Love/hate RockBand
I have some problems with RockBand and Guitar Hero – the video games. From a business perspective, they seem to be a great way to promote singles and give new life to older songs. But, it also is a lazy way to get into music.
I know how to read music because I started studying at the age of eight and continued into college. It doesn’t make me a great musician, many people who are more talented than I am and have a better ear don’t know how to read. But, it’s a skill that I’m glad that I possess. Even if I don’t use it for months at time, I can sit at a piano and sight-read a song or play some Neil Young tunes on the guitar.
I’ve played both Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and it’s fun. I was impressed that I could score high on the vocals to “The Hand That Feeds” by Nine Inch Nails in one take, or play the drums on R.E.M.s “Orange Crush”. I’ve always had a hard time mastering the drums, I’m too used to playing the melody in a song. But, with Rock Band I’m a pretty good drummer.
But, the guitar controller is a different story. The plastic toggle is too stiff so you can’t even come close to replicating a real strum. It just hurts my hand and I end up getting booed off the stage by the virtual audience.
My fear is that too many tweens and younger are going to pass up learning an instrument to get the instant gratification of banging out a few tunes with their PS3. With Guitar Hero you can sound like Slash in a matter of days instead of years.
Also, for parents, they just have to buy a $150 game and be done with it. No dragging the kid to lessons each week, buying expensive equipment and nagging them to practice.
So, I’m kinda torn on this. It’s great to be Thom Yorke for a night belting out “Creep”, but it’s also a bad message for the kids. Do as I say, not as I do…
