So I have put it all together and wrote the Arduino code for it which I will post. There are few issues with it that need to be worked out and I'm cogitating hard how to best resolve them.

The issues are;

- The piezo sensor is not as good at sensing the fingers striking the pad as the first choice that was the load sensor ( this is a whole other subject ). The piezo sensor needs what I think a better sensing circuit or better code. 

- The top PCB needs a couchy double tape so it is not so hard on the fingers when striking. I'm still looking for the tape.

The new Arduino code is working and I'm satisfied with it. For sure it would be best if I gave the player/user a bit of options but this would require additional parts like lcd display and buttons. But for now the options need to be changed in the code itself. I have programmed it to output each String on a different MIDI channel but changing the code will make all Strings output on the same channel 1. Also it is programmed to automatically double each note so we have more Strings playing, so when I hold 3 notes on my MIDI keyboard controller, the Strumpad automatically doubles the octaves and 6 strings will sound when struck. The MIDI note range is also programmed to listen for a specific range of MIDI notes from the MIDI controller that is in a guitars range from note 52 to 88 (E3 to E6). This can be changed in the code only for the time being.