Comments on: Is tomorrow's Clapton playing 'Guitar Hero'?

Some guitar teachers think the popular hit video game franchise will drive future interest in the instrument.

[TinyIoda]

true but...

"1) GH's rhythmic button pushing does not match the tunes very well, so it may actually be interfering with rhythmic "ear" development (it's more a "visual" thing)."

thats very true, on easy and medium...when you get to hard and expert the songs/button combinations become far more accurate (not to say its perfect)

[TinyIoda]

true but...

"1) GH's rhythmic button pushing does not match the tunes very well, so it may actually be interfering with rhythmic "ear" development (it's more a "visual" thing)."

thats very true, on easy and medium...when you get to hard and expert the songs/button combinations become far more accurate (not to say its perfect)

[22mojom22]

A Newbie to Both

I'll come right out and say it. I'm a newbie trying to learn to play guitar. Mostly I've been goofing around with mine so far, and have not the chance to take lessons yet but am planning to in the coming months. I actually find that I enjoy playing GH, because it inspires me. Sure, it's just a game, but I like to thrown it on every so often when I am frustrated with my real guitar playing so that I can escape into the "Rock and Roll" fantasy. Guitar Hero pushes me forward in my desire to play the instrument for real. Plus, it is nice to be exposed to some new bands that I have not been familiar with before hand. Freeze Pop Forever!

[22mojom22]

A Newbie to Both

I'll come right out and say it. I'm a newbie trying to learn to play guitar. Mostly I've been goofing around with mine so far, and have not the chance to take lessons yet but am planning to in the coming months. I actually find that I enjoy playing GH, because it inspires me. Sure, it's just a game, but I like to thrown it on every so often when I am frustrated with my real guitar playing so that I can escape into the "Rock and Roll" fantasy. Guitar Hero pushes me forward in my desire to play the instrument for real. Plus, it is nice to be exposed to some new bands that I have not been familiar with before hand. Freeze Pop Forever!

[Dragon Forge]

J U M P to the head of the line

Fed up with the crappy vista offering, incremental h/w tecnologies and greedy hd oems, I was starting to get some of my children into the guitar this past spring.

This Christmas there are no technology/gaming presnts at all, for anyone. The youngest is getting a customized electric guitar package including a Digitech GNX3000 multieffects pedal workstation to tantilize his curiosity and creativity.

It will take time but considering the thousands of hours that might have been spent on gaming - a far better investment.

People are allowing the gaming industry to form their realities - like becoming an airguitar hero - lmao, and good luck with that :)

[Dragon Forge]

J U M P to the head of the line

Fed up with the crappy vista offering, incremental h/w tecnologies and greedy hd oems, I was starting to get some of my children into the guitar this past spring.

This Christmas there are no technology/gaming presnts at all, for anyone. The youngest is getting a customized electric guitar package including a Digitech GNX3000 multieffects pedal workstation to tantilize his curiosity and creativity.

It will take time but considering the thousands of hours that might have been spent on gaming - a far better investment.

People are allowing the gaming industry to form their realities - like becoming an airguitar hero - lmao, and good luck with that :)

[Thomas, David]

Yes, and No ... mostly just no

Let's not forget the fact that it is a video game, and bears little
in reality to being a guitar player. However, it is an avenue
where the spark of desire (to be a musician) can be born. As a
real musician, I can tell you that the dedication required will
turn many people away. But if the right person becomes
interested, then yes.

Guitar hero isn't going to help create a new generation of
musicians, it is simply to 1-dimensional (at best), but it will help
create a new generation of people who may become more
interested about music.

[Thomas, David]

Yes, and No ... mostly just no

Let's not forget the fact that it is a video game, and bears little
in reality to being a guitar player. However, it is an avenue
where the spark of desire (to be a musician) can be born. As a
real musician, I can tell you that the dedication required will
turn many people away. But if the right person becomes
interested, then yes.

Guitar hero isn't going to help create a new generation of
musicians, it is simply to 1-dimensional (at best), but it will help
create a new generation of people who may become more
interested about music.

