Thanks for the music?

Are the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band creating new musicians or killing music?

Words: NGamer UK

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40 Comments

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fionnoh - 4 months 7 days ago

ngamer got it's own feature? all right!!

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TheCrimsonChin - 4 months 7 days ago

rock band was the only the reason i bought a guitar, and i find that im hearing a lot of diferent sounds in songs now. it also really helps when u want to learn the words to song.

i do think though that half the kids that buy drums or guitars after they play guitar hero r just gonna realize it takes a lot of work to get decent and say "shit this is a waste of all the money i earned this summer." i also thought it be worth it to impress chicks but the girl im seein can kick my ass with guitar so im not so lucky

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Harmon20 - 4 months 7 days ago

yeah, I can admit that a section of my library comes from music games. I just wish that Activision would stop butchering the Guitar Hero franchise already!

and also, I wish that my brother's band had one of their songs on a RB/GH game... (they're Green Line Inbound.)
www.myspace.com/greenlineinbound

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phoenix_wings - 4 months 7 days ago

I have used to have a nice little playlist going on my computer that's called "Songs I First Heard in Video Games." There's a lot of them--some of them from GTA and Saints Row, others from GH (never played RB). If there's a medium that gets people to listen and open their ears to something they've never heard before, then all power to it...However....

Most people like it now because it's easy, you pick it up and play it, it doesn't require a buttload of previous practice or hundreds of dollars to be on the same level as the rest of your 'band mates.'

When there comes a day where we have less 'real guitar heroes and less 'real' rock bands, then I'll see cause for concern. If there comes a day that we're limited to what we can do on the guitar by the pressing of little plastic buttons and retarded whammy bars, then I'll see cause for concern. Otherwise, I see it as a re-imagined Zapper, or Superscope. Fun to play, but they never hurt anybody.

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Doctalen - 4 months 7 days ago

Guitar Hero and Rockband are really fun. Hell because of that I ak thinking og taking either drums or maybe guitar lessons. They also have introuduced me to a bunch of good bands. But I can see why Led Zepplin doesn't want their songs on them. There is no substitue for hours if not weeks of practice to know a song by heart. Like my english teacher said " I can see why its fun, for drums and singing you may actually get better at that but playing a real guitar is nothing like playing guitar hero. If you want to play music just pick up an intrument and learn to play it without any other urge to play it other then your desire."

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jackrabbitslims - 4 months 7 days ago

Hmmm..."musicians" criticize people that play RB and GH for not picking up a real instrument. But does anyone find it odd that most of these people just learn other bands songs? You know the guy at the party that always has to have his guitar and play along to whatever song is playing? If you want to learn how to play an instrument then awesome, but if you're gonna be the campus douchebag that sits around all day playing other peoples song and think you have talent then you might as well not even bother. It takes real talent to play original stuff, but not so much when the stuff your playing has already been done. Btw, The White Stripes are awesome, but I think Jack should reconsider. After all, they've been on the radio...

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bsoxfan554 - 4 months 7 days ago

As always guys great article. Keep 'em coming!!

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mertor3190 - 4 months 7 days ago

In my opinion, Guitar Hero did a lot for music. I started listening to new music thanks to them. Music that has been existing for years and I never knew about. Sure now they're going a bit too far, but the fact remains that it helped people find out what real music is. I mean do we really want kids to listen to this new rap crap.

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The_Lurcher - 4 months 7 days ago

@foodlist97 & Kubes. If rockband taught you how to play drums then please explain the term paradiddle then flam the four stroke ruff, then tell me the time signature for any song on Rockband and Guitar Hero then write out that piece of music on a piece of manuscript then convert that into a tableture piece.

Theres alot more to drums than hitting shit harder than everyone else.

