Learning music through games.
- Thread starter Sephiroth
- Start date
I hadn't considered a keyboard, but for other instruments I don't think it applies. Anybody who's played Guitar Hero, attempted to play real guitar, then compared the two experiences, realizes they're really not similar at all. My fingertips on my left hand ache and sting from pressing against steel guitar strings, hopefully some calluses are growing there.
That's what I meant: a keyboard (which is essentially the same thing as a video game controller, just with much more buttons) is a lot easier to simulate than, say, a guitar or a drum set.
Rock Band 3 has 'pro' guitar, where you can hook up a guitar with 6 strings and an ass-load of fret buttons. More recently they released a Fender guitar with an adapter for even better realism. And of course they have their own keyboard controller as well... though it's only meant for playing right-hand parts of songs.
My biggest issue with RB3 is that they just don't let you slow parts down enough.. only to about half speed. I can't learn anything of any complexity that fast. I end up kind of memorizing the part in question, then dicking around with it on real guitar for a while. That's not that much better than learning from a tab.
On medium difficulty it's a little more fun, and it's helping me learn how to read the notes more quickly, but I think they could've done a much better job with the training elements. I might upgrade to the 'real' guitar controller rather than the buttony mess to improve the feel.
My biggest issue with RB3 is that they just don't let you slow parts down enough.. only to about half speed. I can't learn anything of any complexity that fast. I end up kind of memorizing the part in question, then dicking around with it on real guitar for a while. That's not that much better than learning from a tab.
On medium difficulty it's a little more fun, and it's helping me learn how to read the notes more quickly, but I think they could've done a much better job with the training elements. I might upgrade to the 'real' guitar controller rather than the buttony mess to improve the feel.
True, and the piano is very different from an electronic keyboard in the tactile sense. When I taught myself keyboard, switching to a real piano was an eye-opener. Even a keyboard with weighted keys is no comparison.
There have been MIDI guitar pickups for a long time. I'd guess there is software to teach guitar in this way already.
I've also heard that the drums in Rock Band games can give a real sense of the instrument - although the tactile end is going to be similarly gimped (but then Ringo couldn't do a roll to save his life...).
Glad it's working out, Sephiroth. If you like the Doors, one thing that worked wonders for me was learning just the middle (solo) part of "light my fire", where the bass repeats A-minor and B-minor arpeggios. It took many hours, but once the left hand locks in its part, you can go nuts with the right hand.
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