Future of School: Guitar Hero

For those interested in learning, the Guitar Hero debate ranges from facile to fascinating. And, just in case it's not obvious, I'm (mostly) not really talking about Guitar Hero here.

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Jimmy Page and Jack White say it's depressing. Bill Wyman says it discourage kids from learning. Prince says it's not as rewarding as the joy of creating something from nothing. Pink Floyd drummer, Nick Mason says:

"It irritates me having watched my kids do it - if they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they'd be damn good by now."

So, three arguments against Guitar Hero*

1. Bill Wyman = disappointed that the kids won't play
There's no doubting that Guitar Hero is popular, but does it really encourage kids not to learn? Wikipedia says it's sold 25 million units worldwide, so that's a lot of kids discouraged, right? Perhaps. In 2003 (the latest survey I could find) there were 84 million people claiming they could play a musical instrument in the United States. And they had bemani games then too. Guitar Hero probably won't make that much of a difference.

2. Prince = funky
Prince clearly hasn't seen the YouTube videos, the forums or, indeed, watched any kids playing Guitar Hero. It's not art, maybe. But I do see signs of fun, if not full-on joy. (Particularly, not in this video of a boy playing the game on hard while solving a Rubik's Cube.)

3. Set the controls for the heart of the fun
Nick Mason's point is much more interesting. My nephew recently announced that he'd like to learn the guitar. So I cut a deal with him - he practices four times a week for six months and I'll buy him the electric guitar he wants. But for now he puts up with the 'classical' guitar the school rents him. He's happy with that. And so am I because I know something he doesn't.

He wants to play the guitar, sure. But I'm not at all sure he wants to learn it. In Guitar Hero, these two things are one and the same.

Nick Mason is right; Guitar Hero, played well, is ruddy hard. Kids are paying £40 to learn something that's pretty hard. They want to play the guitar. They want to learn Guitar Hero.

Clearly, there's something going on here.

Clearly, there's something going on here
What is going on here? eLearning experts Cracked Rabbit Gaming give their version:

1. Guitar Hero is tons of fun, right away.
2. There isn't a huge learning curve, you can jump right in and "feel" like you're playing guitar, even on Easy!
3. You get to play real songs, with a full (virtual) band, and not start out with "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," or other boring songs.
4. Some people just really like video games.
5. It's cheaper than a real guitar.
6. You don't have to tune it.
7. You don't have to buy new strings.
8. You don't have to learn to read music (you have to learn to read scrolling notes, sure, but come on, green = green, that's not hard!).**
9. Guitar Hero is tons of fun, even after you've beaten every song.***
10. You can play with a group of friends, even if they've never played before.
11. It has a scoring system, which means you can compete against friends, and people all over the world by comparing scores online.
12. Guitar Hero is tons of fun, period.

If you can find a better manifesto for your Learning and Development consultancy, a better piece of marketing copy for your eLearning package or a better lesson plan then I'd like to see it. If you're hiring in some trainers, ask them if they can match this offer.

*I didn't include Jimmy Page's argument because it sounds like something from Spinal Tap. And Jack White is actually in Guitar Hero, twice, so his point lacks congruence.]

**This is probably the best description of Cognitive Load I've seen.

***Point 9 kind of goes against the main thrust of my argument. Feel free to home in on this.

[Just in case you're wondering, this is something that we're deadly serious about here. We're not saying that all of our stuff is like this - we wish - but it should aspire to be.]

[Image by particlem]