Last week I had a quick look at some custom guitar hero controllers as well as the YAMAHA EZAG stringless guitar, a “guitar” that falls half way in between a stringless controller and a learning tool with l.e.d.’s  to illustrate where you place your fingers upon the neck.

Guitar Rising is a music video game where the player plays a real guitar as cued by the game’s visuals. Following rock music sequences and streaming notes, players play guitar melodies and rhythms. Beginner difficulty levels are designed for non-guitar players and hard difficulties will challenge experienced guitarists.

The great news is Guitar Rising from Game Tank allows you to play a real guitar in a game that combines the Guitar Hero format with guitar tablature. There are six lines on the screen that represent the six strings just like the neck of your guitar. The color-coordinated notes have been replaced with numbers that tell you which fret to finger.

So a number seven moving across the third line or string from the top, means you’ll play a D note on your 3rd string. Guitar players who have spent any time with standard tablature will find this to be like second nature. If you haven’t then this game will help you move away from the stringless controller format into the territory of REAL guitar playing whilst still having fun.

At this point, GameTank is still unsure whether to implement full chords and polyphony in the final game (that is playing more than one note at a time) – right now the game recognizes notes only one-at-a-time basis and neither can it recognise slides, bends, rakes, triplets, diads etcetera.

This could develop into a really useful and versatile learning tool for those of you who enjoy the Guitar hero format but want to move above and beyond the unrealistic paddle switch clicking of the guitar hero controllers.

You will need a USB interface for your guitar such as the Line 6 guitar port – click here to find out more!

So if it’s time to ditch that amateurish controller toy guitar machine then here is the suggested method, but make sure you listen to Pet Sounds first; and why not?

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

If you’re a parent and you`d like to try and inspire the young ones to develop an interest in the guitar then the Yamaha EZAG stringless guitar might be just what you need!

IF the kids are hyped out of their minds on sugar, guitar hero or rock band then the Yamaha EZAG guitar might be the next step upon the ladder towards beginning playing a real guitar. It’s not just for kids though this is a serious learning machine and at a the RIDICULOUS price of $220 U.S. it`s within reach of most of us!

I think we`ll be seeing alot more of this kind of guitar controller in the future perhaps?
After all flicking a switch ain’t strumming a string is it? I`d be jamming out on GUITAR HERO alot more if it was tailored more towards the real guitar experience.

This futuristic self-teaching guitar with Guide Lights means no sore fingers, no tuning required and no broken strings – and you play along with the built-in band from the first day you pick it up! The EZ-AG is a new musical instrument that provides all the fun and excitement of a guitar without the sore fingers, broken strings, poor tuning and tedious exercises. Now, anyone, of any age, can learn chords and strumming by following lights.

It features 6 lighted frets that show beginners the actual hand positions for chords, plus six “strings” that emulate strumming or finger-picking.  The onboard selection of songs can be expanded via the Web – songs can be downloaded into the guitar’s Flash ROM and a quick connection to a computer.

You’re literally playing in minutes. And, as easy and fun as the EZ-AG is – you’re really learning to play and you can plug the EZ-AG into a standard guitar amplifier, or use the mini-headphone jack for private practice.

Cheers,

Jake Edwards