Letters to the Editor
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KIds are laying down their Xbox controllers and picking up Strats
I used to have a recurring dream where I was playing smokin' lead guitar--improvising and jamming like crazy. Although I'd been able to strum a few basic chords since I was 10, I had no idea about how to play lead guitar until my mid-40s (I'm 50 now), when I happened to take a few guitar lessons from a teacher who explained the pentatonic scale and how to play it.
Once I understood scales and how to play them on the guitar, I eventually became mildly proficient at playing/jamming lead licks on the guitar in any key.
Now that I know how to play lead guitar, guess what: that's right--I no longer have the recurring dream about playing lead guitar.
One reason middle-aged men are picking up Strats is because being middle-aged and financially-established, they can afford them. They can also afford to buy musical equipment for their kids, which is one reason why the kids are losing interest in video games, and forming bands everywhere. Another reason is that playing music is the ultimate game--it's different every single time you play it.
BTW, I'm sure somebody is already at work trying answer the question of why proficiency at playing Guitar Hero doesn't translate into proficiency at playing real guitar, and vice versa. My own theory is that Guitar Hero is a visual game, while playing real guitar is an auditory game.