[Nodack]

Nice Start

I've been playing guitar for a living for a long time and I am also
an avid video gamer too.

Guitar is a hard instrument to learn and it's hard for people when
starting out to stay motivated since their fingers hurt and they
don't know what they are doing making it frustrating.

Video games are made to keep your interest by starting you off
at level one giving you something easy to learn before moving
you on to level two giving you a sense of acomplishment and a
concrete barometer of your progress.

While Guitar Hero isn't the real thing it touches on the potential
of computer aided learning. Why not create hardware and
software that teaches you to play a real guitar? You would need
a guitar that tracks your fingerings so the software will know if
you are hitting the right notes. Then you could have
lessons/games that slowly move you from level one to guitar god
level 200. A well disigned lesson plan would keep it from being
boring and more like a video game.

I have recently seen a few devices aimed at teaching kids with
video games. I think that is a great idea. Kids are going to play
video games because it's fun. Why not make learning a video
game that they will want to play?

[Nodack]

Nice Start

I've been playing guitar for a living for a long time and I am also
an avid video gamer too.

Guitar is a hard instrument to learn and it's hard for people when
starting out to stay motivated since their fingers hurt and they
don't know what they are doing making it frustrating.

Video games are made to keep your interest by starting you off
at level one giving you something easy to learn before moving
you on to level two giving you a sense of acomplishment and a
concrete barometer of your progress.

While Guitar Hero isn't the real thing it touches on the potential
of computer aided learning. Why not create hardware and
software that teaches you to play a real guitar? You would need
a guitar that tracks your fingerings so the software will know if
you are hitting the right notes. Then you could have
lessons/games that slowly move you from level one to guitar god
level 200. A well disigned lesson plan would keep it from being
boring and more like a video game.

I have recently seen a few devices aimed at teaching kids with
video games. I think that is a great idea. Kids are going to play
video games because it's fun. Why not make learning a video
game that they will want to play?

[mariusthull]

Ambivalent...at best

I think the good thing about Guitar Hero is that it's exposing kids to good music. I'm not sure if it will give birth to the next Clapton but I know what won't. Rap music! Sorry if it seems a little closed minded but rap, which seems to be the most popular music now a days, isn't music. Can anyone here imagine the next Paige or Steve Howe siting NWA, the woo tang clan or Vanilla Ice as influences? I shudder at the thought. So if GH is exposing kids to groups like Kansas that's definitely a plus.

Okay now to sound old and like a pompous ass, if I don't already. Clapton, Paige, Howe, Townsend, Lifeson, Satriani, and all musical greats/virtuoso's aren't made they are born. They don't need a video game to inspire or motivate them. The next guitar great is more likely to be found down in the basement playing his dad's old Stones and Cream records not sitting in his room playing a video game.

Personally speaking just listening to Led Zeppelin Yes, Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson were enough to make me want to learn how to play the drums. I don't know what it would be like today but I know the guys I was in a band with would have laughed at the kids that play GH. We, of course were musical snobs...if it wasn't Yes, Rush, Led Zeppelin, or Deep Purple it wasn't music. LOL

[mariusthull]

Ambivalent...at best

I think the good thing about Guitar Hero is that it's exposing kids to good music. I'm not sure if it will give birth to the next Clapton but I know what won't. Rap music! Sorry if it seems a little closed minded but rap, which seems to be the most popular music now a days, isn't music. Can anyone here imagine the next Paige or Steve Howe siting NWA, the woo tang clan or Vanilla Ice as influences? I shudder at the thought. So if GH is exposing kids to groups like Kansas that's definitely a plus.

Okay now to sound old and like a pompous ass, if I don't already. Clapton, Paige, Howe, Townsend, Lifeson, Satriani, and all musical greats/virtuoso's aren't made they are born. They don't need a video game to inspire or motivate them. The next guitar great is more likely to be found down in the basement playing his dad's old Stones and Cream records not sitting in his room playing a video game.

