Can being good at video games help you with playing guitar?

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Were you a true “Guitar Hero” back in the day? Those skills might give you a leg up when it comes to actually playing guitar over other non-musicians. 

According to a 2016 study by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, people who played music video games like “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” outperformed non-musicians with their musical listening skills, including perception of melody, tuning, tempo, and rhythm.

The study looked at three groups: musicians who had formal music education, non-musicians, and music video game players. All of the groups took a Profile of Music Perception Skills – a test of basic musical listening abilities. 

The results showed that both musicians and music video game players scored higher than their non-musician peers. 

It wasn’t clear from the results whether music video games help sharpen musical skills, or if those who are good at the games simply have more natural musical abilities. But there’s a good chance that if you could beat “Through the Fire and the Flames” on expert in Guitar Hero, you can learn guitar in real life! 

Fret Zealot is great for music video gamers who want to make the leap into real-life instruments. The Fret Zealot app has hundreds of step-by-step video lessons so you can learn anywhere, anytime, and the optional LED attachment makes learning more visual – and much faster. Get started today. 

Meet the Fret Zealot Instructors – Andre Von Berlo

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In this new series, we’re introducing you to the Fret Zealot instructors! Fret Zealot has dozens of teachers with unique backgrounds and styles, so that you can find the one who’s right for you. 

Name: Andre Von Berlo

How long have you played guitar?
31 years

 

What got you into guitar?
A friend of mine played “Hotel California” on his acoustic guitar. I asked him to teach me the song. He said that I should start with something simple like “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan. I just kept asking until he agreed to do “Hotel California”. After about an hour I had it all memorized and it started to sound a bit like music. I never stopped playing since.

 

Why are you passionate about music?
It is the place where you loose yourself and find yourself at the same time. Time and space disappears and all there’s left is music.

 

Who is your favorite band/artist? 
I have too many to name but here are a few: Pat Metheny, Tommy Emmanuel, Mateus Asato, John Mayer, Gustav Mahler, Paco de Lucia, Django Reinhardt, Dream Theater, Scott Henderson, etc etc.

 

What’s your favorite style of music to play on guitar? 
Depends on my mood, currently I play a lot of gypsy jazz, Tommy Emmanuel and Mateus Asato tunes.

Check out some of Andre’s lessons and courses below! 

Time After Time 

Here Without You 

New Fret Zealot song lessons for September 2023

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Need to fall back in love with playing guitar?

Check out these song lessons we added in September 2023.

 

“Daydreamer” – Adele

“Daydreamer” is the first track off of British singer Adele’s first album, 19. She played guitar on the studio version of the track.

 

“Demons” – Imagine Dragons 

The music video for Imagine Dragons song “Demons” was dedicated to Tyler Robinson, a fan of the band who died at the age of 17 in March 2013 following a battle with cancer.

 

“Hey Joe” – Jimi Hendrix 

This lesson is a three-parter – learn the intro, solo and chord progression for this song!

 

“The Trooper” – Iron Maiden 

“The Trooper” is one of the English heavy metal band’s best-performing songs in the United States. The song is about a battle in the Crimean War called the “Charge of the Light Brigade at the Brigade of Balaclava 1854. Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote a poem of the same name in 1854.

 

“Give a Little Bit” – Super Tramp 

Supertramp co-frontman Roger Hodgson wrote “Give a Little Bit” years before the band recorded the track – when he was 19 or 20. Hodgson said that the song was inspired by The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love”. He told PROG in 2023, “Even at an unwizened young age when I wrote this song, I saw that the world needed love. I believed in love – it was always for love – and I just felt that was the most important thing in life.”

 

“All Out of Love” – Air Supply 

Australian soft rock duo Air Supply had a huge hit on their hands with 1980’s “All Out of Love”. The song had already been a hit in Australia after coming out in 1978 – but the original version had some different lyrics, including “I’m all out of love, I want to arrest you” – meaning to “get your attention. American record producer Clive Davis knew the line wouldn’t fly in America, so he suggested changing it to “so lost without you”.

 

We also dropped a new course!

Jack White Player Study 

Learn Jack White’s blues-inspired signature style with this course.