Learning Drums Through Rock Band
What You Can Learn About Real Drumming from the Music Game
Aug 22, 2008
Harmonix, well known for developing the smash hit video games Guitar Hero and Rock Band, founded their company on the idea that "performing" music should be accessible to people who lack the dexterity, time or skill to play real instruments. While the acts of strumming and fretting a guitar controller may improve a person's hand coordination, the complexities of guitar playing go far beyond five colored buttons and a single "string."
Drumming, however, is a different story. Drumming in Rock Band bears a much stronger similarity to real-life drumming than the guitar counterpart. While playing the drums in Rock Band won't exactly teach the gaming addict how to play drums, it can provide a surprisingly sound basic skill set for people who want to learn real drumming.
Learning Rhythm and Limb Independence: Key Drum Lessons
The primary skill sets that translate from Rock Band to a real drum kit are: basic rhythm, and limb independence. Rhythm is the hallmark skill of a solid drummer. When playing the easier difficulty levels, it's possible to read the game's drum track closely and hit each note in time with the visual cues.
On more advanced levels, however, the frantic pace prevents this method of play. Players are forced to rely on a natural sense of rhythm to hit the notes in time with the music. This sense of rhythm translates to a real drum set - people who play a lot of Rock Band should be able to pick out drum rhythms in their head, even to songs they've only heard once.
Limb independence is one of the biggest barriers to learning the drums. A drummer must train his brain to operate his right arm separate from his left, his right and left legs separate from each other, and to move his arms without influencing the movement of his legs. This is much harder than it seems, and some of the complicated kick drum patterns and eclectic drum fills in Rock Band are great for teaching limb independence.
Other Techniques Learned Through Rock Band: Learning Drumming
Rock Band offers a few other benefits, as well. The more difficult songs in the game can be excellent endurance trainers, especially for the often underdeveloped muscles used to operate the kick drum. In addition, by playing a lot of Rock Band, an aspiring drummer can begin to pick up a lot of the basic tricks and patterns that fit into a lot of different songs: double taps, double bass, and various drum rolls can all be mastered to a degree in Rock Band.
A lot of people have different answers when it comes to the question of how Rock Band drumming compares to the real thing. It's true that Rock Band drumming can't teach everything. That said, while it's no substitute for actual drum lessons or other training methods, Rock Band does give potential drummers a great way to get their foot in the door, and start to learn how to really play this integral rock instrument.
