the guitar hero effect

NUTHA JASON

Senior Administrator
guitar hero and similar games like the wii rock band are a blessing to drum teachers.

how many people are now playing these games and then becoming curious about the real thing. These interactives are a boost to the drum education industry i'm sure if it.

j

guitarheroworldtour04.jpg
 
I was talking to my guitarist because i bridge a generation gap (37 years young). When i was a kid in high school, all the guitarists were virtuoso shredders that could do sweeping scales, hammer-ons and pull-offs like i wipe my behind. The kids in my day idolized cats like eddie vanhalen, yngwe malmsteen (i'm 100% sure i just misspellt dat), steve vai, joe satriani. They bought guitars at 14, locked themselves in their bedrooms and came out at 17 being the next carlos santana or whoever. Then grunge came in like '90-'91 and you basically didn't hear a guitar solo in mainstream rock/metal for like 15 years. Then bands like Dillinger escape plan, coheed and cambria, and Dragonforce came on the scene and the guitar mags overreacted by proclaiming the second guitar renaissance or something to that effect. Now i got to thinking, what was the biggest single factor for style to make a huge comeback? It's guitar hero and rockband. It's gotta be. And yes, i love what those games are doing for this current generation of kids, they're excited and hungry and getting into it. Long live rock and roll...
 
I know many people have mixed feelings about games like guitar hero and rock band, but my friend got into drumming because of his addiction to playing drums in rock band. he got the hang of expert so i let him barrow one of my practice pads. he's still messing with the pad and such and has a basic understanding of rudiments.
 
Well, my little cousin wants a guitar for Chanukah, not to play it, but just to be cool. He's 6 years old. In conclusion, Guitar Hero can dilute the act of learning guitar, and transform it into the mere act of playing it. Same with drums.
 
I have to say that if it wasn't for Rock Band I might never have started playing drums. It was always something I wanted to do, but never got around to it, like learning another language. I got sooo addicted to playing Rock Band that it turned into me buying a drum set and learning for real. So maybe its not exactly the same as playing on a real kit, but I think it can definetly spark some interest. That was a year ago, and now I can't imagine my life without drums!
 
Well, my little cousin wants a guitar for Chanukah, not to play it, but just to be cool. He's 6 years old. In conclusion, Guitar Hero can dilute the act of learning guitar, and transform it into the mere act of playing it. Same with drums.

I would say that there are some negative effects with some people. I was in GC and the guy who did well on "drums" honestly thought he could play the drums. We brought him in the drum room and said "go for it."

He learned that it wasn't the same at all...the embarassing way.

If it does help people get into playing, that's a good thing.
 
Yeah......now a TV show. Teams compete, in front of a live audience, with game score and "audience" stage presence score combined, to rank winner, 2nd, 3rd. (much better than watching real musicians playing real music with real instruments).....now bars have "Rock Band nights", much like "karaoke" and "air guitar competitions". Who needs to pay live bands when drunken audience members can entertain themselves on a $300 gaming system all night?..........The gaming industry is making more money now than the music industry. And for every gaming system bought, that's 25 CD's not bought. For every iPod bought, that's gawd knows how many CD's not bought. The "Decline of Western Civilization" is here.
 
Yeah......now a TV show. Teams compete, in front of a live audience, with game score and "audience" stage presence score combined, to rank winner, 2nd, 3rd. (much better than watching real musicians playing real music with real instruments).....now bars have "Rock Band nights", much like "karaoke" and "air guitar competitions". Who needs to pay live bands when drunken audience members can entertain themselves on a $300 gaming system all night?..........The gaming industry is making more money now than the music industry. And for every gaming system bought, that's 25 CD's not bought. For every iPod bought, that's gawd knows how many CD's not bought. The "Decline of Western Civilization" is here.

dude i think that might be overreacting a BIT but yeah i get what you mean. Sadly people don't buy cds anymore they just download off limewire. But as you say i mean it's like doing a kariokie, they didn't just stop having live bands just because of that so whats to say they will because of some peice of crap game?
 
i think that as people begin to experience at least in part the thrill of playing an instrument live even if it is virtual then they will appreciate live music more. the music industry must change to a live industry. as the years go by there is less money to be madefrom recordings. the furture is in generating a respect and admiration for live music and the games are helping this along nicely.

j
 
guitar hero and similar games like the wii rock band are a blessing to drum teachers.how many people are now playing these games and then becoming curious about the real thing.

