Wii Music

I need to do more research on the subject. For my family, Wii Music has been a wonderful breath of fresh air. My siblings are almost all grown, but also musicians. I never got that talent.

Today, my Sister and I did a song together. We used almost all vocals, except for the Japanese drum. This might seem weird at first, the music was beautiful. Part of it was simply the combination of a 4 part vocal group with a taiko (I am going to bet that Taiko means drum in Japanese, so I really shouldn't say Taiko drum). We each did our different parts, and then redid them to make it sound better. In the end, it was quite nice.
Wii Music is about making music. Not about hitting the right notes, it is more about taking music and making it your own. Where Guitar Hero makes you play a song made by a great artist, Wii Music lets you understand how they make it.

I compare this to Weird Al's movie UHF. During one part, they had a music video. In the commentary Al talks about how one of his guitarists worked to make the music sound just like the actual creator of the song. Then the actual creator of the song signed up to play it. It didn't sound just like him playing it on the record, yet it felt more like him.

This entire thing is to arrange and play music, to feel more like how you view music. I realized how much this meant, when I began to first play the game. It begins with a simple tutorial on how to play the different instruments. There are 4 movement types only, applied to several different instruments. I played the vocals in the same way I played the flute and trumpet. It was more like pretending to play them, then really playing. If you can't actually play the instrument, and just mimmiced what you imagined it to be played like. I was playing the piano enjoying the little movements I was making. These little game characters appeared, and played with me. It matched my style perfectly. We jammed for a few seconds, made a little CD with cover album, and then got to see the main menu to the game.

I saw my Mii playing an instrument with the background music. Without really thinking, I began to mimmic the movements. My Mii began to play as well. I was jamming with the background music. It felt so wonderful, to be able to play, and enjoy music with others.

Today I took a song that happens to be in my hymnal. I had mostly vocals, a Sitar, and a bass drum. I specifically made it a little off, let the rhythm not work with everyone going in seperate ways. My Mom looked up and said it sounded wonderful.

The over the top gamer will not get this game. He will look for a score, or for getting all of the songs. Instead, you should play the songs, show it to your friends, then play songs together. Add some style and fun. If you can't figure out your style, there are some helpful lessons on different styles. From Jazz to Tango, to Classical. So much work just to figure out the style, and then try it out on your own.

I feel better with music by just playing this game. I feel like I have learned all sorts of amazing things with it. I fully recommend this game. Go get it, play it, then try another style. This is something I want to share with everyone.