Garrett Ellwood/MLS via Getty Images Kid rock: Will this tiny rocker's Guitar Hero skills translate to the real instrument? See more guitar pictures.
Guitar Hero is like a strong cologne or perfume: You either love it and want to meet the person wearing it, or you gag and run for the nearest exit. When it comes to the world's hottest video game, which has taken over living rooms, bedrooms, bars and every nook and cranny of popular culture, there's no playing Switzerland. You're either a Guitar Hero lover or hater. (Read How Guitar Hero Works to learn more about the game.)
Although the arguments for and against the rhythm action game will vary from person to person, there's one resounding question: How much does Guitar Hero translate to real guitar playing? If you think about it, a definitive answer to that singular conundrum could put an end to all the quarreling. If the game doesn't translate, then Hero players should keep their gaming to themselves. And if it does, maybe the haters should give the game a try.
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First, let it be said that not everyone is cut out for guitar playing. It requires manual dexterity, coordination, a good sense of rhythm and a mess of patience to become rock worthy. Guitar Hero requires a similar set of capabilities to conquer the game.
Obviously, mastering a Guitar Hero controller is not the same as mastering the real instrument. Hero kings who have never played the guitar won't be able to pick one up and pound out a riff that would make Slash hang his head in shame. Transferring your video game supremacy to the six-string will require time and practice.
But here comes the good news. According to various teachers and musicians, certain aspects of Guitar Hero and its rival video game Rock Band can improve your skills, particularly for the novices [source: Clayton]. What, pray tell, are they? Find out on the next page.
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Once you get the finger movements along the fret buttons (the guitar buttons you push to strum out tunes), one of the hardest parts of playing Guitar Hero is catching the rhythm. The tunes you play don't necessarily match up to the familiar melody you sing because the game alternates between the lead and rhythm guitar sections, depending on the song.
Knowing how to listen for the rhythm is one skill that links the video game with real guitar playing. Anecdotal evidence shows that younger Guitar Hero players who can blaze through songs on expert difficulty have picked up real guitar songs much faster than expected [source: Manjoo]. Along with that, it can expose you to the different types of notes involved in guitar playing.
While you won't learn chords or tablature (musical notation that tells players where to place fingers), the scrolling fret bar in both Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which guide you through the songs, can prep you for it [source: Musgrove]. Moving your fingers rapidly along the buttons may also get you used to stretching those fingers for playing chords.
Is Real Guitar Harder Than Playing Guitar On Guitar Hero?
Because of Guitar Hero's and Rock Band's popularity, particularly with the younger set, music stores, teachers and even industry associations have jumped on the bandwagon, touting the video games' potential as electronic tutors. In early 2007, the International Music Products Association partnered with RedOctane, the Guitar Hero publisher, to encourage players to take music lessons [source: Musgrove]. There's even an official Guitar Hero book of tablature.
If you really want to put your Rock Band time to good use, however, put down the guitar or bass and pick up the sticks. Although real drums dwarf the game's set, many agree that if you can pound with perfection in Rock Band or Guitar Hero World Tour (which also features drums), you can do it in any garage or practice space you wish. Since you use life-sized wooden sticks, the motions are identical to actual drumming. What's more, because you have to follow the same beats, it can make an effective learning tool.
But one thing is certain when it comes to playing instruments in the video games or reality: Your success will depend on what you put in. Now, go forth and rock!This instructable will show you how to build the OpenChord.org V1 external, a device that lets you use a real guitar to play Guitar Hero/Rock Band/Frets on Fire.
Guitar Hero Vs. Real Guitar
We love playing Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Frets on Fire. However, we also know that we'll never learn how to play guitar by pressing buttons on a plastic controller. That's why we've made the V1. Using the V1, you can practice real notes and chords with a real guitar, and the hardware translates those fingerings into button presses in the game. While you're still not going to become amazing at guitar, it can help you develop muscle memory and work on chord transitions while having a bunch of fun!
The OpenChord V1 works by sending a small electric charge through the strings and the frets. If a string is touching a fret, then a circuit is completed, and a microcontroller processes this information and outputs the appropriate controller signal. Therefore, in order to work properly, the strings must be electrically isolated from each other.
To start with, take off the plastic cover on the back of the guitar that hides where the strings come through. Then completely take off the strings on the guitar. On the back of the guitar, you'll see where the balls on the strings rest. We'll be putting the wide plastic inserts in those holes so they keep the little ball part of the string from touching the metal.
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Thread the string back through the guitar, but not through the little moveable metal part on the front of the guitar (the saddle). Make sure that the flange seats at the top of the hole properly.
Now it's time to insulate the place where the strings touch the bridge on the front of the guitar. If any of the strings got pushed through the saddle, take them out of the saddle.
With each string, thread one of the thin, long inserts down each string so that the flange part is further away from the guitar. This first set of inserts will go into the hole directly on the face of the guitar. It helps to rotate the saddles 90 degrees so you can access underneath them easier. It might take a bit of jiggling around, since the faceplate on the bridge might not be perfectly lined up with the holes the strings are coming through, but get the first set of the inserts flush with the faceplate of the bridge.
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Next, thread the strings through the saddles. Add another thin insert to each string; this insert will rest between the saddle and the string so that the string doesn't touch that part of the bridge.
Next, we need to add wires to the fretboard. For this, we'll actually be laying copper tape over each of the frets and running that up the neck, so that the actual circuitry can be clipped onto the head of the guitar somewhere.
First, measure and cut out 5 long L-shaped pieces of copper tape. They should ideally be just as thick as needed to completely cover each fret, and the other leg should be long enough to reach from the fret to the head of the guitar.
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Now take one of the 'L's and peel off the tape's backing and carefully apply it to the first fret, wrapping it around the guitar so the other end of the L runs along the neck of the guitar about 1 cm away from the fretboard. Make sure there is at least 0.5 cm of clearance between the track on the head and any hardware on the head so you'll have room to clip the other hardware there later.
Next, attach the other 4 'L's to the next 4 frets, being careful to leave an even amount of space between them. You'll want to put them fairly wide apart, since when you prepare the box to clip onto it, you'll want that extra room.
I've had success building the circuit board by applying copper tape to a blank breadboard and then cutting out traces, but if you've done anything with PCB etching, that's most likely the best way to go.
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Populate the board according to the schematic. All resistors are 10K ohm, except the 2 68 Ohm resistors that are marked on the silkscreen.
Where the image of the board says Connectors, you can either solder straight pins there, or just solder long pieces of wire. Where the board says 'Strings', solder 6 long wires in - these wires will go outside of the enclosure and attach to the strings at the tuning pegs, so make sure they're long enough. You'll attach the two buttons via small wires, since these buttons will be attached to the case. Finally, you'll need to attach one really long wire to the pick pin, that wire will go to the guitar pick, so it needs to be long enough to comfortably reach the bridge of the
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