Guitar Wizard: Guitar Hero with a real guitar

Nothing ruins a Guitar Hero or Rock Band party faster than that one guy who's constantly asking why everyone doesn't just learn to play a real instrument, but a company called Music Wizard Group is getting ready to change that with a new teaching tool called Guitar Wizard. The package comes with a real Washburn guitar, MIDI pickup and the Guitar Wizard software -- which is the same app used in Mattel's popular I Can Play Guitar toy -- and the company claims players will be rocking out and reading music in just minutes. Of course, since we've been shredding since we were just small change, we'll let the haters get their fret buzz on while we keep jamming with our modded Strat Guitar Hero controllers.

Update: Sorry about that https link -- it's fixed now.

[spideywriter @ Feb 4th 2008 8:22PM]

I'm curious if this will be offered in a package where you can use your own electric.

And if there will be a lefty compatibility mode.

AND if this will be something you could learn to play the bass with?

Yes, I am seriously interested in all of these things. I have an electric AND a bass in both right and lefty, and have been trying to learn, but can't keep up on the training. And with a mangled right pinky finger, but being naturally left handed, I still haven't decided how I'll play.

I currently am playing GH I and II as both a righty and a lefty. I would love to learn how to play electric and bass as a righty or a lefty.

[rutsy5 @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:17PM]

So turning A's B's and C's into colored triangles and stars makes learning guitar that much easier?

[MaGiXX @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:17PM]

Seems like a pretty decent Idea, Seems like this is just using guitar tabs.

[Rob @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:30PM]

Hey Engadget, what's with that link popping a warning on my Firefox browser? What's going on?

[Andrew @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:43PM]

Engadget, drop change the link to plain http rather than the secure https since there is nothing to need to be secure about and they don't even have a valid cert causing pop ups for anyone who clicks.

[ethana2 @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:22PM]

Yes. Please do that.

[BigPana @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:35PM]

"Nothing ruins a Guitar Hero or Rock Band party faster than that one guy who's constantly asking why everyone doesn't just learn to play a real instrument,"

Those people annoy the hell out of me...

[Blaktornado @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:42PM]

I'm one of those..


... and I wonder why no-one invites me to parties anymore :(


:P

[Wayne @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:03PM]

If you see someone using this software, you can tell them to simply learn to play Guitar Hero/Rock Band.

Turnabout is fair play, no?

[AndrewNeo @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:10PM]

A. Those people aren't allowed to play with us
B. I can play a guitar.

[dglaz @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:20PM]

I play guitar (kind of). I think playing GH is different enough that it shouldn't be compared to playing a real guitar. Its a different but legitimate skill, especially at the two most difficult levels.

Should we tell people who play Army type tactical games (what is the short name for these games?) to join the armed forces and go kill real people.

[bobartig @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:34PM]

That statement is so untrue. That guy NEVER ruins guitar hero parties. He's not invited. He has no friends.

[Drewcifer @ Jan 9th 2008 12:42AM]

Dude, are you serious? I hate the wannabe's that think they're hot-sh!t because they can press 4 buttons in sequence... it's like the old game "Simon" but with a better soundtrack... learn to play a real frelling instrument!!!

[john @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:37PM]

I was wondering when someone was going to come up with this.

Does it have a Mac and/or Linux version?

[ethana2 @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:23PM]

Yeah, until WINE hits 1.0 sometime this year (hopefully), it would be nice to have an assured way to run the stuff.

[Stan Winstone @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:39PM]

Well that's one company CEO who clearly doesn't watch South Park.

[The Piano Wizard Queen @ Feb 28th 2008 9:34PM]

>> Well that's one company CEO who clearly doesn't watch South Park.

Actually, Music Wizard Group's CEO, Chris Salter, gets the point of the South Park video quite well. The point, I believe, was that in the end playing GH offers no value (other than it's fun) to the player.

With Guitar Wizard it's actually not that way at all. The whole point of GW is to teach you to read music and play the guitar. Once you've "reached 1,000,000 points" on GW, so to speak, you will be able to play any song on the guitar for which you can find music.

[Joe Anstine @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:13PM]

I think by the time this comes out Harmonix will either have something better or everyone who played games like these will already have bought real guitars and realized that mastering Jordan on Expert took away a lot of their precious life. A LOT of it.

