Guitar Hero

My daughter bought a Guitar Hero game and plays it any chance she gets. This caught my attention because she rarely play video games. She liked the "Sims" (where you could design a house and family and then let different scenarios play out) but she lost interest after a few months.

But Guitar Hero got me thinking about how a particular format shapes and limits the form of something. Just like Microsoft limits your ability to write to what's in the software or pen and paper to what can be scribbled on a piece of paper.

I don't know much about music except what my friend Jon has taught me and a few lessons on a guitar. But looking back at sheet music over the past 1500 years it has been in the same format: pages of paper with the same lines; several clefs; first-second-third movements; and what not. But really the music formed had to fit the "page" format. ( I'm not complaining so be patient) This is the way it had to be so the musician could read and play the song. Is this why Rock 'n Roll evolved into its particular format? It was listened to while driving a car so the form followed the format necessary to cruise around in the car: short songs; limited lyrics and instrumentation; and oh yeah that back beat! The back beat and a big block Chevy motor thumping under the hood;

Get back home Loretta
those high heel shoes,
and I love that sweata'

Now that's a base line right out'ta of a '68 Camero! Any connection there?

But forget about all that for now.

With Guitar Hero one could write in a continuous stream like us wannabe writers do on blogs (Stream of Conscious). But here's the difference with Hero technology: the composer could write and record the notes for musicians to play. He would not be limited by the format of the "page" anymore and I believe a new type of music may be found. With all the whiz-kids we have nowadays I'm sure "continuous streaming music software" could be developed and the Guitar Hero be wired to a synthesizer. And in place of pages of music on stands video displays would provide the stream of notation for live instrumentation. And best of all when attending a live piano recital I wouldn't have to worry about that annoying person forgetting to turn the page.