As I’ve mentioned on this blog, I’m loving Guitar Hero 2 – it’s easily my most-played game at the moment, almost to the exclusion of all others (barring the occasional bout of Puzzle Quest and Trackmania). My favourite track at the moment is Monkey Wrench by the Foo Fighters – a great song anyway but really fun to play. I’ve been trying to get five gold stars (no mistakes) on it in Medium but haven’t quite managed it yet, I always seem to screw up one note or other. However, check this out:
8-year old kid playing Monkey Wrench on Expert
Holy crap. I’ve dipped my toe into Hard mode a little and am starting to get somewhere, but this kid has 5 stars on everything in Expert mode, and quite a few golds. And he’s playing in ‘Performance Mode’ which means you have to memorise the whole thing. I’m not worthy!
May 29th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I haven’t tried performance mode yet.
My favorite at the moment is Them Bones by Alice in Chains on Hard.
May 29th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Heh, you’re a little further than me then.
I’m finding Hard, well, hard at the moment 
May 30th, 2007 at 3:32 am
I might have a leg up on you considering I’ve been playing a real guitar for several years. 15 years in fact…. wow. In fact, War Pigs was one of the first heavy songs I learned.
Playing Guitar Hero makes me want to pick up my guitar again… too bad I don’t sound as good in real life.
May 30th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
I don’t think it is that impressive to be able to play without seeing the notes. A real musician also has to memorize the whole song without having notes in front of him. Playing real guitar is also alot harder than playing that fake one… I feel sorry for the kid because he probably thinks he is a real guitar hero and if he ever picks up a real guitar he will be so disapointed when all his skills is worth nothing…
Anyway – good luck Steve! I really enjoy reading your blog btw!
May 30th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
“I don’t think it is that impressive to be able to play without seeing the notes. A real musician also has to memorize the whole song without having notes in front of him. Playing real guitar is also alot harder than playing that fake one… I feel sorry for the kid because he probably thinks he is a real guitar hero and if he ever picks up a real guitar he will be so disapointed when all his skills is worth nothing…
Anyway – good luck Steve! I really enjoy reading your blog btw! ”
Actually it is impressive. Playing Guitar Hero isn’t as hard as playing a real guitar, but it does have its challenges. For one thing, when you’re playing a real guitar you always know that a certain note is at a certain place. Actually, that same note is at several different places on different strings and you decide where you want to hit it based on your current finger positions. Guitar players certainly memorize a whole song without having notes in front of them, but it’s a different type of memorization that is actually easier to memorize because you can associate a sound with a place on the guitar. With Guitar Hero the same five buttons play every note imaginable.
Also regarding picking up a real guitar – I’m sure the kid won’t be able to rock out immediately, but the same general principles do apply. Dexterity in the left hand can be increased playing the game, and ability to shift up and down the fretboard and play relative to the new position. So his skills aren’t worth nothing.