[AlexL @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:32PM]

This seems like a crappy version of a Brian Moore iGuitar MIDI guitar bundled with a learning software.

If anyone wants a real MIDI guitar, I'd suggest one of Brian Moore's iGuitars or the Gibson Ethernet guitar.

[MaGiXX @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:44PM]

I just check the Gibson 'Ethernet' guitar aka Gibson HD.6X-PRO, and at $4000 fucking dollars that thing should be able to store and play every single existing song. Sorry mabey if it was 400$ yea, but $4000? Also the iGuitar is somewhere around $700.

[Geir E @ Jan 4th 2008 6:14AM]

"I just check the Gibson 'Ethernet' guitar aka Gibson HD.6X-PRO, and at $4000 fucking dollars that thing should be able to store and play every single existing song. Sorry mabey if it was 400$ yea, but $4000? Also the iGuitar is somewhere around $700."

You have quite a good sense in quality I see. Gibson Les Paul guitars are not toys, they are instruments for pros and enthusiasts. The sound and quality of a $400 guitar vs a les paul is so huge it is amazing. I wouldn't have belived it if I haven't heard a friend play his old $400 run of the mill guitar and then the les paul on the same amp. He had the les paul on loan from a shop, but returning it and going back to his old guitar would be like giving back the keys to a porsche (or whatever is your dream ride) when you can afford it.

And then you take one of this us$1500 or so les paul guitars and jam a lot of technology into it. no wonder it gets expensive, but the same goes for everything high end.

[matthew @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:59PM]

i am so that guy

get out of mommy's basement and learn to play the damn guitar!

[Chris @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:27PM]

That thing has "May Cause Seizures" written all over it.

[rcappo @ Jan 4th 2008 1:02AM]

I thought guitar hero did teach people how to play a real guitar? What is the point if you don't learn how the real thing works?

[Geir E @ Jan 4th 2008 6:18AM]

You learn coordination, timeing, sense of rythm etc. which later can be applied into the learning of a real instrument. But mostly, you have fun.

[jnoel @ Jan 4th 2008 10:30AM]

This thing does not hold a candle to thr Fretlight....

http://fretlight.com/

[Johnny @ Jan 4th 2008 11:08AM]

I'm going for lowest ranked here, but I am one of those people who doesn't see why you don't learn a real instrument. I don't even get what is fun about guitar hero. I don't want to be invited to the party, because I think it is one of the dumbest games ever made. It's funny too, because a lot of the people playing it are adults and it feels to me like one of those cheap games you buy for kids that plugs right into the TV, except that there is nothing cheap about it - people spend ridiculous money on this stuff.

That being said, I fully support your decision to play it. It just isn't for me.

[James @ Jan 4th 2008 11:11AM]

The ones who say you need to learn how to play guitar, well they should play this game and shut up. i have played guitar for 11 years and i love this game. alot of people that come to my partys are afraid to play or are not interested. but by the end of the night i have to hit em with my stun gun and pry the guitar out of their hands.
I thought of this a few months back, but it required way more programming then i am capable of. it would be a sweet way to learn how to play songs. i would jump all over this if i had the chance.

[Jan Altman, Evangelist for Music WIzard @ Jan 4th 2008 2:20PM]

Hey, gang, Jan from Music Wizard here. Guitar Wizard uses our patented 4-step method which can have anyone learning to play in minutes. Piano Wizard (already selling for a couple of years now) introduced this method to the world, and has garnered awards and tons of rave reviews (www.MusicWizard.com/piano_wizard/awards.php). Even a 3-year-old can play Step 1, and by the time you get to Step 4, you're actually reading real musical notes. After the 4 steps, kids have easily transitioned to a real piano with no trouble at all.

Guitar Wizard will be on shelves mid-2008. We get asked about it constantly! :-)

The screen shot on this page shows Step 1 before the game is started. You are holding a real MIDI guitar with colored stickers on the frets. Start the game and you'll see colored objects floating up the screen towards the guitar neck up top. When an object reaches the matching colored fret, you play the correspondingly-colored fret on the guitar in your hands (think DDR). You completely control both tempo, and even which and how many strings you're playing at once. Practice one string, practice another, practice both together, etc. Then go a little faster.

