Enables every music lover to freely express and create through the language of music.
User Experience Design,
UI Design, Industrial Design
2023; 14 weeks
Figma; Arduino; Adobe Ae/
Pr; Fusion 360;
Ollio Ye (UX/UI/ID Design)
Connie Zhou (UI Design)
Boxi Liu (Industrial Design)
Music is about creating experiences that everyone can be influenced by and resonate with.
WeJam wants to enable every music lover to freely express themselves and create through the language of music.
Being able to freely express oneself with a traditional instrument may appear effortless in the hands of an expert.
However, for beginners and amateur players, it takes thousands of hours of practice to master the instrument and learn music theory, music scores, and other related skills.
Unfortunately, this focus on instrument mastery has diverted music lovers' attention away from music creation itself.
At the start of the project, we believed that optimizing the guitar experience and making it easier to learn would enable music lovers to create music freely. Therefore, we researched and collected some existing guitar issues.
Encrypted Fretboard
The guitar fretboard is like an encrypted keyboard that requires a lot of memorization and training from the user.
Encrypted Fretboard
The guitar fretboard is like an encrypted keyboard that requires a lot of memorization and training from the user.
Encrypted Fretboard
The guitar fretboard is like an encrypted keyboard that requires a lot of memorization and training from the user.
During the analysis of existing smart guitars, we discovered that:
Smart guitars make learning easier, but users don't feel more creative or find it easier to express themselves while using them.
We started to shift our focus from "making the guitar easy to learn" to "how to help users create".
With "Music Creation" as our keyword, we conducted interviews with beginner-level guitarists, as well as someone who had previously learned to play guitar but had given up for some reason.
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The ultimate motivation for users to learn an instrument is not to master it, but to express themselves creatively through the language of music, connect with other music lovers, and ultimately create a unique music that is their own.
Help music lovers to freely express.
Let's explore how WeJam enables guitar beginners to create their own
melodies through a playful and intuitive journey
All music starts with inspiration. Breaking down the constraints and complexity brought by traditional instruments, the most accessible way of transferring inspiration to a melody is by using our natural instrument: the mouth.
WeJam offers alternative ways for anyone to easily control the melodies they create, even if they don't know how to play the guitar.
We consider music as a language. A melody is like a paragraph or sentence, it construct by verbs, Nouns and Adjectives.
With music language, they are riff(single notes), chord progressions and strumming pattern.
Instantly, music can be deconstruct. Exploring different combination of these modules can spark infinite creativity.
For each project, the user will start by telling the app their preferred music style and mood. This will serve as the starting point for their expression.
The journey of creating music begins with becoming familiar with a strumming pattern.
WeJam App will show users new strumming patterns that align with their desired emotion and style of expression.
During Session Two, users will be able to pair a chord progression with their strumming pattern.
The WeJam app will tell them which chord to play and light up the fretboard to indicate where to place their fingers.
Lastly, the music created by the user in the previous session will serve as the background music.
The WeJam System will then recommend several Solo Riffs to enrich their music.
With improved skills, let's revisit the beautiful melody created by humming.
WeJam has a built-in music partner that can teach you to play, transfer your humming into music, play background music for you, and jam with you to inspire and help you create more melodies.
During a jam session, a safe zone on the fretboard will light up, allowing the user to freely explore.
It’s based on music theory and exploring within it will ensure harmony between the notes.
The entire jam session has been recorded. When playing, users can highlight certain sections by tapping the physical knob on the guitar, allowing them to come back later and listen to the creations.
When the user stops creating, Jammie will begin. Based on the user's creation, Jammie can make changes and create variations to inspire the user.
Enables every music lover to freely express and
create through the language of music.
Turn the screen sideways for better experience.