Friday, January 02, 2009
The De-Evolution of the Guitar
I started playing the guitar when I was twelve years old and took lessons until I was 18. Despite this six years of education, I never learned how to read sheet music. Instead, I learned how to read tablature which is the lazy man's version of notation. Each week I would meet with my teacher Steve and he would write out a new Zeppelin song for me to practice (some weeks it was ACDC, some weeks it was YES). Steve wanted me to learn how to read but I was lazy and stubborn and he eventually gave up (after all, Hendrix didn't know how to read music, right?)
On New Year's Eve, Robin and Archie and I headed out to our friends Mike and Lindsey's apartment for a Guitar Hero party. On the drive over, I got to thinking about the realationship between sheet music, tab and guitar hero dots. There has to be a graduate thesis in there somewhere, don't you think?
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4 comments:
I love it!
Jon,
Peter MacColeman here. I actually have been talking to several friends about how Guitar Hero could increase the music literacy of america by using actual notation so people could learn music while playing.
1) Powers has some great Guitar face
2) I find Guitar Hero totally annoying because it is NOT LIKE PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT. You only hear a generic mistake sound and you're not actually playing a baseline or a specific part.
OK. I'm done.
I love the video.
This just made me laugh again, months later. The editing is crazy good, especially Powers' head bob to the left and his last riff ending.
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