Step 2 turns the screen 90 degrees to correspond to the horizontal orientation of written music. Step 3 turns the colored objects into floating musical notes on a real staff. At Step 4, the color is removed, and you're actually reading black notes and playing a song on a real guitar! (We've had people do this in about 10 minutes on Piano Wizard.) (Really.)

We'll be showcasing Guitar Wizard at the CES show in Las Vegas next week. Please come by our booth and say that you learned about us here at engadget. (I personally will be doing demos in the Disney booth.) Then you'll see why we're so excited!

More info? Contact me at jan {at} MusicWizard {dot} com. Happy New Year, everyone!

[DeoWulf @ Jan 4th 2008 4:52PM]

Sounds decent. I wish I'd learned that way, if it's as easy as you say.

[Jan Altman, Evangelist for Music WIzard @ Jan 4th 2008 5:04PM]

Thanks, DeoWulf. You still can learn that way if you like. Adults buy Piano Wizard from us all the time, actually. And parents buy it for both themselves and their kids.

Check out http://www.EvenYouCanPlay.com. It's never too late to bring music into your life.

Jan :-)

[Pete Hilgendorf @ Jan 4th 2008 4:25PM]

Hey...that's the Pinball Wizard in the graphic!

See here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marenpete/2166357065/

[The Piano Wizard Queen @ Mar 12th 2008 4:27PM]

It sure looks like Pete Townshend, doesn't it?
All the more appropriate for our game, eh?

Our designers tell me they got that stock image through their ShutterStock membership. But, maybe we should approach Pete for an endorsement as well!

[stephen @ Jan 4th 2008 5:31PM]

I think i could like this type of thing. However, i would fear the ugly stick. Guitar Hero, Rockband, etc are all very polished experiences. How does Piano/Guitar Wizard match up in this regard? Also, how developed will the Guitar Wizard be? The Piano Wizard goes for ~$630 for the keyboard/cable/software , if I'm spending that much, I'd rather it take me a bit further than beginner/intermediate...

The site is blocked for me, or I'd look for myself.

[Vin @ Jan 6th 2008 10:22AM]

Stephen,
Piano Wizard runs about $200 for keyboard/cable/software, not $630. Perhaps you were looking at Academy Package upgrades which include videos and sheet music.

Now let's compare apples with apples:

JNoel,
The Fretlight is "cool", not doubting that. It's great for learning how to play chords and scales. But it does not teach you how to read, nor can you play a song in real time.

Guitar Wizard is not a Guitar Hero/RockBand wanna be. Guitar Wizard (and Piano Wizard) translate a "game" into a REAL musical experience - and that is the difference. At the time of this posting, Guitar Wizard is still under development so the screenshot above may or may not reflect what the final version looks like. Nor does the graphic above show all the levels and capabilities of what it actually does.

But based on the success of the Piano Wizard method, you can be assured it will be revolutionary.

[Christopher Hevey @ Jan 5th 2008 4:51AM]

This SOUNDS like it may be of use to me, I picked up an iAXE (Electric guitar with a usb interface), but I was also hoping for something that would actually give me feedback in teaching me to play.

Heres hoping I can pick it up for more than dusting around soon

Got it so I could play/learn in an apt. (headphones no bothering with nasty noises)

[kansanpoker @ Jan 9th 2008 12:18AM]

woohoo , i love this , i always wanted a good altertive to guitar hero , and rock band , and since cant play my drums in my apartment , because i get the cops called on me ugg , i wanted to learn to which my skills to the guitar , and for $300 sign me up , if i can use my own cds or so , but if i have to download all the songs over again for a buck count me out

[DJWhiplash2001 @ Jan 7th 2008 8:25AM]

I'll buy this under one condition. Flying V. Nuff said.

[tRobert S @ Jan 14th 2008 2:06PM]

The Guitar Wizard is a true teaching system. It Integrates true audio-visual-fingers-on guitar playing and music reading practice.

Until you experience this companies method of music/instrument teaching (piano wizard) it will be impossible to understand why it is such an amazing learning system. It opens the door for more people who want to lean to read and play music.

I have watched a zero music/piano knowledge 8 year old sit down with the piano wizard and become entranced with the "game" and play and read simple music pieces withing 10 minutes.

[The Piano Wizard Queen @ Feb 29th 2008 1:41PM]

tRobert, would love to hear more about your 8-year-old friend's experience!
Please email me at pianowizardqueen {at} yahoo {dot} com.