I'm using the Mad Catz Wireless Fender Mustang Pro Guitar and my wife is using the Mad Catz Wireless Pro Keyboard. I have absolutely no experience playing any musical instrument (as I'm sure will be evident) and am rediscovering playing video games which I played as a major pastime in my youth. My wife has close to zero experience playing video games and is rediscovering the keyboard/piano which she took lessons on many moons ago.
So, between the two of us I think we've got the target demographics covered. I'll try to include her progress with mine when available, but for the most part I'll be documenting my experience with the game.
Pro Guitar:
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| Figure 1: Fret buttons |
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Overall, I've been impressed with the pro guitar. The fret board has a button for every fret position between 1 and 17 (figure 1). That's a total of 102 buttons. One for each string position you'd find on your average guitar. You'll also find six plastic strings down on the body of the guitar for picking and strumming (figure 2) instead a single rocker switch like the older 5 button guitars. The only thing I have been disappointed by is the missing whammy bar. Though I'd probably just mess up the song trying to use it at this point.
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| Figure 2: Bridge |
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People who can already play a real guitar will be quick to point out that the guitar's fret buttons only go up to fret 17 where real guitars go up to 21. They'll also point out that the buttons don't require the same amount of accuracy or pressure as real guitar strings. And I'm sure they're right.
In my opinion these things give us noobs a sometimes much needed low(er) barrier of entry to allow us to learn at least some basic finger positioning skills. At least that's my hope. I guess we'll see how easy it is to transition from the Pro Guitar to a real guitar once I get to the point that I want to pick one up.
Pro Keyboard:
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| Figure 3: Pro Keyboard |
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As for the Pro Keyboard (figure 3), well I can only tell you from second hand, but it seems to be accurate to the real thing based on how well my wife is playing. She's already passed me on the "Learn an Instrument" mode and is working on the advanced lessons. And I think that's GREAT! It's reassuring to know that it seems to be more useful to know how to play an instrument than it is to know how to play video games. Hopefully that means the things I learn while playing with the Pro Guitar will translate to useful skills playing a real guitar.
The only negative thing I've heard her say about the keyboard is that finger placement is a little different than playing on a full size keyboard or piano. No matter what 10 keys it shows on the screen there's never a "middle C". I'm not familiar with the concept, but apparently it makes determining your finger placement difficult.
We were initially concerned by the fact that the on screen keyboard only had 10 keys white keys (or a little more than an octave - whatever that means). But it turns out that the on screen keyboard will change from one side of the keyboard to the other at times. So, you can in fact use all the keys on the keyboard in a single song or lesson.
There are some significant differences in the lessons between the two instruments, but I'll save that for another entry.
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