So this week I was able to start playing and I'm so excited about it! I download an app made by the same company as made GuitarTuna (Ovelin) and this game is called GuitarBot. The way the app works reminds me of many games I've played and loved such as Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and Where's my Water. The idea is that you go through a series of tasks, each one getting slightly more difficult. With each on you complete, you get up to three stars, depending on how well you completed the task. In GuitarBot, there is a whole song split up into 3 or 4 sections. You can play each section individually or choose to play it all at once. I did it by going through each of the sections and then playing it all together.
What I love about this program is that it really walks you through every step you need to go through in learning the guitar. When I tried to do this 10+ years ago, I just picked a song I wanted to play and started trying to play them without having any experience plucking on single strings and moving up and down the frets on the single strings. This is a much easier way to learn and will probably help me a lot by the time I get to playing songs with chords. It's also nice that the parts I am playing make up a song. Not a song that I know, but they are cute little ditties and I'm having fun playing them. :-) Here's another screenshot that shows you the different sections of the game at the top level. I've gone through strings and frets and am on melodies. I'll probably get to my first chords next week!
One aspect of the game that is quite annoying, but probably also a good thing is that when you have the free version, it cuts you off after a certain amount of time playing daily. Once you reach your limit, you have to wait up to 10 minutes to play another set. Since I have so much fun doing this, it's probably a good thing that it stops me so that I can actually get back to the other classwork I need to do or to my family. My daughter is having fun hearing me play and keeps asking me to play that song again, so at least this is an activity I can do with her around. She wants me to get her a kid's guitar too, so maybe she'll start to learn! It's fun to have her see me learning something from scratch. Here's the page that comes up when the game won't let you play again. You can pay something like $15 a month to open it up and play as much as you want, but I think I'll stick with the free version for now.
Another thing about the game is that it helps you with every aspect of playing, including timing, hitting the right frets and strings and how you do overall in a song. During each song you play, it gives you instant feedback as to whether your timing is too early, perfect or too late. Then, after you finish that part of the song, it'll give you an overall idea of how you did in the song. I've noticed that when I have songs that require me to move up and down frets a lot and to different strings, I'm often late. In those cases, I like to go back and play those tunes over until I feel more comfortable with them. I also have that sort of perfectionist way that I don't want to go on if I don't have the full 3 stars for every song. Here's the screenshot you get after a song.
This is almost like an advertisement for this app, isn't it? Maybe I should send my blog to the company and let them use it. :-) I do really like it, but I have a feeling that hard core guitar people would think this was way too cheesy. However, people love apps and game and this is a fun way to learn. There have been a lot of math and education talks on how to make education more like video games. This is a great example of how you can learn something with this format. I could definitely see creating a math game in this format. This could be a fun way for kids to learn independently without watching videos, but instead have a game that helps them to walk through various tasks, starting with easier ones so that they feel more confident and moving up to more difficult ones. I'll have to think more about this and maybe find myself an app developer who can help.
I love this! I feel like the makers of this app watched Dan Meyer on how students like to learn. The way it is set up is brilliant. You are taken step by step and given timely feedback along the way. Even limiting your time has you coming back wanting more. I would love to do this with math, Maybe not literally, but with the same general principles. I enjoy that levels are locked until you have enough background knowledge so as not to overwhelm you but still allow you to be successful. I think you should advertise the app (maybe tweet it and include the creator. I even like the inspirational quotes about working hard from one of the most respected guitar player ever. I have a much better idea of what your app is like and how it is helping you learn. Thank you for the insightful post!
Tiffany,
This is an awesome post! I agree that the company would probably love to see your writing. The pics are great too.
Here are a few of my standard questions for my #20time students:
What tool are you using to archive/curate your resources and if you have them, are they connected to this blog?
jeff
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Tiffany Obrien
3/3/2014 01:17:51 am
Jeff, I'm a little confused by your question. The resources I'm using are exactly the ones I'm posting on the blog. I am using the blog to archive my learning and the resources.
Hi Tiffany,
thank you very much for this excellent post! We are happy you like our game, and hope you learn a lot from it! Happy Jamming!
Chris and the GuitarBots team
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