Rock Prodigy—for PC!

Rock Prodigy has been available for fans of iOS for quite some time now. Recently the guitar tuition system became available for PC users as well. I knew there was a reason I held onto my Windows machine!

So, how does the PC system work?

Luckily for me (and probably many other users as well) the system is very similar to the Rock Prodigy iOS software. You’ve no doubt read my article on Rock Prodigy—the app collection already. Hint hint. If you haven’t, let me give you a quick rundown on how Rock Prodigy works. Even if you have used Rock Prodigy for iOS, read on! I’ll explain why I think the PC version may be a more useful tool for people wanting to learn how to play the guitar.

Going through the screenshots I’ve uploaded with this article, you’ll see how Rock Prodigy looks when you first turn the program on (screenshot 1) and how the program then looks when you’ve logged in. You’re ready to learn (screenshot 2). As you can see, the Rock Prodigy for PC environment contains lessons, challenges and exercises. You can go through these in order, or pick and choose the session you want to participate in. I recommend using the lessons in order. Mainly because the dialogue you get from your guitar instructor will flow much better. I’ll talk about the guitar instructor more a bit later.

Screenshot 3 shows you the breakdown of the lessons in Rock Prodigy for PC. As you can see, in the early stages of this learning tool, you’re covering fretting, single notes, picking, chords, scales and more. This program is very thorough. Screenshot 4 gives a more detailed insight into what each lesson consists of by expanding the exercises in each lesson.

One thing I should mention is that this program shares another similarity with its iOS relative. That similarity is that you can either plug your guitar in to your computer directly (using the mic input) or you can play your guitar directly in front of your PC and let Rock Prodigy detect your guitar playing through your PC’s built-in microphone. Very cool. I had varied results when I first plugged in my guitar. I of course realised quickly that I was using a guitar I purchased off eBay for $27 and I should probably use one of my real guitars. As soon as I did that, I saw improved results (I’ll mention results later too).

One thing you should do when you are playing with a real guitar, is tune it. You can do this at the beginning of your session or you can pause your lesson to tune at any time. The built-in tuner that comes with Rock Prodigy looks like the image you see in screenshot 5. In real life it has colour too!

Of course when you realise you’re interested in Rock Prodigy for PC, you’ll also realise that this article doesn’t really tell you how to use Rock Prodigy. That’s why it’s a good thing the program includes its own tutorials. I feel better about my article knowing they’re there. You can see a list of some of the built in tutorials in screenshot 6.

Up until now, we’ve covered many things but we haven’t covered how the guitar playing component of the program works or looks. Well, it looks a bit like the image in screenshot 7 and it works by scrolling numbers from the right of screen to the left of screen (those numbers aren’t in the screenshot because I took the screenshot during a break in the play). This again is the same system used in the iOS versions of Rock Prodigy (for those who are already familiar). At the bottom of the screenshot you can see the progress of the lesson (timeline based) and at the top of the screen you can see the progress of the lesson (score based). If you’ve ever played any of the games from the Guitar Hero franchise, you’ll be familiar with the concept of the scoring. The more accurate you are, the higher your score is and the more multipliers you receive. As I mentioned when discussing the tuner, you can tune at any time and you do that by pausing your lesson (using the obvious pause button). You can also pause a lesson at any time if you want to exit the score-based lesson and practice part of a lesson you’re currently in. Screenshot 8 shows you what that looks like.

At the end of each exercise or lesson you are presented with your results. Screenshot 9 shows you how that may look. The system keeps a tally of your results which is great if you want to track your progress. It’s highly likely that over time you’ll see your results improve which can be very handy for beginner guitar players who may feel they’re not getting anywhere. I’ve based that on my own feelings over the years of course.

If you’re feeling confident about your results and/or you love the concept of connecting with other Rock Prodigy users, feel free to publish your results using the program’s built-in social media tools. Leave comments and show your shredability (that’s a real word).

One other item I mentioned earlier was the guitar instructor. I’ve saved this part for last, because you’re supposed to save the best for last. I have.

Even though you’re interacting with pre-recorded lessons, I found the narration in the Rock Prodigy lessons incredibly effective and well-toned. That may sound weird, but I have heard some online lessons where the narration may as well have been coming from a robot. These lessons still seem personal somehow by combining the narration style with the positive approach to play.

I think the Rock Prodigy for PC system is great. It’s just like having your own personal guitar instructor ready to teach at the time you’re ready to play. That’s perfect for people like me. I can be ready to play guitar at the weirdest hours.