Fri 23 May 2008
Can Guitar Hero Prepare You For The Real Thing?
Posted by Andrew Blanco under Babeled, Entertainment
I’ve been playing a real guitar for about nine years.
As a self-taught guitarist I’ve been forced to explore all different avenues of learning just to compensate for the guidance that would have come had I sought a seasoned teacher.
When attempting to learn any musical instrument the fundamental element that needs to be mastered is rhythm. But, rhythm is a very mysterious thing.
There are many references within folklore to the Rhythmic Curse - you either have rhythm or you don’t. In my opinion, this presumption of Nature over Nurture is misleading, and I have no doubt it has kept many potential musicians from exploring the craft.
Rhythm can definitely be learned. For those of you who doubt this claim, go out and buy yourself a copy of Guitar Hero, pick one song, and then dedicate some time to mastering it. Start on Easy, progress to Hard. Soon enough you will destroy it on Expert. This is called learning: Progress is proportional to effort exerted over time.
Guitar Hero is the perfect template for learning rhythm, and it is an excellent transitional tool for anyone interested in learning real guitar. Once you have mastered a song you will have acquired the ability to coordinate using all the fingers on your left hand (except the thumb) in complex patterns that are set to a steady beat which is being laid down by your right hand.
The real transitional device here is muscle memory. Those with a genetic predisposition for attuning to rhythm have a foundation of rhythmic muscle memory that only gets stronger, more habitual, with age. This quality is assumed to be character (”that person is so musical, etc…), when it is really just muscle memory, a purely physical attribute.
For those born without rhythm, Guitar Hero is the perfect tool to retrain your muscles. If you want to solo on a real guitar, dedicate one year to mastering “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream on Hard, and I promise you will have a leg up on somebody who hasn’t done this.
Image Used in this Post
Guitar-hero-yessssss courtesy of Playstatic
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May 23rd, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I totally agree. Real guitar takes a lot more talent than a game, but playing guitar hero has definitely reinvigorated the “little musician” inside of me. It makes it fun to play. I have mastered “Cliffs of Dover” on medium, but I don’t think I am ready to play it on a real guitar.
Can you see the Guitar Hero style become the norm for musicians in the future so much as they play the game at concerts?
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Video games are no substitute for the talent it takes to create music. There is no way anyone could ever convince me they learned to play guitar by playing Guitar Hero.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Guitar Hero also teaches two extra skills that are vital to guitar: getting both hands to work together, and up/down strumming.
Someone who is learning guitar after playing Guitar Hero substantially has a few advantages: they’ve picked up the idea of up/down picking, they’ve picked up the coordination needed, and they’ve picked up the idea of rhythm.
Trust me, when I started guitar 7 years ago, I had none of the required skills. As my guitar teacher put it, “when you began, you were… no, actually, you sucked. bad.” Learning one or two of the skills while having fun would have been pretty helpful.
Moving to the real guitar is fraught with extra challenges, such as precise picking, intense muscle memorization of patterns at different parts of the neck, tone, bends, etc. However, they’ve already had a few hurdles removed from their path, AND they have 35 different songs they want to learn how to play. Not too shabby.
I’d look to see a rock-n-roll revival in 5 or 6 years.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
When I play the real guitar, the strings and notes light up for me as if I am playing Guitar Hero. Some people actually get a little bugged out by it. The truth is, if I can hear it, I can play it by seeing it.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I want my Rock’n'Roll back now!
Not in 5-6 years.
Jake you are the first guitar player I have heard talk about this game. Definitely some good insight.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
My little brother had been playing the guitar for…I guess about 3 years before the game came out, but never really took the time to practice. After he got Guitar Hero II his interest skyrocketed and he plays all the time now — he’s gotten pretty good. And at least 75% of what he plays are songs from the game.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I have been playin music for 15 years. I started playing the guitar 11 years ago. I am self taught and I can rock your socks off in a matter of 3 seconds (approx… there was a case study). Guitar Hero demands rhythm… I demand rhythm. Under penalty of the hammer of the gods. For this reason I belive Guitar Hero is an exelent TOOL for learning music. However the guitar is a fickel lover… chords, bends, slides and the never ending dance that is the pedal board; these are things not found in the video game world. Oh yeah… get guitar hero if you want to learn guitar. It won’t hurt. But if you really want to learn guitar, pratice. And whatever you do don’t cry like a little girl when your fingers start to hurt (cuz they will). When they do hurt thats when you know it’s time to pratice some more. But what do I know… I’m also a drummer, and a bassist, and a saxaphonist. If only I could play the keytar…
May 26th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I believe Andrew, the author, was the first guitar player you heard talk about this game…
May 26th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I thought Rineberg was the first guitar player who talked about this game.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
i suck at both. I’m missing the same skill sets. However I’m a very generous lover.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
LOL, nice keeks.