Back to the Beatles game

I have been so busy with the piano and a bassoon performance, that I actually have not been playing the Beatles game at all. I guess part of the point of course was to play the piano more, which I have been doing. But since I have been prioritizing the real instrument playing, I have not been playing the game. I actually need a little time to blow off steam, so I don't know if I am accomplishing my goal of needing to  "goof off" by playing Brahms.I am pretty goal oriented, and to say I have been stressed out is an understatement these days..So, last night, after a bassoon performance with Kammerwerke, I came home and had a go at the Beatles game in "story" mode.

One of the goals with "story" mode is to collect photographs of the Beatles that you can browse in the game. You do this by accruing "stars" as you play. You can accrue stars by playing accurately when the colored diamonds on the fretboard light  up and you get the passages without flaws.  The thing that seems a tad 'unfair' or out of balance, or something, is that  if you play a song on a higher level, like Hard or Expert, you still accrue photgraphs at the same rate. There is no "weighting" for playing the songs at a higher level. You could accrue enough points at a lower level and achieve the photographs. I have been attempting songs at Hard or Expert and just can't quite get beyond three stars. So I get  one or two photographs, but even if I succeed (i.e. don't "Fail") at these higher levels, there is no compensation for doing so at a more difficult level.

I am currently stuck at a "three star" success rate. I "pass" the songs on Hard or Expert at about an average of a 84 % rate. (or a "B"in the high school where I teach) , but since I don't get four or five stars (and I am SOOO close sometimes), I get one photograph. If I lower my level to Medium, it is really boring. But what is the goal really? To accrue photographs and achieve a goal spurred on by extrinsic motivation? Or, is it to get better at the game?

Well, I do know it is a game after all. Still, I don't want to play the songs over and over to "win".

I played Guitar Hero World Tour before this and was succeeding at a 94% plus rate in guitar mode at the Medium level. This got pretty easy. But since I didn't always know the songs on the game, it was a little like "sight-reading" in a way, and I felt like I had accomplished something by passing the songs at first go 'round.

The Beatles songs seem a like whole different thing. I can't isolate the variable, so it is difficult to say if I am playing the game at a higher level becuase the game is eaiser, or because I "practiced" on GHWT, or for some other reason. I do notice that the earlier songs for guitar are harder. I have much more respect for the rhythm guitar role and George's solos than I ever did.

I am not an intense Beatles fan, although I do know about their music, listen to it, and when things get low in the dark months of the year here in New England, I watch "Hard Day's Night: and have a good laugh.I was born too late maybe, I don't know.  I also am a sort of Anti-Paul fan. I don't like him. Cuteness wears thin on me and I always wrote him off as a smarmy  dude who was lucky to outlive the other ones. Plus whats up with his too-young wives. I know I am being judgemental. But the Beatles game is changing all thins.

For one, the bass parts on the game are tricky. On hard and expert, you can hear how closely they resemble the original parts, and thanks to the marketing aspect of the game,  the sound fidelity is ramped up and you can hear much more on the game (even given my ancient TV) than I can hear on the speakers of my 2000 Honda Civic's sound system. Yeah, this music is complex. When you play their earlier tunes based even on 12 bar blues, they include riffs and flourishes that really make them stand out. Oh, so thats the big deal. It's not just their cool three part harmonies, which even as a kid I really liked.

As you play in guitar mode,you also get the opportunity to play George's solos. These are NOT simple (I mean on a real guitar) -- they come up quickly, and in this game, you can really hear them. So I am appreciating what a fine guitarist he was. I KNEW this, but even playing the plastic guitar, using a combination of my ear and game finger-flailing, I can hear and see what he added. I don't think any of the recordings I had brought that forth for me. It cracks me up that you can have a "perfect" solo, a "good" solo, or a "messy" solo. You get extra points for these as well. Cool.

The graphics are fun. I am still so intent on playing the game well, that I think I am missing some of the graphics. I am also still playing in righty bass mode or mostly guitar mode.As you get past "the Cavern" and Shea Stadium in "story ' mode, the graphics get trippier and trippier. I think it is time for a Rock Band party where we can, umm. play together and , er watch the graphics. Or something.

As you get into the later stuff -- Abbey Road and George's sitar work -- the game seems more like GHWT. You are not necessarily tracking guitar work with the game's plastic guitar. In GHWT, sometimes you would be playing a keyboard or something on the silly plastic guitar.  Same here. The Beatles left the rock and roll music thing behind them once they departed from their stadium tours and the game reflects this as well.

As a musician, I find myself betwixt and between., I am hearing Beatles music differently -- much more detail -- and this is due to the sound quality and the sym feature of playing Rock Band, as limited as it is.  I play a little guitar, and for one thing, I am not keeping the calluses in my left hand in good form by choosing to spend time away from the real instrument and playing the Rock Band instrument. YouTube has some vids of a guy who attributed his ability to play the real drums to the practice he got on Rock Band, I don't have Rock Band drums. Trying to see how the GHWT drums work with Rock band is on my to do list, for sure.  But what about my photograph accrual?