A question for REAL musicians who play Rock Band

[SirSurpent]

Was just talking about this the other day with a few friends and was wondering, not including vocals, how does playing the Bass, or Guitar, or the Drums on Rock Band compare to playing the real thing?

I ask because I've never played (and neither have my buddies) any of these instruments in real life, and sometimes find it hard to believe, let's say playing "Blackened" on Expert for example, can be that incredibly hard in real life. I mean, I'm sure it is in some aspects, but most songs on Hard or Expert just seem so "ramped" up.

So, I guess the real question here is how does playing (drums, bass, or guitar) in real-life compare to Rock Band (difficulty wise) on Hard and Expert levels?

Any thoughts?

[Ninjalotus]

well ive dabbled in a few instruments but never really got good at anything. imo id say that a lot of songs are actually no where near as difficult as a real guitar, seein as the controller is more like a keyboard (accordian, etc). some songs appear far simpler than they actually owuld be to play, such as ride the lightning, gght and what not, but then some are spot on like anything easier to play i.e. nirvana.

as for drums its debatable. some say its very similar just simplified, which i agree with. then drummers who have been playing for years say that its nothing like it, real drums are harder, etc.. which may be true, tbh ive never touched a set of real drums, but i did start on hard, and move to expert within a week....

[SpiritedSniper]

Well, all together I play about 4 instraments (Guitar, Bass, Keyboard, and Saxophone). The concept is a good one, but it doesnt really compare to play the real guitar or bass. The guitar has six strings, and a lot of frets. Now if every single fret on the rock band guitar was a note, then the game would be a lot more realistic. I mean my friends and I have had a heck of a good time jamming together on rock band, but it is way more fufilling learning the songs in real life.

[Kevbocat]

I can only speak for the guitar and bass here. Regarding the bass, you could say it sort of feels like playing a bass but only on one string. You do alot of basslines or runs on bass so it kinda mimics it. On guitar, maybe the power chords (hitting greeen and yellow, red and blue, or yellow and orange together) are the only thing that feels close to playing a real guitar. Everything else doesn't compare I'd say. No trills, hammer ons, pull offs, tapping, pinched harmonics, bar chords, open chords, string bends, etc. A guitar is a tough instrument to master but a fun instrument to play as well as the bass.

[twofivethreetwo]

I've played drums for just over 10 years and the game is not like the drums in the sense of playing the songs. It does however help with you learning to keep the beat and allow each hand and foot to do different things at once. So, I could see where if you are new to drums the game would help with some basics.

[Rastak]

I agree with both the above posts. Bass mimics the instrument in a very small way. Drums do a good job, also in a small way, of playing real drums. Guitar isn't even close.

[davidshek]

I ask because I've never played (and neither have my buddies) any of these instruments in real life, and sometimes find it hard to believe, let's say playing "Blackened" on Expert for example, can be that incredibly hard in real life. I mean, I'm sure it is in some aspects, but most songs on Hard or Expert just seem so "ramped" up.

Well I play very little guitar IRL, but from my experience, the RB/GH guitar is a very poor simulation of playing the guitar, as many people stated already in this thread. Sure, you're doing the "playing frets with one hand, strumming with the other" thing, but that's about as far as the similarity goes.

I've been playing drums for over 16 years now, and actually the very first drum tab book I ever bought, back when I was 15, was for the ...And Justice For All album. Blackened on Expert may seem "ramped up", but in reality, it's actually ramped down. There's a LOT more going on in the real drum tracks than you actually play on the RB drums.

Yes, RB drums will teach you limb independence, but again, that's about as far as the similarity goes. Being able to keep a steady rhythm on your own for several minutes (without speeding up or slowing down) with no note chart scrolling at you, and with nothing else keeping the beat for you, is a lot harder than most people think.

So here's a challenge...if you're not a drummer, and you can beat Blackened on Expert drums, go to your local music store, ask for a set of practice sticks, and try to play ANY part of it on a real drum set. You'll see just how incredibly hard it can be :)

[TheDemiGodx]

well im a guitarist and its pretty much common knowledge that playing the guitar in guitar hero or in rock band is nothing like the real thing. Except it might help you with finger speed.

[Segnosaur]

but singing in rock band is totally like singing in real life...

I should know it's my instrument in real life.

