Guitar Hero sucks! Or not?
Let's have at it. I've played guitar for over 30 years. I think games like \"Guitar Hero\" suck because they give that false impression that being a good musician is all about hitting the right button on your fake guitar and automagically your sound is awesome and you are jamming away with the band. To the guys that get expert level on the game/song, I say who cares. Get a life. You're not a real musician and you could never play a real guitar and hang with a band on stage.
On the other hand, I really like some of the songs put out by \"Guitar Hero\". Truth be told, as a cover band, we often look at the titles of the songs in Guitar Hero because we know lots of young people are playing the game at home, love those songs, and appreciate seeing a live band perform those titles. They know that they are not real musicians and really like seeing a live band perform these covers that they wish they could pull off. Also, if it encourages some young kid to actually pick up a real guitar and hit a power chord, I'm all for that too. So \"Guitar Hero\" is great!
Actually, I'm more biased towards NOT. I bought my young nephew a starter guitar/amp kit for Christmas a few years ago. He was all excited about playing it and making some noise for awhile. But then his mother bought him Guitar Hero. He figured out that with little effort he could play \"guitar\" on Guitar Hero, sound great, and master the song(s) in a few days whereas with the real guitar he was still trying to hold it right and press down on the strings to make a decent sounding chord. His real guitar and amp now sit in the closet never seeing the light of day and his game machine with Guitar Hero are front and center. Makes me sad. He had a chance, but his mother took it away from him without even knowing what she was doing to him.
I'm feeling fortunate that I never had Guitar Hero when I was growing up. I don't know if I would have spent years, and years, and years, learning how to play and sing if I would have had other options such as Guitar Hero to fill my musical addictions. Maybe I would have been just like my nephew and be perfectly content with jamming with a great sounding \"Guitar Hero\" band. I know it's not the same as playing on stage with real musicians, but he doesn't know, and never will.
A little on my personal background and philosophy. I grew up in a very small town (300 people) but the local school and our parents believed in a strong music department. About 3/4 of each class was in either band or chorus, most of us were in both. The idea was that learning to play a musical instrument not only developed the brain, but also developed character traits such as learning to work hard at something for years before you ever got to see a real payoff. Everyone knew that a kid like me learning how to play the saxaphone in 4th grade would be making lots of squeaks through the years before soloing on a number in high school band. That was just given. And it was that attitude that also got us through school, knowing that some subjects might be difficult for us but with perserverance, we could eventually work our way up to High School Calculus.
And today, both as a former teacher, and an uncle to younger nieces and nephews, I see too many young kids thinking that if they cannot master something in their life in less than half an hour, it's just not worth pursuing. It's this \"Guitar Hero\" mentality and game box brain washing that leads our young kids to think that if they cannot master the game (or something else in life) in 30 minutes, they will never get it - so better to move on to the next game/song. I guess I'm back to Guitar Hero sucks!
But I'm getting old, crabby, and set in my ways. Anyone else care to comment on \"Guitar Hero\" - pro or con?
On the other hand, I really like some of the songs put out by \"Guitar Hero\". Truth be told, as a cover band, we often look at the titles of the songs in Guitar Hero because we know lots of young people are playing the game at home, love those songs, and appreciate seeing a live band perform those titles. They know that they are not real musicians and really like seeing a live band perform these covers that they wish they could pull off. Also, if it encourages some young kid to actually pick up a real guitar and hit a power chord, I'm all for that too. So \"Guitar Hero\" is great!
Actually, I'm more biased towards NOT. I bought my young nephew a starter guitar/amp kit for Christmas a few years ago. He was all excited about playing it and making some noise for awhile. But then his mother bought him Guitar Hero. He figured out that with little effort he could play \"guitar\" on Guitar Hero, sound great, and master the song(s) in a few days whereas with the real guitar he was still trying to hold it right and press down on the strings to make a decent sounding chord. His real guitar and amp now sit in the closet never seeing the light of day and his game machine with Guitar Hero are front and center. Makes me sad. He had a chance, but his mother took it away from him without even knowing what she was doing to him.
I'm feeling fortunate that I never had Guitar Hero when I was growing up. I don't know if I would have spent years, and years, and years, learning how to play and sing if I would have had other options such as Guitar Hero to fill my musical addictions. Maybe I would have been just like my nephew and be perfectly content with jamming with a great sounding \"Guitar Hero\" band. I know it's not the same as playing on stage with real musicians, but he doesn't know, and never will.
A little on my personal background and philosophy. I grew up in a very small town (300 people) but the local school and our parents believed in a strong music department. About 3/4 of each class was in either band or chorus, most of us were in both. The idea was that learning to play a musical instrument not only developed the brain, but also developed character traits such as learning to work hard at something for years before you ever got to see a real payoff. Everyone knew that a kid like me learning how to play the saxaphone in 4th grade would be making lots of squeaks through the years before soloing on a number in high school band. That was just given. And it was that attitude that also got us through school, knowing that some subjects might be difficult for us but with perserverance, we could eventually work our way up to High School Calculus.
And today, both as a former teacher, and an uncle to younger nieces and nephews, I see too many young kids thinking that if they cannot master something in their life in less than half an hour, it's just not worth pursuing. It's this \"Guitar Hero\" mentality and game box brain washing that leads our young kids to think that if they cannot master the game (or something else in life) in 30 minutes, they will never get it - so better to move on to the next game/song. I guess I'm back to Guitar Hero sucks!
But I'm getting old, crabby, and set in my ways. Anyone else care to comment on \"Guitar Hero\" - pro or con?
Comments
Plus, you can't do cool guitar stuff on it. Like, some controllers have buttons in the \"upper fret\" area - but you can't tap because you have pluck the switch each time.
