“When you make a sound is more important than what sound you make.” –the pegboardist
“Western” music education is very complex and rewarding. It also has an atrociously high failure rate when you compare how many people took music lessons to how many still play music on a regular basis. There is something that this method of teaching misses (partly because there is so much to cover).
It misses groove. If you want to play music with other people, then understanding the groove is the most important skill by a mile.
The problem is that groove cannot be well conveyed on a piece of paper. I can’t easily read what a groove is like…
When rhythm games took over the world for a brief time with Guitar Hero & Rock Band raking in billions of dollars, the music community simply said “why not learn a real instrument?” and went on with their day.
What they missed is that by simplifying the complex musical movements and notation, players are able to engage with the groove right away. While having fun, their brain is learning how to predict and execute musical motions with rhythmic precision. It is terrific music education.
Rhythm games use animated beatmaps as notation. We want to explore how animated beatmaps and music education can work together. Groove can be taught. Let’s get people to play music with each other again.
This is not a replacement for traditional music education, but rather a powerful new tool for the educators.
Our Core Beliefs:
- When > What – in music, when you make a sound is more important than what sound you make.
- To master music, grow your Musical Mind – concentrating on how your brain recognizes and predicts musical patterns will help you gain skill on any instrument.
- Better Together – Locking into musical grooves with other humans is one of the best feelings in the world (at least top 5).