[Axon]

Guitar is nothing like real life guitar. There are multiple techniques on a real guitar that cannot be duplicated on the RB guitar, although the hammer-on/pull-off system is a decent representation on a single string in a limited fret area.

Drums...you see how people say their leg hurts after playing the RB drums? My drummer comes out of a two hour set looking like he just went swimming. The RB set is more limited, which makes things harder for me...though there is no comparison for difficulty, a hard song IRL is well harder than any expert song.

I know that because there are less cymbals and such on the RB set, I constantly find myself going for other parts of the drum kit that aren't there; parts of songs I know use the high hat I find myself unconsciously shifting to that space....etc.

[wick1979]

IMO i've played guitar for 17 years and the riffs on RB are nothing like the real thing. example blackened and enter sandman are SO much eaiser on a real guitar cause your fingers are alot closer together and the picking can be done "alternatelly" hinse the guitar term alternate picking. other than haveing to break your fingers to hit the frets it's good for timeing on RB but absolutelly nothing like the real thing.

[batsu336]

I have played guitar IRL for over 18 years, here's my take:

It is impossible to compare because they are completely different and require a different set of skills to perform. I find a lot of RB songs harder to perform than real life, because in real life I know what is coming and don't have to look at a TV screen to see where to place my fingers. My band used to perform Don't Fear (The Reaper) live and it was a blast. I find it much harder in the game. Also, in real life you can always alter solos and fills as long as you stay in key. In the game it is a fixed progression. It is all memorization of the same note pattern without change. My fingers aren't used to some of the positions that the game asks for. They want to form the actual chord instead, so I find my hand sliding up the neck to play a D barre chord instead of just pushing the yellow and blue buttons.

Drums: IRL I stink. It is much easier in the game because it keeps me in rythym. I also don't have to worry about a hi-hat pedal or extra toms or cymbals at different heights.

For you other guitar players: Do you find yourself trying to bend the note on your controller like you would a real guitar? I catch myself doing that and trying to pinch harmonics, and then I feel like an idiot.

[Physic4lGr4fiti]

haha, when I first started playing GH i tried to bend the "strings" so many times.

IMO, saying that rock band instruments are even remotely similar to playing real instruments is like saying that DDR is like real dancing. The best thing rock band does is mimic the feeling of making music together tho, i will give it that.

[Julio_Strikes_Back]

Well I play very little guitar IRL, but from my experience, the RB/GH guitar is a very poor simulation of playing the guitar, as many people stated already in this thread. Sure, you're doing the "playing frets with one hand, strumming with the other" thing, but that's about as far as the similarity goes.
Since when was Rock Band supposed to be a simulation? It's just a video game. The only thinkg RB tries to simulate is the feeling of going from venue to venue, long setlists and so on.

[stunner1210]

The way they map out the songs for guitar is the similarity I see when playing. Obviously there are only five fret buttons compared to 20 + frets (depending on guitar) but the way Harmonix charts the songs makes it approach the realistic aspect. Take a song like Enter Sandman for example. The way the song is mapped, your moving your fingers the same (or very close to the same) as you would when actually playing the song. This is why I enjoy Rock Band, as it's not notes out the ass to make it hard; it's notes relative to how you would play it.

So in that light, the hand motion from the guitar aspect in Rock Band mimicks how you move your hand to play a certain song on guitar and does it pretty well.

[Xero314-2]

but singing in rock band is totally like singing in real life...

I should know it's my instrument in real life.

I just want to clarify this as a vocalist. Yes it is the same general principle as you are actually singing in the game, but the the mic is such junk, compared to a real mic that there are some pretty significant difference between RB and Reality.

The RB mic has a very specific spot for picking up vocals close to accurately and that is around 3 to 4 inches from your mouth. Every pro rig I have ever used works perfectly from touching your mouth to 2 feet away. But since RB only cares about pitch and not volume this doesn't really mater much in the game.

The other big difference is that real vocalists don't try to mimic another singers sound but instead enjoy the freedom of creating their own variations on the vocal tones and rhythms. When I have to sing some monotonous song like Reptilia I just want to vomit, I get through it, but it is not enjoyable.

[davidshek]

Take a song like Enter Sandman for example. The way the song is mapped, your moving your fingers the same (or very close to the same) as you would when actually playing the song.

