Rock Band 3 and Real Instruments
Just wanted to pass this along in case anyone missed the news from E3.
Rock Band has been an entertaining way to introduce my kids to playing music. Cue my daughters singing Eye of the Tiger!! But it’s a bit frustrating for me that the guitar controllers really don’t introduce the gamer to the skills needed to play real guitar.
That’s about to change in Rock Band 3 with a new Fender Squier “hybrid” guitar which can be used as a controller for the game. It looks like a real guitar, plays like a real guitar and possibly actually is a real guitar- tuned strings, fretboard, pickup(s) and all. There are corresponding new “Pro Guitar” tracks in the game which feature a sliding fretboard and all 6 strings. There will also be a more toy-like Fender Mustang Pro guitar controller (pictured at right) which has 17 frets with 6 buttons each, and six little strings (presumably unpitched) to strum – it’s still a toy, but a big step up from the current guitar controllers which have 5 fret buttons and one strum switch.
Engadget has some great photos of both new Fender guitar controllers in action.
The new Rock Band will also feature a two-octave keyboard, and more realistic drums with cymbals.
I’ll be curious to see how this turns out as an actual tool for learning. I love the idea that Harmonix is tricking gamers into learning to play actual instruments.
Meanwhile, I’m giving my kids piano lessons the old-school way – with a book and a piano! 🙂
June 23, 2010 @ 8:48 am
Related: also came across this today, which looks like it could be entertaining in a really geeky way 🙂
http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/musical-instruments/d37d/?pfm=Carousel_YouRock_1
September 6, 2010 @ 9:58 pm
is it out yet? I too wondered about the learning/teaching possibilities of these more realistic guitars. Looking forward to trying one out. Do review it if you get one!
September 6, 2010 @ 10:03 pm
Release date is end of October. Gonna be a fun holiday season this year with RB3 and the new Kinect too 🙂
I will definitely review if/when I get this stuff…
-John
February 12, 2013 @ 1:59 pm
I’m impressed. Harmonics has spent a lot of time working out the actual notes of the songs, and it shows. I was more than impressed with the result. All the notes are legit, or rather as legit as a double-octave keyboard can be.
I don’t think such a system would ever replace piano teachers though. Teachers will always have one thing these gaming systems lack. Tutorials can only take you so far before you get stumped. The ability for a teacher to answer questions is a paramount part of the student’s learning process. Likewise, many teachers ask their students questions that lead them towards the right way to play a note. This is one of the best ways for students to learn the hows and the whys of music theory and performance.
February 12, 2013 @ 2:17 pm
I never did buy Rock Band 3. I did play a bit with Rocksmith (a guitar training game which allows you to use your own guitar). It was quite impressive and fun, but some of the mechanics of their part-training were ultimately so frustrating that I gave up on it. I haven’t looked at it in awhile, so I should check in and see if they’ve updated the game to fix some of the issues…
-John