I'm a big believer in the idea that anything that gets kids interested in playing music is worth supporting. Supporters of the interactive music video-games, Guitar Hero and Rock Band, have been claiming that the games will lead the kids who play them to try real instruments - in other words, to move from Rock Band to a rock band. It's way too early to tell whether that'll happen yet, partially because even though the games have come so far in just a few years, they are still fairly primitive. The drums are okay, and apparently the new Guitar Hero: Metallica edition even offers a second bass drum foot pedal and an Expert + level, so kids can experience the same agonizing shin pains that real heavy metal drummers get when they start out. The microphone is fine too, but with the Beatles catalog reportedly coming later this year, someone is going to have to come up with a way for multiple voices on multiple mics to recreate those great vocal harmonies.
Ironically, the instrument that started the whole thing, the guitar, is still the weakest link. With its 4 colored buttons that you press when you see the matching bars on the video screen, it is little more than a plastic rhythm stick. It really has no relationship to the guitar at all - and as a longtime guitarist myself, it is the one part of the game that I simply can't get.
People have argued over which is better, Rock Band or Guitar Hero, now that both come with controllers for guitars, voice, and drums. Guitar Hero lets you appear on screen as your favorite rockers, while Rock Band lets you construct an on-screen avatar of your own. I've played Rock Band, and I own Guitar Hero, and here's my answer to the debate: I'm so glued to those damn colored bars that I could appear on screen as a baboon in a tutu and I wouldn't notice the difference.
Anyway, my kids play the game more than I do, but it doesn't seem to have moved them to try to play any of the real instruments that litter the house. A similar thing happened - or didn't happen - when we bought them a Wii player: people were wondering if Wii's bowling or tennis or boxing programs, which require movements that are similar to the real thing, would lure kids out of the bedroom and into some kind of physical activity. Didn't happen in my house - although my younger, more athletic daughter is now saying she might be interested in tennis. I just don't think we can put that kind of burden on the flimsy plastic shoulders of a video game. It does seem to get kids listening to music, including music that they might not otherwise hear; and maybe that's enough.
Tell us: do you think Rock Band and Guitar Hero will help produce a new generation of musicians?
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John Schaefer has hosted Soundcheck since the show’s inception in 2002. He has also hosted and produced WNYC’s radio series New Sounds since 1982 (“The No. 1 radio show for the Global Village” – Billboard) and the New Sounds Live concert series since 1986.
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