I've probably posted this before, but it's still funny:
Thanks for reposting that video link. Loved it.
I just wonder how many parents, like my sister, are buying these Guitar Hero games thinking that their kids will get interested in music when in reality I think they are killing off any chance of the kid ever learning how to pick up a real instrument and play? It's just sad.
Nothing transfers between the 2.
If you want to play the game, play the game. If you want to play the guitar, play the guitar. They have absoulutely NOTHING to do with each other.
Nope..No more than operating a piece of heavy machinery, which also doesn't have anything to do with guitar playing.
Yes, I'm also a cranky old man who thinks kids otta earn what they get... :roll:
Perhaps these abilities the young-uns are getting is equiping them to be our future warriors? Piloting automated drones, planes tanks, robotic soldiers?
All I know is I couldn't even play Mario bro. :oops: When a 5 yr old whips my butt an tells me how to play.... Well I never got into the \"gaming world\".
Never played GH either. So I really have no comment.. To me it's like texting.. I don't get it.. It is so much easier and faster to call and actually 'say' Hey where are you?
Unlike many video game, texting has practical aspects.
Actually they have a lot to do with each other...that is in a few months. Theres a game coming out called RISE OF THE SIX STRING, where the controller is a REAL guitar with real strings. There is also word you can hook the guitar controller up to your real amp and play it. Its a real guitar. Check it out! Its going to be for the Microsuck 360 and the PS3.
Everyone should check it out. Looks awesome to me. No more little kid style play guitar. It would be something if your could use your own guitar as a controller....lol that would be wild!
Here's a link: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/09/impressions-power-gig-rise-of-the-sixstring/
So what, they've color-coded the notes?
My young lil 13 yr old cousin decided to pick up the guitar because of games like guitar hero and rock band. He learned about Rush, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Deep Purple, MC5, Alice in Chains and all those bands because of that game. After hearing all that stuff and playing the game so much he asked his mom for a real guitar and has fallin in love with the instrument. His favorite guitar player is kirk hammet and he is always tyrin to get me to show him metallica songs. But the only reason he knows metallica is because of guitar hero.
All guitar hero is is a modern day air guitar.
Whether a kid is deterred from playing by a game is something i think doesn't hold. This has always been the thing with guitar or any instrument. The idea of learning it is always interesting and cool but doing it is another. I think kids will find their way to the instrument no matter what and if their inspired to practice and play they will.
As far as me playin the game. I have and like the rest of you i suck at it. But the rock band drums are fun to play. Ya I know Im not really playing drums but still its fun.
PEACE 8)
It could also go both ways. There is a South Park episode, which I won't link here, but the gist of it was that the main characters (4th graders) get into Guitar Hero, and one of their fathers tries to show them how to play a Guitar Hero song on a real guitar. The kids' reactions: \"dad... that's, like, totally lame.\" It's a funny episode actually, totally puts Guitar Hero obsession into the South Park multiverse.
As far as why I personally have never tried playing GH, the answer is the same as what Steve Vai said here (1:15-1:45) about being a pop star:
Glad to hear that Guitar Hero inspired someone to actually pick up a real guitar and learn how to play it. That's great. It would be interesting to hear how your young cousin feels about the game now that he knows how to play a real guitar. Personally, after playing real guitars for 30+ years, I have never had any desire to play Guitar Hero. So I'm wondering how someone who started with Guitar Hero feels about the game after he learns how to play the real thing.
If anyone is interested, the Rock Band multi-track audio files can be found on the Frets On Fire forum in this thread http://www.fretsonfire.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30926#Downloadable_Content. Although I'm not a fan of Guitar Hero/Rock Band and the like, I do like many of the songs on those discs and my cover band plays a number of the same titles at our shows. I enjoy the music, just not the game aspect.
The numbers of new folks entering the music field will continue to increase, in spite of Guitar Hero type games.
I used to teach K-8 in a couple of different schools. One school had a music program, the other did not. In general, I found students that were in music class, and learning an instrument, also had much longer attention spans and did not give up when things/concepts were difficult to comprehend. Not every concept in Math or Science class comes easy. But I found that students that were learning music did not give up as easily as others. But that is probably because most music students know that it will take years of practice before they can really start playing the instrument. I know my saxaphone squeaked for my first years.... Same saxaphone in high school played much better. So it's a long journey learning how to play a real instrument, and along the way you learn many other lessons such as patience, practice, and perseverance which serves you well in most of life's challenges.
Contrast that to my nephews who grew up playing only video games. If they could not master the game in a short period of time, they just moved on to another game, or gave up. Same with most of their classes in school, if it was hard, they would just give up. They had no attention span for anything. Both of them got starter guitars because they expressed some interest in playing. However, they found it too difficult and quit after a very short time. But I think it's just that they had been conditioned to think that if they cannot master something in an hour, they will never get it. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm just glad that we did not have all these great video games when I was growing up. I spent too much time playing Pong as it was.
What this boils down to is input. Young minds are stimulated by input. That means new input. Thats where the lack of interest comes in. It becomes familiar and less stimulating than new input. It then becomes part of the parenting job to take an active interest in your kids and what and how they spend there time. You can not throw a guitar at someone and lock them in a room with it and they come out a player. Those kids that receive parent support and a shown interest in what the child does will have a far better chance in succeeding in whatever they try. That way when the interst starts to fade the support can kick in. Desire and support are the only things that will create a future musician, not some game that is just ment to be fun and no threat to future muscians. If they want it, they will go for it, with the correct support and interest.
Absolutely, parents are key. Taught 8th grade in one low income school. 100 students. Only 7 parents showed up for Parent-Teacher conferences. Found out that was average parent turnout for that school. Pretty sad. No wonder so many kids are failing, and don't care. Their parents don't seem to care much either.