It's the same with all instruments you maybe good at rockband but that doesn't mean your good at drums and vice versa. I cannot play Rockband or Guitar Hero drums for my life I Just can't get my head around only five drums and no High Hat peddle

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Miresnare - 4 months 7 days ago

Guitar Hero made mt pick up the real thing at age 32 (I'm now 35) as it was something I regretted not doing when I was younger.

I sill enjoy the game. It's a game. Plain and simple. I'm not going to sneer at someone having fun with it. I do however, love playing the real thing and find it incredibly satisfying.

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Squidtech - 4 months 7 days ago

"Try nailing Through the Fire and Flames on Expert and try saying that’s not hard work…"

That's really ridiculous statement. How long does it really take to get good at Guitar Hero? Really? After owning the game for a year, just about anyone will be pretty damn good at the game.

Sure, that's REALLY hard work by any sort of video game standards, but it's nothing compared to 10 years of practice it would take to even play close to that level on a real instrument.

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alfonso.hdez - 4 months 6 days ago

I think that saying that music games either create new musicians/kill music is like the argument saying shooters create violent people. If you really like music, you won't stop at playing a plastic controller w/paddles, and if you really enjoy the game, it won't stop you from learning the real thing. If you just find the game as a passtime and you don't feel like taking a real instrument, well, I guess you weren't going to in the first place! Sorry for the long comment btw.

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Marvelfan13 - 4 months 6 days ago

I would have to agree that these games do introduce new (and old) bands to a new audience. When I played, "So Whatcha Want" by the Beastie Boys on Rock Band 2, I fell in love with the band and now have all their albums on my iPod. I probably would have never have heard of them because I don't listen to the radio that much.

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oryandymackie - 4 months 6 days ago

So it's acceptable for the developers to say that Guitar Hero and Rock Band are teaching kids about music, then close the curtains, ignore the fact that kids aren't learning about music, they're just growing fatter and fatter, and cover their ears and shout "lalalalalalalala" at the top of their voices to drown it out? The effect is similar to a three year old's tactics.

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oryandymackie - 4 months 6 days ago

Eh, yeah. Rock Band taught me how to play the drums. Let me show you some skills...

I'm amazing.

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hetfieldhammet51 - 4 months 6 days ago

how does Jack White have the right to say that being exposed to new music through music games is sad. The WHite stipes suck and Music games our this age's tape trading

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disturbedanomaly36 - 4 months 5 days ago

Rock Band 2 introduced me to Abnormality, which there song did contribute to a large majority of my deaths, Visions was a pretty cool song, and i just now beat it on hard with 72%, i know, i suck at it

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yoshi639 - 4 months 5 days ago

well i say that most of the songs on guitar hero and rockband ive heard before the games came out and im only 14 im a nerd who plays guitar and a great gamer and still nt affected by both games srry off topic ;)

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CreeplyTuna - 4 months 4 days ago

sure these games can be a bit of fun as a party game, but if you go around bragging at how good you are and can't even play a real instrument, SHAME ON YOU! I've been a drummer since before guitar hero 1, and i'm in a real rockin band, Downtown Sasquatch. i ended middle school this year, and from my school mates opinions, im the best rock drummer at my school. but there are three or four people i can name who JUST started drumming and talk as though they're the real deal, and i know for sure one of them hasn't even gotten a drum set yet. TO ALL THE POSER'S OUT THERE: F*** YOU!!!games don't make you musicians, the heart and soul of rock and roll does! did Kurt Cobain, or jimi hendrix or Dave Grohl become masters of rock from, games? NO, now shut up and leave the world alone. thank you

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Kaz993 - 4 months 20 hours ago

there were quite a lot of songs I liked before GH or RB ruined them. Best example : Fire and the Flames, and by extension, the whole band Dragonforce. No one knew who they were in my school beforehand, maybe a few, I used to enjoy their music. Then strolls along GH3 and suddenly EVERYONE is listening to it, talking about it "oh man that song is fucking epic" and singing it. This is still happening. I cannot stand them anymore, everyone listens to it and it's constantly everywhere.

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