(Video included) I’ve come across a lot of time-killing websites in my time, but JamLegend has to be one of the best. If you like Guitar Hero, it’s a must. Or, if you’ve never played Guitar Hero, here is your chance to try it out from the comfort of your computer, for free.
It works like this – songs play and, using your keyboard, you play along. The number keys are used as the guitar frets (or buttons on a Guitar Hero guitar) and the “Enter” key is to strum. You can play just by pushing the numbers, or the strumming version – which is much more fun. There are three levels, and like the video game, higher levels require using more buttons. You play against Roxanne, a computer, and at the end of the song the one with the most points wins. But if you create an account, you can play against friends.
The songs aren’t exactly the best, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s just plain fun. Hopefully in the future they will start adding more songs. By the way, I highly recommend playing guitar style with your keyboard, using the function keys as your fret board. You’ll see what I mean.
Below is a brief video showing how it works. It’s a screencast – but on the website the action is much smoother.
(Via Wired.com, video after the jump) This has been a long time coming. One of the most popular games in the past couple of years is moving from the gaming world to real life. At least, some iteration of it. Disney Star Guitarist takes the Guitar Hero model, then attaches a real guitar so you can not only play a game, but learn how to play guitar at the same time. Of course, this being a Disney product causes a few issues. For starters, the game will come with a cute blue 3/4 guitar with colored strings … but you can use your own guitar. As you’ll see in the video below, “High School Musical” is featured. So, you might not be shredding death metal anytime soon.
That said, if not Disney, there will be an explosion of this technology coming very soon. Drums, bass, fiddle, piano, keytar, triangle … everything. This could very well be the way people learn how to play instruments in the future. It’s also going to end up being a spectacular revenue stream for musicians. Who wouldn’t want to visually learn their favorite song for something like $20, in their own home, rather than pay someone for a private lesson?
