Posts
"So what's your point, Cesar, explain us", you two or three readers I have might ask. Well, I just don't like those Guitar Hero or Rock Band. I mean, as games, they are great and all, but playing them doesn't makes too much sense to me. I guess saying I don't like those games is not accurate, maybe what I really mean is that I think the people playing these games all the time are doing something stupid. I'm sorry, but I do. Let me elaborate, don't hit me just yet.
You see, when you play Guitar Hero, you are not doing anything remotely close to playing a real guitar. However, to master the game, you must invest a considerable amount of time, which had you invested it in practicing on a real guitar instead, you could have learned quite a bit, to the point where you could have been able to play a few things and wanted to keep getting better. If you are just a casual Guitar Hero/Rock Band player, then yes, you will (probably) enjoy the game more than the first few guitar lessons, so play, knock yourself out. But if you're playing 4 or 5 days a week, 30 minutes or more...
Now, don't say "I tried to learn how to play guitar once and I sucked, I'm just not musical, I wasn't born with that talent". Don't say that because I will slap you, and I don't mean that kind of slap. No one is born with that talent and everyone is capable of learning how to play any instrument, end of discussion. It may be easier for some more than others, but not by much. It's true, all you need is some discipline, like sitting down and practicing 4 or 5 days a week for, hmmm, 30 minutes.
You might already know I'm a musician, and that I play guitar and sing in The Watermarks, and you might think that it's easy for me to say this since I was born "talented". Where did I get this talent from then, because I don't know. No one in my family that I know of plays anything or can sing to save their lives, in fact, they are all tone deaf. Well, not all. After I started with the guitar, my brother started playing drums and became an excellent drummer, and I have a younger cousin who years later also learned how to play guitar. Even more incredible is the fact that I sing. I had tried many times to sing and you don't want to know how much I sucked. I have recordings of me attempting to sing that were very discouraging, but when on my previous band we got tired of looking for a singer, I decided I was going to do it. It wasn't pretty at first and I can tell you, with all honesty, that I sucked donkey balls, but I kept doing it, and even though I don't think I'm that good now, it sounds a whole lot better. So shut up, you can play guitar, I'll even teach you, if you want (I actually became a guitar teacher for a little while after taking lessons for two years). I need work anyways.
So, if you find yourself playing Guitar Hero quite a bit, do yourself a favor and get a cheap guitar and start practicing. If you think that playing the "musical" video games is fun, you'll be amazed as how much more pleasurable is to be able to play a song you like from beginning to end on a real guitar. And if you ever get together with other musicians to play songs that you like together, it will blow your fucking mind away. It feels awesome. I remember when I used to play with my brother, when we lived in the 10th floor of this condo in Venezuela, and the neighbor downstairs always came upstairs and banged on our door to complain. It was pure adrenalin.
Joe Perry couldn't have chosen better words the night when I had the fortune to see Aerosmith on a recent trip I made to the fantastic Abu Dhabi. "There ain't nothing like the real thing", he said, referring to the video game that features the music of his band. Now, can you imagine try to use Guitar Hero's tiny guitar as a phallic symbol? You'll be laugh at. Guitars are just plain sexy.
Do you want to be a real guitar hero or do you rather be a guitar zero? It's up to you.
Until next time, kids. Ah! And don't forget I love you like a hurricane,
Cesar
