Pictured: The Guitar Hero 5 Drum Kit

I would rather like to spend time learning to play a real guitar then spending it on these Rock bands/Guitar hero games. Not bashing the games. Just pas mon fort.

Any drummers on the board? Would a game like this do ANYTHING toward learning to play the drums? From a non-drummer it looks to me like drumming on these games is a lot closer to the real thing than the "guitars" are.

As an accomplished, multi-instrument playing, musician, I would like to go on to say that learning to play Guitar Hero was like learning to play any other instrument. Personally, I think the $400 spent to play a limited amount of songs could have been better spent on an inexpensive guitar, where you can play any song you want. Or... *gasps* write a few songs on your own!

Being a leader instead of a follower? I know... tough stuff.

This kit has what the previous ones DIDN'T, and that is realistic placement of all the parts. Left to right on the top row we have the high hat and crash. On the bottom row you have your snare, tom, and "floor tom", plus kick pedal. This is a good basic kit that you can play almost any type of music with. As a drummer, I think I can safely say that if you learn to play this well, after a couple "real world" lessons, you'll be well on your way.

I played drums from an early age through high school. My first "drum" that I owned was a little rubber pad used for practicing. From the looks of this, it could be possible to learn to play drums on it. Though I doubt the games teach any of the technique needed to play drums in reality or read sheet music.
The layout is wrong for teaching to play a drum set though.

D_Kuhn I don't play "real" drums but i have MEGA hours in on the drums on World Tour and Metallica Guitar Hero.

In my personal opinion the drums unlike the Guitar certainly do teach you to move limbs independantly and are similar to real drums. I would compam willing to bet if you became a pro on these drums you would learn "real" drums pretty darn quick. The Guitar on the other hand is nothing like a real guitar.

I'm certainly no drummer but I am of the opinion that this CAN help you learn to play the real drums but for one reason only... Coordination. It will help your hands and feet operate independently of each other which is crucial for drumming. Other than that, no. That's my opinion at least.

all these guitar hero games are confusing me. when guitar hero 5 comes out is it going to have a band kit bundle or just a game and guitar option. if it has a bundle with drums and mic then why come out with another version 1-2 months later and call it band hero?

They are driving their own genre into the ground.

I played the S out of Rock Band and now I have a real kit and can play Cherub Rock by Smashing Pumpkins on it fairly well from repetitive copying from the RB chart.

Rockband/Guitar Hero Drumming will not teach you any of that which is something real drummer need to know...."rudiments"

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http://www.vicfirth.com/education/rudiments.html

Sorry it didn't take the link

I'm a drummer, and the answer is yes and no. It isn't horrible, but it skips over any fundamentals required to be a good drummer. It makes you good at hitting things fast and without much control, but not any solid stick control (you should be using your fingers much much more then your arms/wrist, and you shouldn't have to hit the drums hard to be able to hit them fast) and basic drumming rhythms and styles (such as the paradiddle, flams, swiss army triplets, rim shots, high hat control, proper builds, creativity, etc).

In short it does more then a guitar hero guitar does for a normal guitarist, but by no streach of the imagination does it make you a good drummer.

I've been playing drums for 17 years, and my limited experience with these games is that they're good for learning rhythm, keeping a steady tempo, building independent coordination of limbs (mainly being able to hit the bass drum off beat without also having to hit something with your right hand - really difficult for beginners to do quarter notes on a hi-hat while hitting eighth notes on the bass), and indicating the kind of role a drummer plays in a band - learning to be solidly on time, how to transition in and out of fills, and whether or not you find that kind of performance enjoyable.

It's not going to teach you the physical techniques involved playing real drums (though if you go with an electric kit it won't matter nearly as much, and the newer RB/GH drum sets are actually fairly decently close to a beginner's electric set) - you won't have 'feel' or 'groove', or (even know how to properly hold a stick) but those take years to develop anyway. I wouldn't expect to join a band without a few months practice even if you're nailing 100% on hard but I think the game is valuable in developing your internal metronome and getting used to standard rock rhythms. In other words, the benefits are primarily mental, but ARE transferable to the actual instrument.

I personally think Activision is going the wrong way in their GH series. They should focus on downloadable content and stop over saturating the market with a plethora of GH games. GH and Rockband won't teach anyone how to use a real guitar, but the drummming, especially Rockband with the Ion kit, is a great starting point.

I'm a intermediate drummer and I can tell you I've tried out of those "drum sets" with miserable results. It's just not accurate or realistic enough, generally.

