Can you learn to play the guitar on your phone?
Nowadays, we are used to browsing on internet and seeing applications of musical instruments, but have you ever thought that it can be a supplement of tutorial for students who haven’t learned any musical instruments before? Downloading innovative apps in the e-store is an entertainment for digital generation, now all of them offers more than just a new app, they seem like your private tutor and you can practice anywhere. I took part in an educational research which is interested in proving if instrument app could help user to learn real instrument; at first the participants have to practice the guitar with their mobile phone for a week. After a session, we record or write our progress and comments. Lastly, after all sessions, the researchers interview us about our experience using application in order to find out whether the mobile application is effective to learn the music instrument. Even though, playing the app seems like a video game, I still feel little frustrated because my fingertips were not skilful. At the beginning, I found some video tutorials on YouTube so as to learn more basic function and skills of playing guitar. Although I had learnt music theory, it’s difficult to remember and distinguish accurately the finger placement of different chords. Fortunately, I improved a bit in the practice in the last week. To be honest, using this app to simulate a real guitar still has some drawbacks which are difficult to overcome. For example, when you play a real guitar, you need to hold the string down firmly, but if you use this instrument app, your fingertips just need to touch the monitor screen. On the other hand, because smart phones don’t have the body part like real guitar, so it’s quite difficult to hold on my cell phone when I play this app. From my point of view, this app can help me to remember the finger placement and give me each chord sound accurately. Accurately, but if you really want to improve your playing skill, finding a professional tutor will be better for a beginner.
By Hsiao Han Kung
By Hsiao Han Kung