5 Notes

An interactive, educational game that introduces and familiarizes kids with musical notes from various instruments.

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Inspiration

I was listening to the radio in the car, and suddenly it hit me. I remember the time when I used to create music through a software called GarageBand. It was really fun and I though it'd be even more fun to do something similar, but through Alexa. And that's when I began to make my skill, 5 notes, an interactive, educational game to introduce and familiarizes kids with musical notes from various instruments.

What it does

The goal of this game is to beat all 50 levels. Each time you beat all levels, you will earn a new title. In the game, you will hear 5 sounds from different instruments and you have to guess the note being played. To play, you say 5 notes with phrases like, low a, mid c, or high g.

How I built it

I programmed the skill using AWS lambda, Dynamo DB, and S3. I used the Alexa skills kit in lambda to program the whole skill. I used dynamo DB to save certain information in the table after exiting the skill. And I used S3 to upload all my musical sound clips that were used in the skill.

Challenges I ran into

I ran into a butt load of challenges. I spent numerous days programming this because of the complex algorithms and I the limited code options and SSML audio files allows by Amazon. Because of these I had to make changes to what my skill was going to be and how it would function.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am proud that I learned a lot from this whole experience. I started from knowing nothing about Alexa programming and little bit of javascript, to programming this complex skill. It makes me feel happy to know that I gained something from this challenge.

What I learned

I learned how to program in javascript, specifically the Alexa programming. I learned how to utilize Dynamo DB and S3. I learned how to make a good skill that was fun and educational.

What's next for 5 Notes

I will add more instruments to make the challenge more difficult. I also need to fix some bugs, if any. If Amazon allows more audio clips in the SSML, I can make the game harder by having players guess even more notes from even more audio clips. With this addition, I can also let users compose their own music. And if Amazon allows multiple audio files to played at the same time, users can create complex composures.

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