Hi, I’m Nostalgia. I was a kid who loved music class. I took it all through school, and also participated in choir, drumline, and a musical. If there was an assembly, I was probably in it, with a club, or singing, or dancing or something.
When I was a new teen, all the way back in 2006 or so, I saw a band practicing in my school’s music room and since then, it’s been a dream of mine to play with a real band on stage.
Now, it’s been over 15 years since I had that thought. While I came to love pop rock and Japanese rock in my teen years, I didn’t have the chance to play any band instruments. Ya know, guitar, bass, or the drum kit. But even if I did, I didn’t have any friends in high school who were really into music or cared to make a band with me.
In 2014, I watched an anime called K-On! where 4 girls join their school’s music club and end becoming a real band that performs and it really relit that dream of mine. The following, year, I had my first band attempt with me playing keyboard.
Around 2016, I had my real Guitar Hero phase. I think the local movie theatre arcade had the game first, and/or my then boyfriend allowed me to borrow his Guitar Hero On Tour game for the DS. A bit after that, I decided to buy some used Guitar and Band Hero games for my Wii. Me and my sister really loved it.
Later that year, my boyfriend and I broke up (he’s sweet, but it wasn’t going to lead to a happy marriage, so why waste time?), I was looking for a productive distraction to keep me occupied. I was out of school, no internet or cable at home, just my video games. However, my sister may be playing a game on her own, or watching her DVDs on the TV.
I did consider getting better at Guitar Hero, but what’s the point, am I right? I’m sure like many Guitar Hero players, you have that thought of “if I put this time into learning the real thing….”
I was still hesitant though. I’ve avoided guitar my whole life, not because I was intimidated by it, but because it felt like everyone played it. I didn’t want to put so much time and energy into something just to be average. I’d rather learn something more unique, something with less competition….
But boy, does that game make you feel a certain way. It’s fun playing lead riffs, having the virtual crowd go crazy, and maybe even people near by in the arcade being amazed. And hey, it could help me make that band dream a reality.
I did make myself a serious promise though. I had a bad tendency to buy things to try out new hobbies that sounded really cool, but then I wouldn’t even try it, or would get intimidated. I was already broke and paying off student loans, so I promised myself that if I were to buy one, I had to stick at it and practice everyday to be decent.
And thus, me buying my first second-hand guitar, a Behringer Stratocaster and a Roland Mini Cube. Now, if you care about my guitar journey til now, you can read it in other articles, but that’s pretty much my thought process from playing Guitar Hero to actually picking up guitar.
While I did like rock music and I did have a band dream, I don’t think I would have actually given guitar a chance if not for the game. My favourite song was definitely Cliffs of Dover. I loved how melodic and peppy it was compared to the other darker, shredding tracks. It was definitely my goal when I picked up guitar….until I realized just how hard it was and how long it may take to actually cover that ^^”
BUT ANYWASSS, some ups and downs, a few month or year-long breaks here and there…..but I’m still committed. I do love guitar, and I’ve been able to do things with it that I was never able to do on other instruments, like songwriting and improvise. The fretboard makes patterns a lot easier to see, and I was able to make sense of the stuff I learned in school and do stuff with it.
During the pandemic, I picked it up again for real and started putting the band thing together. And during summer 2022, my rookie band got to debut. Our first was an acoustic gig at an anime convention, and a month later, we had a real rock gig at a smaller Japanese music event.
Does Guitar Hero skills translate well into real guitar? No, not really honestly, though it can help a bit with dexterity and the idea of reading or understanding tabs, but that’s about it.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2024: “No Longer Dreaming” Published!
If you’re a beginner or inexperienced musician who wants to break out in this competitive field, check out my new eBook! I started this blog when I was still a rookie guitarist with no experience, but with confidence and a plan, I created a band and we performed at a venue, conventions, and a festival in the span of 2 years.
As a solo musician, I’ve played for a church, got to be part of a high production music video, and was offered to perform at a huge event and play on an album. In this guide book, you’ll learn how to choose your style, niche & target audience, what to practice, how to find bandmates and organize rehearsals, how to promote yourself and/or your band, where to look for gigs, how to dress for photoshoots and the stage, how to network with people, and so much more! If you’re interested, click here for more details!
How About YOu?
Tell Me Your Story In The COmments!
Are you also a gamer turned rock star? Maybe you just like to play guitar in your bedroom, that’s fine too! If you picked up guitar because of this game, I’d love to hear your story! Feel free to share links as well ^_^
I started playing guitar in 1995. I was in high school. I went to a regional high school far from my home town. I made a lot of new smart funny friends–who, as it turned out, were all musicians. They were starting a indie/psych band–so I passed myself off as percussionist and played congas (badly) in that band for a while. Then I was hanging out every week with musicians and guitarists (we had three guitarists at least) and I started learning guitar. Then I took some lessons. The high school band didn’t really go anywhere… but I have played guitar pretty much every day since then. Now the story takes a dark turn… it was actually fairly frustrating for decades because I had lots of false starts at starting a proper band. I would jam with people–but few people shared my level of commitment to songwriting and performing–or if they did–my skills weren’t up to snuff to play with them. However, in the last six years everything has turned around for me. I stopped jamming with friends and started my band Double Star by placing an ad on Craigslist and being SUPER specific about what I was looking for and what I was looking to do… and that worked great. I found talented people who were committed and we’ve had a lot of success in the Boston, MA scene. We play multiple shows a month and have released two EPs with a third one in the works. Around that same time (6 years ago) I also started playing in a funk/soul student ensemble with a local music school–which probably improved my rhythm and my songwriting as well as my ability to communicate with other musicians.