Uneven chords

Your crazy ‘Guitar Hero’ skills might not translate to the real thing.

By Spencer Watson (Contact)

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

When you can play “Raining Blood” on expert in your sleep, there really is no greater height to reach in the virtual rock ‘n’ roll world of “Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock.” So you must be totally ready for the real thing, right?

Not so fast, says instructor Jason Priest of the Little Rock Jams studio.

“It’s a stretch” he said of the assumption that a Fender will feel natural to those good at the video game series, in which you hit colored buttons and strum a fake guitar in time with a plethora of rock and metal hits, earning your virtual musician worldwide acclaim and success.

Sure, playing the games on PlayStation, Xbox 360 or Wii might help you develop a sense of rhythm, which sure can’t hurt in playing a real guitar, but the actual execution of learning the fingerings, scales and chord progressions is something that really can only come through practice, Priest said. And that, of course, takes more than the few weeks or days it will take to master the games.

“The difference is, you have to be a lot more accurate on the guitar,” Priest said.

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