Ok I do play enough guitar to know that you're off here. Enter Sandman is one of the few songs I can actually play on a guitar, and the fingering in RB is way different than it is on a guitar.

The reason: on a guitar you can move up and down strings to go up and down notes, and you do this in the intro to Sandman. On the RB/GH guitar, there are no strings, so the up/down note movement is purely linear.

[Muffster]

You know, it's funny... One thing I notice with all guitar simulation based games is that people who excel at playing them usually can't play an actual guitar for beans (if at all), and the same holds true in reverse. I play with many excellent real life guitarists who can barely make it through guitar simulation games on hard. So IMHO, at least for the guitar, there's no comparison.

As for drums, I've been playing for some 35 years now. The thing that strikes me about Rock Band is, it's "precision drumming". That is, you obviously have to hit nearly every note exactly as mapped out by the game to score well. In game, I find myself involuntarily playing fills, double kicks, etc. I feel should be there, which obviously hurts my score. It's definitely a much closer simulation than playing real guitar but, as for myself, I'm much more of an improvisational drummer, so I'm not a great Rock Band drummer by any means. In fact, at times I'm afraid playing with that much precision for extended periods will eventually hurt my style in real life.

So, I spend most of my time on vocals, which I'm not very good at either. But hey, it's a simulator and I have a lot of fun trying. Afterall, that's the entire point in the first place! ;)

[TheChairman]

Hopefully I can add a new perspective to this discussion. I've been playing bass, my main instrument, for about 15 years. Guitar for a few years less, and drums for about 5, on and off.

I've been playing with complete non-musician friends, and I started thinking about the transition both ways: coming from playing real life to Rock Band, and going from Rock Band to playing real instruments.

Guitar and Bass: I think it's all been said earlier in the thread.

Drums are the one that really got me thinking. As an intermediate drummer, I really feel like RB has made me a better RL drummer. I think the main reason for this is because I already know what drums and cymbals the pads are representing at any given time in the song, because I know what to listen for and I know music.

Conversely. I think that most RB-only drummers have a definite leg up on novices in that (as said many times before) RB teaches independent limb control, rhythm, etc. HOWEVER, when it comes to actually playing, I don't think that most RB-only drummers know how what they are playing relates to the song in real life. In other words, when playing RB, they think "I'm hitting the blue pad" instead of "I'm hitting the rack tom". So, sitting down at a kit, they still lack many fundamentals of how a beat is actually put together, and what drums work together to make a beat, etc.

That said, after playing enough RB, you SHOULD be able to sit at a kit, and with minimal-to-no instruction play at least a simple 4/4 beat with no problem whatsoever, as long as you know when to hit the hat, snare, and kick.

[stunner1210]

Ok I do play enough guitar to know that you're off here. Enter Sandman is one of the few songs I can actually play on a guitar, and the fingering in RB is way different than it is on a guitar.

The reason: on a guitar you can move up and down strings to go up and down notes, and you do this in the intro to Sandman. On the RB/GH guitar, there are no strings, so the up/down note movement is purely linear.

I can play Enter Sandman as well, what I was refering to is the actual fingering of the notes. Not how you get to them. It's not a dead on, 100% similarity because of the difference between a real guitar and the guitar for the game, but when playing on Expert and playing each of the notes in the song, the way the song is mapped is similar to how you finger the frets.

[IamAwesome]

ive been playing guitar 2+ years and the real guitar is not even close to playing the real thing. it only teaches you the rythem to the songs. I dont know about drums or bass but guitar is nothing like acually playing it.

[Renegade1007]

I'm a saxophonist who has dabled in guitar....I would say that its not anything like playing guitar....but it has helped me get my fingers limber for playing really fast complicated stuff on saxophone because it requires me to do things with my fingers that I may not necessarily have to do on Saxophone

[m_estock]

Ive been a drummer for about 8 years (Marching quads, jazz band, cleveland youth wind symphony) and Rock Band drums on expert is somewhat similar to real drums. Instead of your right hand (hi-hat) playing on the yellow pad, it should be playing on the red pad. The snare should be the yellow pad. The feel of playing real drums is totally different than playing Rock Band drums. The bass drum pedal is nothing like a real one. The drums are all in different places, etc. But if you can play on expert, chances are you can play decently on a real set.