Guitar with CHARGE Power Pack

Guitars come in many different styles and sizes, and are used by musicians to create melodies and rhythms! By holding different positions on the strings while strumming, you create different musical notes for listeners.

Let’s get musical and create an electric guitar to rock out with!

The guitar in the project will:

• play a note when pressing the ground and a tinfoil button at the same time
• display an icon on the micro:bit as a note plays
• play a melody when pressing the A button on the micro:bit

Prepare

You’ll need the following items to complete this project:

• CHARGE for micro:bit or micro:bit GO pack with batteries
• micro:bit V2
• A laser cutter, a sharp cutting knife, or scissors
• 3mm Baltic birch wood, or recycled materials
• 4 alligator clips
• Tin foil
• Glue

Build

First, you’ll need to cut out the pieces of your guitar from your chosen material:

Laser or Machine Cutter

Craft Knife or Scissors

Assemble your Guitar

Next, let’s build our guitar using the micro:bit, CHARGE for micro:bit, alligator clips, and craft materials:

micro:bit guitar 1

Cut out the guitar template, and gather your required materials.

micro:bit guitar 2

Apply glue to the detail panel of your guitar and attach it to the bottom frame layer.

micro:bit guitar 3

Apply glue to the neck piece of the template and attach it to the bottom frame layer.

micro:bit guitar 4

Cut out three pieces of tin foil. It should be the width of your finger, and long enough to wrap around both the front and back of the guitar’s neck.

micro:bit guitar 5

Use glue to attach the tin foil button to your guitar’s neck. Make sure to space your buttons so your fingers can reach them.

micro:bit guitar 6

Cut a piece of tinfoil for the frame of your guitar. It should be long enough to attach to both sides of your frame. This will act as the “ground” that you use to hold onto your guitar.

micro:bit guitar 7

Attach your micro:bit CHARGE strap using the provided velcro around the body of your guitar.
Attach one end of each alligator clips to the 0, 1 and 2 pins on your micro:bit.

micro:bit guitar 8

Turn over your guitar frame, threading your alligator wires beneath the CHARGE velcro strap. Attach one alligator clip to each of the three buttons on the guitar’s neck.

micro:bit guitar 9

Attach the fourth alligator clip from the “GND” pin, to the tinfoil pad on the frame of your guitar.

micro:bit guitar 10

You’re ready to start coding!
To play a note, remember to hold both the ground button (connected to the black wire) in one hand, and the note button (connected to either the yellow, white, or green wires) in the other.

As you build, think about how your alligator clips are attached, the size of your guitar, and any personalization you want to add to your instrument!

Code

Explore the code below to get started using your guitar.

Improve

Think about how you can decorate and adapt your guitar! How would you modify the sample code provided, or create your own project that includes the following features?

• A guitar strap or other decoration
• A reaction when using the “on shake” event
• A reaction when you play notes in a specific order

Don’t have a CHARGE for micro:bit?

Modify this project by attaching your micro:bit to your guitar frame using elastic bands.

Make sure your micro:bit has power using batteries or a computer connection so that you can still jam out with your friends.