1st of all, I'm having trouble getting a certain picture out of my mind (that would be...jj playing piano and guitar with his earlobes
)...but I'll be ok
Meanwhile, I have some comments @ Guitar Heroes and then capos
My cousins' children (then aged 10 & 12) showed me how to play and told me I was pretty good
the 10 year-old told me I picked it up a lot faster than any of her friends hehe.
But they didn't have real guitars..so we went out and bought some and both the kids were playing pretty good in no time! I was astonished at how quickly they learned to play. I would think that playing Guitar Heroes helped with that!
I bought all the kids 'online' lesson cards last XMass, but I don't know if they've ever used them. And last I spoke with my cousin to ask if the kids were playing the guitars -they had become bored and were no longer playing. I told my cousin that it was allright -that they'll probably pick it up again when they're teens.
In turn though...did the game (more fun/exciting and the thrill of 'winning') discourage them from playing their instruments?
It is good for hand/eye coordination, etc., and it does appear to have helped a great deal when they tried real guitars -so I think time can only tell what will happen to our young Guitar Heroes!
I for sure in my youth, spent more time playing games than playing guitar! Cards, board games, shooting pool, sports...you name it! gee...I wonder if playing pinball and centipede (man, I was addicted) helped me with my guitar-playing at all
. Well...it did get me drinking for the 1st time (when I was of legal age) because you had to drink to play!
Myself...I never even touched an acoustic guitar until I was 16! And even then, I was completely on my own and didn't know what the heck I was doing. No other teens in my neighborhood had a guitar.
I taught myself to play chords...but couldn't read music. Somehow quickly taught myself on the piano 1st but still can't on guitar. I didn't know anything about alternative tuning or capos until I was in my 30's...but I used to have to tune all my strings down to accompany my vocals until then.