Trading in Music Notes For Plastic Guitars

By: Jessica Cole

ATHENS, Ga. – Music videogames are on the rise, but music stars disagree with the many people who think the games promote learning an instrument, but are they correct?

On September 9, 2009, the video game world introduced a brand new version of Rock Band featuring the music of The Beatles. In its first week, Beatles Rock Band sold over 700,000 units, according to Rockband.com, and the numbers are on the rise

Gamespot.com reported Guitar Hero World Tour sold $3.4 million worth of games in 2008 alone. There’s no denying that the rhythm gaming hype has only begun, with the growing business of artist inspired video games it seems that kids have found their substitute for learning an actual instrument.

But, is this a real problem?

According to some seasoned rock stars, the problem is very real. Take former Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman for example. He told reporters, “It encourages kids not to learn [an instrument].”

“It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument. I think it is a pity so I’m not really keen on that kind of stuff,” Wyman said.

Wyman says no, but Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason showed a bit more optimism on the subject.

“It’s an interesting new development,” Mason said. But he went on to show his frustrations toward the music video game business.

“It irritates me having watched my kids do it - if they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they'd be damn good by now,” Mason said.

Certain musicians are against the Rock Band/Guitar Hero craze, but the sale of these video games are showing no sign of slowing down. Guitar Hero 5 was released a week before Beatles Rock Band and sold nearly 800,000 units by its second week.

With the music videogame having no end in sight, will we eventually see a world where no one plays music anymore and we just mimic it through a videogame?

Jeff Soileau, a guitar instructor who has been playing for 31 years, has not seen any drastic rise in the amount of people looking for guitar training, but then again, he hasn’t seen a drop either.

“I teach about 10 students a month, and about four of them are ages 10-12, and they all play Guitar Hero,” Soileau said. “I haven’t noticed any increase, but it’s obviously very popular.”

As for whether or not he thinks the games promote learning an instrument, Soileau is torn.

“The students that I have all own it [Guitar Hero/Rock Band] and play it, but there might be other kids out there that aren’t calling me up for lessons, it probably ends up about a 50/50 split,” he said.

“I could see how some kids may be lured into a false sense of accomplishment, thinking that they can pick up a real guitar and get proficient in a month. It takes years and years of playing to become advanced. I could see how kids could be disillusioned.”

Revon F. an employee of the video game chain EB Games said that in an average month about 10 to 15 Rock Band and Guitar Hero games are sold. F. couldn’t give me the maximum quantity of games that the store carries, but he did say the monthly sales seem high.

Tran Woods, an employee at Atlanta’s Guitar Center, has been working at the instrument retailer for four years and said about 40 to 50 guitars are sold a month.

“I’ve seen an increase in them [guitars] selling since music videogames have been released,” Woods explained.

“I think it inspires people to want to play the guitar. I would say that they motivate people to actually buy and learn an instrument.”

According to the numbers, both guitar sales and video game sales are up.

Danny Davis, a religion major at the University of Georgia and aspiring musician with his band Dope John Paul disagrees with Wyman and Mason, explaining that he thinks the games teach players important aspects of playing an instrument.

“It won’t teach you the specific technique of a specific instrument but it teaches you rhythm and tempo,” he said. “I think it makes them want to learn more.”