Self-powered piezoelectric player-interactive patch for guitar learning assistance

Device-assisted practice for instrument learning has been widely used by professional and amateur musicians to improve their learning efficiency. This study fabricates a novel self-powered and flexible player-interactive patch for guitar-learning assistance based on a piezoelectric T-ZnO/PVDF film. The system consists primarily of three parts: a flexible piezoelectric T-ZnO/PVDF film for pressure sensing, a signal processing module for analyzing the sensed signal, and light-emitting diode (LED) indicators for visualizing guitar performance. The sensing film can be conformably fixed on a guitar and can convert the mechanical energy generated by pressing a finger on a string into a piezoelectric signal without any external power supply. The output voltage of the film can act as a sensing signal for guitar performance, and both the response and recovery times are short. As fingers press on different strings, a series of piezoelectric signals are generated and transferred to the signal processing module, subsequently lighting up LEDs of different colors. The actions of the fingers during guitar playing are reflected by the corresponding LED indicators. The proposed system can help players adjust their posture and rhythm in real time, thus improving their playing technique. This study demonstrates the potential application of self-powered sensing systems in musical instrument learning assistance.