Rocker? I barely know her!

When I moved into my dorm, one of the most important things for me was the question "Could I bring my Rock Band video game with me?". Luckily I could, and that coupled with my Xbox360 soon led to people coming over occasionally and asking to play. During the various sessions, I got to thinking about the nature of music- and rhythm-based games.

First and foremost, Rock Band allows people to come together and almost instantly forges a sense of camaraderie among the players. Everyone is invested in trying to keep each other from failing out during songs, which happens if you miss a high number of notes in succession. Already Johnson's thesis is shown at work, with the players' capacity for following multiple streams of information coming into play. Not only are you responsible for timing and hitting your own instruments correctly, but also pay attention to save others if they fail. Additionally, the companionship that develops between the players is beneficial to one's social IQ.

These games are promoting intelligence and learning in more ways than this however. By focusing on songs that are both popular and challenging, the game forces the player to critically examine the music they are listening to. What is the tempo for this song? What is the rhythm for this beat? The game compounds this by introducing true-to-life guitar terms such as hammer-ons and chords. In this way the players are learning, if only tangentially, about actual music theory, and opening the door to the possibility of one day moving beyond the realm of plastic guitars and towards actual instruments and theory.

Viewed in this light, it is easy to see how college can be beneficial for learning even beyond the classroom. As students are exposed to games, either like this or, as Johnson shows in his book, by focusing on non-linear puzzles, or any other number of things. In this example, the music game builds both social intelligence by providing a platform for mass interaction, and purely intellectual development by teaching about musical instruments and theory.