I’m almost completely uninterested in video games, but enjoyed this nonetheless: Slate asked an actual rock musician, Carrie Brownstein of the late, great Sleater-Kinney, to review the game Rock Band.
I had some friends over to play Rock Band a few nights later. [...] When I looked carefully, I realized I was having a party where people were sitting around playing video games. And, really, if you are going to play the game with a group of friends for more than a night, shouldn’t you just form a real band? There is something sad about the thought of four teenagers getting Rock Band for Christmas and spending all of their after-school time pretending to know how to play.
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I quickly discovered, as other real guitarists have, that knowing how to play guitar in no way qualifies you to play Rock Band (or Guitar Hero). It’s the same way that being a doctor doesn’t make you good at the game Operation.
Brownstein writes a humorous series of comparisons between playing Rock Band and playing in a real rock band, and concludes:
I suppose it’s pointless to try to break it down in this way, into a dualistic Rock Band vs. real band. Not even the creators of Rock Band could possibly believe that playing the game is tantamount to making your own music. There is, however, a sad similarity between Rock Band and some actual bands, and that is the attempt at realness. With so much of music blurring the lines between ersatz and authenticity, at least the Rock Band game is a tribute to rock, rather than an affront. In the realm of fakery, I would choose Rock Band over American Idol or over any of the other flimsy truths masquerading as music. With Rock Band, you can play along to Black Sabbath or Nirvana and possibly find new ways of appreciating their artistry by being allowed to perform parallel to it. Rock Band puts you inside the guts of a song.
A few years ago, I decided that it was sort of sad that I had never learned to play an instrument, given how much I enjoy music. On the other hand, I could manage to find the time to "practice" typing and driving, two activities I don’t particularly like, frequently enough to be able to perform both of these activities, which are relatively complicated and require a good deal of coordination, while having an unrelated conversation with another person. This seemed very wrong to me. So I picked the simplest instrument I could think of, and started practicing it every day, for the most part.
It changed my life. I discovered a lot of great music which had never heard before. I met new people, and I play live music with random strangers every couple of weeks.
So if you enjoy video games, and want to pick up a copy of Rock Band, I hope you’ll enjoy it. But even more, I’d suggest picking up a real instrument. No matter how frustrating and slow it may seem at first, I can promise you that with nothing more than consistent practice and inspiration, your playing will quickly improve.
Save the video game four when you’re finished playing the real instrument, I think.
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