For $500 you could have a great guitar teacher for almost a year's worth of lessons (maybe more in some areas). As someone who learnt music in the old-fashioned laborious way and know how fortunate I am to be able to sight-read on several instruments, I would hesitate to give this to a child rather than some actual lessons on a real instrument. For a teenager or adult, I'm sure it's great to give you that satisfied achievement feeling but maybe I just think too much of kids and their ability to stick through a few lessons. I've seen how in awe they are when they start to make music just 'happen' through their own musical ability.
GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
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Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#22Heh, nice little cameo of Drew Houston at the end of the video
Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#23Cool gadget, dumb sales pitch.
Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#24It's simple, if you cannot endure the frustration and sometimes physical discomfort that is required to learn the guitar then you never will. These toys that make you sound great from the start, never miss a note, and play like a rock start from day one will never truly prepare you for learning the guitar. It cannot replace hours of monotonous practice. Or replace playing bad notes which can force you to clean up your playing. Or replace the feeling of connecting with the strings and fretboard, which help define your personal sound. Lots of people would like to play the guitar but the truth is there are no shortcuts and many people don't have the patience for it. It takes dedication and no cool toy can bypass the very kind of effort it takes to learn the guitar or any instrument. That tenacity to learn despite the frustration is what separates those who'd like to learn to play and those who have. gTar is just a toy.
Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
This was my first reaction, then I realized that for people who are trying to teach themselves guitar, this would be way easier than learning to read tablature, and even easier than watching youtube videos (since the mirror effect can be tricky at first). On the other hand, you risk becoming a guitarist who struggles to read tablature or learn by watching other guitarists, so the trade off is arguably high. At the ve…
For learning individual songs, learning to read real music would be an improvement over tabs. The problem with arguing that the GTar is easy for learning songs (and it is) is how much information is lost. Sheet music contains a ridiculous amount of information. Tablature does not. Lights on a wooden stick contain even less. At what point are you doing a disservice to the aspiring guitarist by taking away information?
Reading music is a valuable skill, but not one (evidently) that aspiring guitarists are inclined to tackle, even now. I know a lot of amateur guitarists, and the only ones who can read music are the ones who learned to do so while learning some other instrument. I read music, but almost never apply this skill to guitar, because it just isn't how the (non-classical) guitar community communicates.
Which isn't anything to be happy about perhaps, but does seem to be the reality of the situation. I'd put reading music in the same category as tabs etc: "You should really learn this, sooner is better than later, if you're serious about guitar". But a lot of people struggle to get off the ground with guitar at all, so I can still see value in something like gTar. Though I do see it as a niche market (musically struggling, iPhone owning technophiles).
Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#26I'm 50% excited by the idea of an assistive guitar. And I'm 50% excited by having LEDs all over my guitar neck.
I'm sure it could be done in a regular guitar, though you'd destroy the tone.
You can get natty little LED kits that replace the fret markers, but I've not seen anything more than that.
Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#27Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#28As a guitarist, I don't think this is a useless tool for people learning how to play, but "the first guitar that anybody can play" is a ridiculous title. Anyone with two working hands and no cognitive disabilities can learn how to play a guitar already. It takes effort, but if you keep at it, learning how to play is inevitable. What they are promising with the title is that this device will take all the effort out of…
This tool lowers the barrier to positive reinforcement, which is key in continuing any activity.
By lowering this barrier doesn't it introduce learning bad technique. When you play guitar and your hands are not physically capable of performing certain chord voicings, the end result is a bad sounding chord. However, with practice you develop the flexibility, finger independence, and strength to perform the chord properly. Where is the incentive to gain proper technique if everything you play sounds good or is very forgiving.
Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#29I think the price could be a problem. I know lots of people who 'wanted to learn to play guitar', bought the equipment, and gave up within a month or two. They didn't really lose out as you can get a second hand guitar and amp for under $100. This is around $450 (not to mention the cost of the iPhone) - not really in the price range of someone who wants to learn guitar. You can get some nice 'real' guitars for that price.
Re: GTar: The First Guitar That Anybody Can Play
#30I think they should relocate where the iphone goes.
To where?
Might not look cool, but if the iPhone dock was on the top part of the body (on the thin surface, rather than on the body surface), then you would be able to look at the iPhone as you're playing. Currently, you can either look at the strings or on the iPhone, where you almost have to look backwards to look at the iPhone. As a beginner guitar player, learning would be easier if I could see the tabs and my strings at the same time. my 2c.