Honestly, and since I saw that South Park episode (Guitar Queer) where the kids basically choose the little plastic over playing the "real guitar", I felt a bit...disappointed. I 'bonded' with Stan's dad (what's his name again?) over his frustration that the kids wouldn't want to pick up the real thing, and definitely felt insecure for the kids kinda point to the fact that guitar playing (as in guitar with actual strings that actually make noise) is for old people. I play guitar AND that was a source for me continuing to feel young! Hello?
Then I read an article on the Broward-Palm Beach on the New Times, and had mixed feelings. Some, like the musicians quoted there, think that Guitar Hero (GH) is something to look down on, because many GH kids are already using the word "jam" to mean, play the plastic. I can also say that I'd be pretty annoyed if all kids wanted to know about me is whether or not I can play the damn plastic! Others, like the Village Voice writer Chirs Ward wished a similar phenomenon would have happened when he was a teen, so he too, could get a date for his Super Mario expertise :-P Can't deny that I felt he had a good point. Also, kids get so into it and obviously have such a good time doing it, and how harmful is it really? I mean, is not like they're shooting up or drive-by shooting. Hence my mixed feelings.
I decided to put the paper down and sort out my feelings on this oh-so-popular game, as well as form my own opinion. And here it is...drum roll please!
GH can never replace playing a real guitar, so musicians out there that feel somehow 'outdone' by the GH stars, or insecure because of it, consider that one day, some of those kids could be obsessively listening to your song while they try to emulate it on their plastic guitar. If this sounds too much like a sell-out to you, still consider that no matter how many contests they wind, and attention they get, they can't make music with the little plastic...at least not their own. So rest assured there will always be a place for you to create and succeed in the music world. Additionally, if you are already a master at guitar player, you probably can more than dominate and outdo and set the new standards on the game because you have already developed a more difficult skill set for "the real thing". Who knows...maybe your GH "fame" can sustain your up-and-coming rock and roll career.
Consider that before electric guitars became popular, many classical players looked down on electric guitars and rock and roll. They also did not appreciate the fact that their electric guitar counterparts were becoming the rock stars and getting all the attention, when most these rockers did was play 3 chords, bend strings, wear cock rock pants, and dump a lot of attitude on whatever crossed their path. Not exactly the most respected bunch amongst musicians of the time. But all this "looking down on" and criticism from the schooled musicians did not change the fact that rock and roll was becoming popular and so where the players that offered it. So, there's probably nothing you can do to stop kids from liking what they like. Perhaps you'd be better off embracing it.
Also notice how all the other similar games like the dancing one, and the karaoke one did not become such a phenomenon. Any idea why? I'll tell you why! Because those games do not rock! They have all these cheesy ass songs that just won't engage kids the way GH can. So, in a way, this game is promoting rock and roll, and I can't be against anything the promotes rock and roll to kids.
Last but not least, kids will always need music! They need it to identify their generation, whether they play with plastic toys that emulate real rock and roll playing, or play Jenga with Qtips. There will always be a place for rock and roll as far as I'm concerned. The fact that this rock and rolled fueled game has created such a phenomenon, is proof enough for me.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Friday, December 31, 2004
To Rock or not to Rock?
This is a question that I often ask myslef, being that I am a rock star wannabe, and frustrated artist who dreams of a life where creativity is the job and partying is also the job.
BTW: Have a Happy 2005!
I notice, through reading and talking and simply being somewhat aware of contemporary culture, that we use the word rock in many ways. Not only does it literally mean that dense mass of minerals that lives within or on top of dirt, but it also refers to rock music. Nowadays, media and the rest of us consumers use the word rock to mean more than those 2 things mentioned above.
For instance, I have a friend who is really into folk music and is always telling me (in an attempt to convince me to listen to her CDs...and like them!) that this or that folkie artist "rocks". And how many times have you seen a TV show where they announce that this or that hip hop artist is a rock star? Shouldn't they be a hip hop star? So obviously, the word rock became a verb that can be conjugated as follows:
I rock
You rock
He/she rocks
We rock
You rock
They rock
And this verb describes the action of...um...Well. I just don't really know. However, I do try to think about what this action of rocking means to me. I go back and forward in my main musical taste, oscillating between really heavy and not so heavy rock. In this continuum, I discover that to me certain heavy rock bands don't actually rock, while certain more melow/mellodic ones do, and vice versa.
To me the action of rocking boils down to doing something with passion that doesn't become cheesy in the process...and yes! having lots of attitude! But then, who defines "cheesyness"? Like determining what rocks and what doesn't, this is also a question of personal taste. And what about attitude? Personally, I prefer the type of attitude that makes you come back with some witty remark that leaves the recipient with a big question mark on their face, wondering why the heck they picked on you in the first place. I also refer to rock attitude as that which makes you have no fear of what people may think of your ridiculous, shameless, sick, and goofy ass when performing on stage and doing ridiculous, shameless, sick and goofy things for the sake of shocking or simply entertaining. Oppositly, the attitude one can give a store clerk out of being cranky or whatever, because your credit card won't work (not really the clerk's fault), is not an example of bad ass rock n roll attitude. This type of attitude is simply stupid and rude.
In concluding my first blog, rock n' roll music has shaped, and continues to shape our culture in such a degree that to say something rocks is a good and desirable thing. I am very proud therefore of being an obsessive rock n' roll listener who often wonders whether or not she's rocking hard enough in her lifetime, and what she could do to rock even harder.
May 2005 ROCK all our little arses off!!!
BTW: Have a Happy 2005!
I notice, through reading and talking and simply being somewhat aware of contemporary culture, that we use the word rock in many ways. Not only does it literally mean that dense mass of minerals that lives within or on top of dirt, but it also refers to rock music. Nowadays, media and the rest of us consumers use the word rock to mean more than those 2 things mentioned above.
For instance, I have a friend who is really into folk music and is always telling me (in an attempt to convince me to listen to her CDs...and like them!) that this or that folkie artist "rocks". And how many times have you seen a TV show where they announce that this or that hip hop artist is a rock star? Shouldn't they be a hip hop star? So obviously, the word rock became a verb that can be conjugated as follows:
I rock
You rock
He/she rocks
We rock
You rock
They rock
And this verb describes the action of...um...Well. I just don't really know. However, I do try to think about what this action of rocking means to me. I go back and forward in my main musical taste, oscillating between really heavy and not so heavy rock. In this continuum, I discover that to me certain heavy rock bands don't actually rock, while certain more melow/mellodic ones do, and vice versa.
To me the action of rocking boils down to doing something with passion that doesn't become cheesy in the process...and yes! having lots of attitude! But then, who defines "cheesyness"? Like determining what rocks and what doesn't, this is also a question of personal taste. And what about attitude? Personally, I prefer the type of attitude that makes you come back with some witty remark that leaves the recipient with a big question mark on their face, wondering why the heck they picked on you in the first place. I also refer to rock attitude as that which makes you have no fear of what people may think of your ridiculous, shameless, sick, and goofy ass when performing on stage and doing ridiculous, shameless, sick and goofy things for the sake of shocking or simply entertaining. Oppositly, the attitude one can give a store clerk out of being cranky or whatever, because your credit card won't work (not really the clerk's fault), is not an example of bad ass rock n roll attitude. This type of attitude is simply stupid and rude.
In concluding my first blog, rock n' roll music has shaped, and continues to shape our culture in such a degree that to say something rocks is a good and desirable thing. I am very proud therefore of being an obsessive rock n' roll listener who often wonders whether or not she's rocking hard enough in her lifetime, and what she could do to rock even harder.
May 2005 ROCK all our little arses off!!!
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