Real Guitar Lessons: Rock Band 3 Gives Players a Good Excuse to Play Video Games

The Rock Band franchise must have tired of rock stars continually slamming the game for killing kids' interest in musical instruments and exchanging real guitars for slightly miniaturized versions. Rock Band 3 is now introducing the a new segment of the game, which teaches kids how to play real chords on real instruments. So will this bring back teen interest in making real music with real instruments? Perhaps, but it's not a guarantee.

Consider the music on the radio right now. There's not much in the line of real guitars anywhere. There's a lot of Autotune and even more dance-y-poppy-synth-y-sounding music thanks to the likes of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and others. In fact, you could even say the novelty of rock stardom is dying out in favor of pop stardom.

But for the kids who still dream of being a rock star, they're always going to be one vicariously through their Rock Band video games. So you might as well put a little faith in sparking interest through learning real instruments in a video game, for that's all some kids are ever going to get.

So what exactly do players learn to play in Rock Band 3 that makes it so much more educational than previous installments? Well, thanks to a little collaborating with Fender and Berklee College, kids are at least going to get sound teaching.

According to Reuters, Rock Band 3's Pro Mode will teach players how to play real chords (as opposed to fake chords, evidently). That goes for the guitar and keyboard end of things (oh yes, did I mention they introduced a keyboard in the new game?) The bass and drum players will also learn new skills they can apply to real instruments. Though you won't become Laurence Juber overnight, you'll at least have a good excuse to tell your parents (or your wife) when you're playing in Pro mode instead of taking out the trash.

According to Rock Band's site, Fender created a Squier Stratocaster specifically for the game. The coolest part about using the guitar with Rock Band 3 is that you can play Pro mode with it. The spiffy new Fender Squier Stratocaster is not only a real electric guitar, it can also be your game controller, which in my opinion is huge step up from the earlier chintzy-looking guitars I despised so much.

When you're finished playing it in Pro mode, you can go plug it into your own amplifier and rock out by yourself, either creating your own tunes or plucking out someone else's.

However, if you don't want to invest in the new Squier version, you can get the regular wireless Fender Stratocaster guitar on Amazon for as much as you purchased the game itself (around $60). This guitar comes in several colors and is available for PS3, Nintendo Wii and XBOX 360.

Sources:

http://www.canada.com/music+video+games+really+teach+wannabe+rockers/3574679/story.html
http://www.rockband.com/zine/fender-squier-pictures