8/3/2009
By Matt Granato
Comparing actual guitar playing and the video game Guitar Hero is an odd comparison to make considering the two are nothing at all alike. Guitar Hero gives players the illusion of covering some of their favorite songs by using a modified video game controller that looks like a guitar. Playing the actual instrument involves knowledge of chords, scales, notes, and finger positioning. Playing Guitar Hero involves five colored buttons and a strum bar which players hit in combinations given to them on the television screen to replicate their favorite songs.
Up until the relatively recent release of this game people would learn to play an instrument if they were compelled to by hearing a song they liked. Every musical artist today was influenced by someone else who inspired them to pick up an instrument and ultimately create their own music. The games popularity has spurred the release of subsequent band themed and bonus song game packs so players can add more songs to their library.
Playing the guitar is a skill that one learns, and not quickly but over the course of many years of practice and application. Guitar Hero gives the illusion of learning songs in a way that gives no sustenance to creativity. Being good a Guitar Hero and good at guitar are two totally different concepts. The skills are different, the product is different, and it gives people who might otherwise have learned a musical instrument an alternative with no long lasting abilities.
People may play just for the enjoyment of the game itself, but being good at Guitar Hero will never translate into being good at the instrument. Play something real, learn a new skill besides just pressing the blue and red buttons at the same time.
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