Personally speaking just listening to Led Zeppelin Yes, Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson were enough to make me want to learn how to play the drums. I don't know what it would be like today but I know the guys I was in a band with would have laughed at the kids that play GH. We, of course were musical snobs...if it wasn't Yes, Rush, Led Zeppelin, or Deep Purple it wasn't music. LOL

[basteedo]

stunning ignomercial

Finally, just as the lazy, adolescent mind is jonesing for all the attention it doesn't deserve, technology and fantasy meet in this amazing product enabling the mediocre masses to fall further into the cool depths of non-productive masturbatory illusion than ever dreamed possible. I am a guitar teacher and the gulf between playing and 'playing' is already so wide in the minds of kids that the idea of discipline and practice already feels like a slap in the face to most kids who enter through the fantasy/attention/celebrity portal. Hell, why not make it a little wider? No one will notice. I just hope the makers of this game have encough conscience to nake the follow up game 'FAST fOOD FRENZY' where they test their deep-fry skills to the praise and scolding of the new assistant manager. <deee-dooo! Caught playing air guitar on the front line: loss of one badge.> Kurt McClain, editor-of-the-month of The Fast Food Flyer says "I think playing Fast Food Frenzy will actually result in more young people seeking rewarding positions in the fast food industry." I remember the forlorn look disappointment on one kids face when he realized a few minutes into the lesson that there was nothing automatic about it. I asked the mother why she signed him up. "Well he plays in front of the mirror for hours. I mean like he's really playing." 'Great,' I thought, 'The parents don't even know the difference.' Rock on but remember: The fantasy journey of a thousand miles begins with the first fantasy step. I think I'll go sit down and watch the exercise channel.

[basteedo]

stunning ignomercial

Finally, just as the lazy, adolescent mind is jonesing for all the attention it doesn't deserve, technology and fantasy meet in this amazing product enabling the mediocre masses to fall further into the cool depths of non-productive masturbatory illusion than ever dreamed possible. I am a guitar teacher and the gulf between playing and 'playing' is already so wide in the minds of kids that the idea of discipline and practice already feels like a slap in the face to most kids who enter through the fantasy/attention/celebrity portal. Hell, why not make it a little wider? No one will notice. I just hope the makers of this game have encough conscience to nake the follow up game 'FAST fOOD FRENZY' where they test their deep-fry skills to the praise and scolding of the new assistant manager. <deee-dooo! Caught playing air guitar on the front line: loss of one badge.> Kurt McClain, editor-of-the-month of The Fast Food Flyer says "I think playing Fast Food Frenzy will actually result in more young people seeking rewarding positions in the fast food industry." I remember the forlorn look disappointment on one kids face when he realized a few minutes into the lesson that there was nothing automatic about it. I asked the mother why she signed him up. "Well he plays in front of the mirror for hours. I mean like he's really playing." 'Great,' I thought, 'The parents don't even know the difference.' Rock on but remember: The fantasy journey of a thousand miles begins with the first fantasy step. I think I'll go sit down and watch the exercise channel.

[claptonhead]

I just turned 60. I got my first guitar at age 19. It was a cheap acoustic and the "action" was so high that my fingers bled for two or three weeks until I formed callouses. I bought the Mel Bay Guitar Chords book and taught myself through those pictures and then playing along with records. Many, many of the great guitar players learned from Mel Bay and stopped to visit him in St. Louis before he passed away to thank him.
I've never had a desire to even try Guitar Hero in a store. I don't see it helping one learn to play guitar any more than playing air guitar. If you want to play guitar you've got to have a sense of timing which is quite different than what I've watched and most of the best guitarists, be they rock, blues, classical, country aren't showmen when they play. I've never seen Clapton or BB dance and jump around. They simply play fantastic. That's what it's all about.
If you want to be a guitar hero, buy a guitar and a chord book and start learning. You'll get lots more chicks if you want, but more importantly you'll learn to do something that you will never tire of. I just bought my first Martin and my second American Standard Stratocaster this year. With a Fender GDec amp, I can play along to the drums and bass or plug in my Ipod and play along with the real greats. I do it at home alone, just like I learned to play. Some of the guys I've played with who were better than me, some good enough to be studio musicians never showed off. They were guitar heroes but I knew from listening and not from watching them jump around.