I have been playing guitar and singing since I was 7. I even owned a drum kit back in the early 90s but never learned how to play it beyond just jamming with some friends in my parents garage. Since the evolution of RockBand (and the subsequent revision of the new drumset in GuitarHero), I started taking lessons and bought a new Mapex kit. I am so happy and enjoy playing drums so much now. I dont play GH or RB much any more because I spend that time playing my real kit, but I am thankful that these games helped get me into playing drums, now in my mid-30s.
 
I honestly thought that rockband was going to be a joke. So I didn't buy it when it first came out. I decided to wait and watch. I watched videos of people playing expert on youtube and thought well it looks like its pretty acurate with the notes so i decided to take the plunge and buy it. the foot pedal took some getting used to and i can play some stuff on expert. This weekend was the first time i herd the song in bloom by nirvana. I put it on expert and played it over and over for three hours until i got a 98 on it. so i down loaded the song and went into my basement and put it on and i could play it almost perfectly. No lie. I am being 100% honest. This game has helped me out tremendously in a sense of being able to practice whenever i want which i love.
 
Personally I see those games and want to vomit. But if it helps the learning process then I'm all for it. But still.... When I was taking drum lessons years ago when cavemen ruled, all we had were practice pads, sticks, books, and a wind-up metronome.

If it helps a kid or sparks a passion then I'm all for it. But don't expect that just because you can play well on a toy you can actually play the real thing well. That's my beef. Maybe I'm reading too much into this????
 
Yeah, I don't think peope are going to think they can play a real instrument just because they can play it on a video game. I can see how it could help an already experienced drummer like razorx figure out a song. Anyways, it got at least one person to take up drumming. Thats all that matters, right? : ) If the worst thing that happens is a kid tries out a real kit and doesn't follow through, at least he tried it.
 
Yeah if you are experienced i think that it is a very good learning tool. too bad the set list SUCKS! lol
 
Hey all. Just remember, real musicians played all of those songs before they got to Rockband. I'm still chasing the dream and one of my big goals is to have one of MY songs picked to go on a GH or RB game. Now THAT would be


MOST HIGHLY EXCELLENT!!!!!!!
 

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dude i think that might be overreacting a BIT but yeah i get what you mean. Sadly people don't buy cds anymore they just download off limewire. But as you say i mean it's like doing a kariokie, they didn't just stop having live bands just because of that so whats to say they will because of some peice of crap game?
Not so much, overreacting as over oversimplifying, perhaps. Of course, I haven't nationwide exposure, but I know what I see going on in Los Angeles. And 30 years worth of observation/ 11 years working in record-CD shops....I see what I see. We now have 4 major labels...Warner Music Group...EMI...Sony...Universal Music Group. In 2004, there were 5. In 1998, there were 6. Since the 70's, the number of live music venues has decreased. The number of record shops has decreased. The number of instrument retailers has decreased. The number of major labels has decreased.
 
Not so much, overreacting as over oversimplifying, perhaps. Of course, I haven't nationwide exposure, but I know what I see going on in Los Angeles. And 30 years worth of observation/ 11 years working in record-CD shops....I see what I see. We now have 4 major labels...Warner Music Group...EMI...Sony...Universal Music Group. In 2004, there were 5. In 1998, there were 6. Since the 70's, the number of live music venues has decreased. The number of record shops has decreased. The number of instrument retailers has decreased. The number of major labels has decreased.

However, the number of musicians has increased.
 
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