- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 8 September 2009 20.29 BST
- Article history
Wyman believes fewer young people will take up real instruments. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe
Bill Wyman, the former Rolling Stones bass player, has criticised music video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, claiming they will lead to fewer young people taking up real instruments.
"It encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument".
"I think it's a pity," he said, speaking at Abbey Road studios while recording a charity Beatles song for Children in Need.
His concerns were echoed by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, who described the games as "an interesting new development".
Pink Floyd had not ruled out working on one in the future as a new way of selling music. But, he added: "It irritates me having watched my kids do it. If they spend as much time practising the guitar as learning how to press the buttons, they'd be damn good by now".
The news comes on the eve of the release of The Beatles: Rock Band game, which allows players to play along as The Beatles through their career in environments such as The Cavern Club in Liverpool, and Shea Stadium, the home of the New York Mets.
But Alex Rigopulos, co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems, which created the Rock Band series, refuted the musicians' claims.
"We're constantly hearing from fans who were inspired by Rock Band to start studying a real instrument," he said.
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