We’ve had Guitar Hero in our house for some time now and just got Rock Band. With the addition of the drums and the vocals as well as the Beatles software I am tempted to use the game as another training device in my musical educational arsenal, however I fear that it doesn’t really teach music but rather how to play video games to music.

Beats and notes don’t seem to add up or parts are fractured so lines of music are not really played in their proper rhythm. Particularly with the Beatles stuff which I know inside out and backwards playing 1/4 of the bass line is annoying and counter-intuitive. I am, however, very intrigued by the drum trainer.

So people, what do you think? Does using these games improve or inhibit true musicianship and what is your reasoning? Let’s take it as a given that anything which immerses one in music is beneficial at the outset.

I think it helps develop a better sense of time… sort of like metronome practice without an instrument. :)

My daughter picked up the guitar after playing Guitar Hero for years, and she’s quite good after only a year.

i have mixed feelings here, for whatever it is worth. i think rock band is a blast. and it exposes kids to music they may have missed if they just listen to pop radio. however, the musician-purist part of me despises it! i feel it is more of an exposure tool for fun, but it is not a serious experience with music. i’ve played it with a combination of serious musicians and just rock-banders - and the rock-banders are definitely better in that arena. there is a specificity to the game that just doesn’t apply in the real world.

have fun with it! but i wouldn’t use it as a teaching tool….

just my .02 :)

and then again you can just use the “guitar” controller as a midi instrument/controller

me, i’m holding out for “Ambient Artist”, in which you click the mouse aimlessly to accompany beatless drones, and the key challenge is keeping your EQ from turning into a huge popsicle cloud.