly, discarding the fingerprints altogether) Have you considered teaching chords and such ? Another cool feature would be to let people enter their own songs, or connect with a tab API to expand the library.

b1ake 14y ago
Just browsed through your code, very cool! We're working on chord recognition as we speak and went down a similar road in the beginning. Would love to chat more about this, shoot me an email (blake at getinstinct).

joezhou 14y ago

WOW. I play guitar, and I love this concept!

pyroMax 14y ago

Hmm... No love for bald folk?

bjennelle 14y ago
Ha maybe we need to make more avatars. ;)