So You Want to be a Real Guitar Hero?

We’ve all heard the argument that Guitar Hero is causing thousands of young gamers with musical potential to waste their talents on a video game, but what about the counter argument? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of gamers who have never touched a real six-string, who find themselves honestly wondering if they could be a rock star because they can five-star “Freebird” on expert. If you fit this demographic, you and I have something in common, and I’d like to share a few things I discovered while trying to learn the guitar.

I was fortunate enough to have access to a guitar and some free time over the past couple of months. I also had a couple guitar-playing roommates who were willing to show me a few things. If you don’t have tutors on hand, a number of free guitar lessons are available online, and while one-on-one attention is best, it’s hard to beat free lessons. As I looked into the actual guitar, I found a number of similarities between it and Guitar Hero/Rock Band. I also found that certain, seemingly easy tasks were more difficult because of the preconceived notions and faulty form I had developed on my X-Plorer.

When comparing a real guitar and a guitar controller, you’ll notice a couple of things: the most obvious being the size and weight. A real guitar’s neck is notably longer, and even light guitars, like the Gibson SG (pictured), have considerable heft when compared to their hollow plastic counterparts.

The next obvious difference is in the way each hand works in relation to the guitar. On a real guitar, the left hand has to manipulate six strings along the entire neck, while on a game controller, there are only five buttons in a row. Since players only have four fingers, they do have to change hand positions on higher difficulties, but only horizontally.

The right hand on a guitar can both pluck and/or strum any combination of strings at once while the game controller only has a single bar which can be strummed either up or down, or just haphazardly slapped—all of which produce the same result. The right hand technique proved to be the most difficult facet of the instrument for me, personally, as strumming up and down produce different tones and picking wasn’t present in Guitar Hero at all.

Guitar Hero does give the player a few keys to musical success that often go unrecognized. Through regular play they become comfortable selecting notes with their left hand while keeping time with their right, a notion that is foreign to anyone who’s never played a string instrument. Also, stretching and contorting your left hand does cause cramps and could even ruin your career as a major league pitcher, but it also works out certain hand muscles that are usually undeveloped—that’s not to say you won’t cramp the first time you stretch to a C chord, but you’re less likely to be crippled by cramps so easily.

It is worth noting that, of the officially licensed guitar controllers, the Fender Stratocaster that comes packaged with Rock Band has the most realistic feel. The body is a good weight, the buttons require a realistic amount of pressure and the strum bar is designed with a range of motion similar to one used by guitarists while strumming with a pick. I initially hated this controller, but after playing the real deal for a few weeks, I found it felt pretty close to the real thing.

Ultimately, like any musical instrument, the bottom line is practice and dedication. No matter how easily you can beat “Through the Fire and Flames,” it will still take you quite a few hours of practice before you could hope to melt faces or instantly woo freshman girls at your local state university. If all you’re looking for is a quick rock fix in the midst of your daily life, Rock Band or Guitar Hero are meant for you. But if you’ve got some spare time, the urge and dedication, you probably already have what it takes to be a serviceable guitar player. Who knows? You might be the next big thing and not even know it yet.