Wow lots of drummers on the board... cool. I bought a couple RB and GH games as a way to have fun with my boys... and we played them a LOT and had a lot of fun just listening to classic tunes my kids hadn't heard before and goofing off. I got pretty good with the guitar as did my kids.

Interestingly, after playing these games for maybe 6 months, BOTH the boys wanted real instruments... and both have learned to play (the oldest now plays drums and guitar, youngest bass). I attribute that interest in large part to these games, while they don't teach you HOW to play, they definitely instilled in the boys a desire to learn the real thing.

The oldest just bought his fourth guitar (an American Strat), and the youngest just got his "dream bass" (Gibson Thunderbird), they have a band and have played at a couple of school dances and parties. The games are a bit silly... but no doubt they were the best "bang for the buck" money I've ever spent on a game given that both kids now have a lifelong love of music and playing.

Guys it's a game...people know that playing GH or RB will not make them any more of a real musician. When people play COD or any of the Tony Hawk games do they instantly think they can do those things in real life?

I have a busy schedule and it's fun on the weekends to just pop in GH play a few songs and be entertained. I don't have the time right now to learn how to play a real instrument. It's for fun that's all.

The games used to be fun at first. They still are, but it's true that I'd now better start learning to play a real guitar instead. GH gives you the false impression you're actually good at the guitar! Je suis très poche!

It's easy to bash games like this, but they are still great games. When I was a kid, we took plywood and cut them in guitar shapes, draw a keyboard on a square one, took cushions for drum kids and blasted the stereo as we played as a band. Now, you get to actually be involved with these games.

Great party games too.

For someone who has never really played an instrument GH drums have been priceless. Before I started the GH drums I couldn't even hold a beat in my head. Fast forward... Now I can complete several songs on Expert and I find myself listening more to the drumming in songs and following along in the car. Now I know that this by no means makes me a drummer, but I know for a fact that I'm now much more apt to keep a beat in a song on real drums than I would have been without GH.
I like it to driving. Just because you have a drivers license doesn't mean that you are a racecar driver, however you at least have an understanding and some ability to work with that you didn't have before you got your license.

not everyone is capable of learning guitar and drums so no one should say that they should pick up a real one

Well, I used to play drums when I was younger ( I wasn't good at all). But I believe that while this doesn't really 'teach' you how to play anything, it does kind of get you to learn rhythm...somewhat. If you play the songs on easy, it teaches you nothing. But once you get good enough to play songs on expert it does kind of 'guide' you - for lack of a better word - closer to being able to actually play drums. With that said...the drums and the microphone are the closest to being the 'real thing' on these games. After playing RBII on the basic set I bought the crash expansion and bought a 2nd kick pedal (with a self built circuit to allow you to actually use the 2nd pedal) to make it slightly more realistic. The 2nd kick is by no means close to having a real 2nd kick, but I needed it since there is no real action on the pedal to get those quick kick notes in rapid succession.

Since being able to play about 90% o the RB songs on expert I really want to graduate to a real set of drums and have been searching for a cheap used kit...but alas, not having the fundage for anything decent has prohibited me from pursuing my dreams of becoming an avid drummer/percussionist.

Just want to add to the comments about RB/GH drums and learning to play real drums -

I think it's a great way to supplement drum lessons. It gives you lots of excuses to practice, but as has been noted, it doesn't teach you the basic fundamentals you need to be a good drummer. If you just want to sit down at a kit and impress some non-musician friends, it'll get you there, but if you actually want to play in a band or something, you'll definitely want to get lessons in addition to playing the game. One of the hardest things about learning any instrument is finding the time to practice - if you can combine game time and practice time, it's a big help.

guitar hero 5 better work with guitar hero world tour drums and guitar... i dont want 2 be buyin a new drum and guitar 4 it, also... does ne1 no wen gh5 is coming out in UK?

its actully the kit for that band hero, the pop version of guitar hero that is being released along sing gh5. good kit tho, could be on both games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDsIbXQQbo&feature=fvw

I'm a drummer, and I think that guitar hero drums could give you more useful skills towards learning the drums than say... The guitar hero guitar giving you skills towards playing the guitar.

It's great for developing a good sense of rhythm and coordination, which are important concepts to grasp for people just starting to play the drums. Anything below medium though isn't really much like an actual drum part, though... And it's not going to help you're ability to say, read music... But... Sure, it's a fun way to get some basic skills.