The iPad as guitar teacher

While I didn't intend for my blog posts to be solely focused on video games as guitar teachers, it seems as if some of the more exciting new guitar instruction tools are looking to capitalize on the popularity of games like Guitar Hero by creating instructional tools/games for a real guitar that mimic the Guitar Hero style. In this article from All Things Digital, they interview one of the founders of a new iPad app called Rock Prodigy. A closeup of the first few frets of the fretboard takes up the whole screen while the notes scroll from right to left, showing you the string and fret that need to be played. In the video below, you'll see a demo of how the game works and it looks to be a fantastic way to get you comfortable with the fretboard and learn some new songs in the process.

The app is a free download, and each song will cost $1.99, so this works out to an incredibly affordable (and fun) way to start learning guitar. They claim that it's available for both the iPhone and iPad, though I find it hard to imagine that using it on the iPhone is all that realistic, given the screen size. I downloaded it to my own iPhone and, while it is feasible to set it on a table and play the guitar along with the app, it is a bit of a challenge. Though with an iPad, it's no problem at all to see the notes scroll across the screen. For more information on the app, you can visit the Rock Prodigy site.