Long gone are the days when music fans could rely upon the encyclopedic musical knowledge of the staff of their local record store, so how can a neophyte expand his horizons and learn the ways of rock? Look no further than Guitar Hero and Rock Band, writes Dave Finkel over at What They Play.
Taking a break from his duties as co-executive producer of the utterly awesome 30 Rock, Finkel cites the games as a surprising, but great "place to learn not only about what's going on in music now, but what has happened in music," thereby putting an inquisitive player on the path to greater rock learning.
His point is that someone who's introduced to, say, the Red Hot Chili Peppers via Guitar Hero
might look them up on the web only to discover that some of their earlier, funkier work was inspired by the likes of
Parliament/Funkadelic, which in turn could perhaps lead him to investigate the jazz stylings of Miles Davis or the blues of Muddy
Waters.
It's an interesting perspective, and one that I hadn't considered before. Has Guitar Hero or Rock Band (or any other music game, for that matter) served as your introduction to either a particular song or band?
Guitar Hero: The Encyclopdeia of Rock [What They Play]
