Creating a Flash Lite fretboard quiz app

Examining the fretboard quiz app

Now that you know how to install Flash Lite on your device, as well as how to copy and test the SWF files that you'll be working with, it's time to discuss how the fretboard note finder application works.

As I mentioned in the introduction, I was motivated to build this application for myself because I wanted to have a little application on my phone to help me memorize where the notes are located on the guitar fretboard while I'm on the go. (This application also applies to learning the notes on a bass guitar, since the first four strings are identically tuned). Also in the introduction, I promised to be as brief as possible, so rather than expounding on all of the current popular strategies and mobile development methodologies, I'll just briefly mention a key design point, based on my research about mobile design.

Generally speaking, the attention span of people using mobile applications is much less than the attention span of users working with a computer application. There are many factors that cause this. I believe it is primarily due to the fact that people using their phone are often working in smaller time increments, in situations where people are less focused. The mindset of people in their home or place of business is much more focused than people who are standing outside on the street or riding the subway.

With this in mind, I kept the number of screen elements to a minimum, to make the interface less distracting. There are three text fields, and I've scaled the most important text field to display largest to draw the user's attention. The main component of the interface is the fretboard itself, which is familiar to musicians and provides the initial orientation of the application's purpose. The fretboard is the key to the functionality of this application, and for this reason it takes up most of the available screen real estate. Fortunately, the device contains 12 keys on the keypad, and there are 12 frets to a string before you start repeating notes, so that maps out rather nicely.

Here's how the application works:

• The green arrow at the top of the fretboard points to a string, and the topmost field displays a note for the user to find on that string.
• The user presses a key to indicate the correct fret. The user can press the 0 key to select the first fret, the 1 key to select the second fret, and so on. This convention continues up through the last available key, as the user can press the # sign key to select the twelfth fret on the virtual guitar.
• A timer and a score field are displayed to provide feedback to the user. These fields dictate the length of each "game session" and indicate how successful the user is at selecting the correct fret (key on the phone) to correspond with each note.
• When the user presses the key, the application evaluates the entry to see if it matches the displayed note. There are no second tries, because once the user presses a key that turn is essentially over and the application begins the process again with a new string and a new note to locate.

This simple application is comprised of one main screen where the interactivity takes place and a help screen—which doubles as a "pause game" function (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. The application interface includes a string selector, the fretboard, the note field, a game timer, a score field, and the Help (pause) and Quit buttons.

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