This great question inspired me to go more in depth with the topic. I wanted to get views, and opinions from people with various roles in the music industry: The casual guitarist, the band member, and from myself: The music consumer, and Guitar Hero!
It was interesting to hear all the negative comments towards these two games in question on the radio. The majority of callers to X92.9 were saying "Once people play Guitar Hero/Rock Band, they're never going to want to touch a real guitar or a set of drums." I can see that in some cases, but definitely not all. These kinds of games - I've seen for myself - have inspired people to start playing an actual instrument. My friend, Trevor, bought a guitar shortly after buying Guitar Hero... He would have never thought to buy a real one otherwise. A huge problem in this case that was being overlooked, was that a lot of kids and adults just can't afford to buy a real instrument, and especially can't afford all the baggage that goes along with owning such an item (Amp, lessons, etc...).
I also think that these games are great promotional material for the bands that make the GH/RB playlists, and whose songs are available for downloading on XBL. Dragonforce wasn'tas well known as they are now, being the toughest song to play on GH and all. I never thought too much of the band Weezer. I only heard the 'mainstream' stuff they put out over the years on that made it to onto the radio. But after hearing My Name Is Jonas, and Say It Ain't So for the first time, I fell in love with Weezer! I even went out and bought a few albums. Would I have done that if I didn't play GH or Rock Band? Probably not. So in a sense, GH/RB helps out the music industry as well.
Steven MacDougall:(above, far right) Guitarist, and vocals for a really awesome East Coast Canadian band that Im quite fond of called Slowcoaster, took the time to answer this pressing question.
Steven: "It's funny because I often think about this topic. In one way, it kinda does make people lazy toward learning a 'real' guitar, 'real drums', etc... But I think the long term influence will be much the same as the effects the Tony Hawk series of games had, which re-introduced an entire generation of kids to get into REAL skateboarding.
Once the novelty wears off of the game experience, a certain percentage of kids/teens will take up the real thing. All ready, in my own hood, I'm noticing more and more young people with guitars slung across their backs, and the songs I'm hearing blaring from the amp room at the local music store, are, guess what? Songs from Guitar Hero, and Rock Band!"
I also got the chance to ask these questions to my good friend Dave Ladner (above), who casually plays the guitar.
Q: Do you think it [Guitar Hero] inspires more people to pick up a real guitar?
A: I think the addition of Guitar Hero to the gaming world has had a great influence on the music industry. However, not one that I feel to be necessarily positive. I do think that perhaps GH could help create some wonderful musicians, but in the majority of cases it will create people who waste their money on a guitar starter kit, learn a song or two that they liked playing on Guitar Hero, and then suck royally at playing the normal guitar. While the two have a lot of similarities, (GH and real guitar), they have some pretty vast differences as well.
I myself, having played guitar for nearly eight years now, did sometimes feel the urge to learn that crazy solo, or song from GH. Since the songs are rather common, I knew how to play them already (even Through the Fire and Flames. Yes.) anyways. However, in the majority of cases, being the unique snowflake that I am, I decided not to learn popular Guitar Hero songs on the real guitar, simply because I get sick enough of playing them over and over on GH, and secondly because everybody and their grandma is going to try and learn them since they can five star it on expert.
Q: Did you play less 'real' guitar when you were at the peak of your Guitar Hero'ing?
A: That's a tough one. I don't think GH had a significant influence on me reducing my guitar playing schedule. However, it has reduced since going to University, which is when guitar hero came out. So with some far stretched variables, yes, it has caused me to play less real guitar.
So I guess it's all in who you pose the question to... Personally, I just think that compassion for music, and the thought of becoming a real musician should come naturally, and that no game would get in the way of that idea. If there's a true musician out there playing Guitar Hero, he/she would probably think "You know! I'm pretty good at this game. I think I want to try a real instrument out." If they thoroughly enjoy playing, then they will have enough determination to master the craft, and will try to pursue a career in the music industry. So, in my opinion, people shouldn't really be worrying that these types of games will put an end to future musicians...
-A HUGE thanks to Steven and Dave for putting time aside to contribute to this article! I'm thankful to have such a great friend like you Dave. Greg Beharrell: Thanks for thinking up such a great topic of discussion, and being the influence behind this article.
Please be sure to check out Steven, and the rest of the band at: Slowcoaster's Myspace, or Slowcoaster's Official Band Website
