Today, after downing a number of frosty, tummy warming libations with some good friends, I returned home with them and settled in for a few good hours of the addictive game Guitar Hero. Now, I’ve seen the game advertised on television and thought it looked pretty cool, but I never thought I would be as taken with it as I was. For a competitive soul like myself, I felt like the game taunted me. I felt compelled to beat this damn thing. My friends told me that I was pretty good considering it was my first time, but I wanted to get every note right. I wanted to actually be the hero of guitars. Didn’t happen. Still, I found it hard to pull myself away.

The game allows you to play some of the best in rock songs, metal, 80’s rock. Stuff like Santana and The Pretenders and Guns and Roses and Metallica, etcetera, etcetera. And while I played, it occurred to me how cool it would be if they made a jazz version of Guitar Hero. Right? I mean, imagine trying to replicate the solos of Grant Green or Kenny Burrell or the nimblest of fingers in Charlie Christian. Instead of a loud stadium setting, they could put you in some lazy, blue lit nightclub. You could be wearing an old, somewhat worn suit, dark shades and have a perpetually smoking cigarette protruding from your mouth. I think that would be awesome and challenging as well. It may not sell as well, but I think it would sell enough to warrant producing it. There could be blues and classical versions too.

Perhaps the popularity of the game will cause the makers of Guitar Hero to consider expanding their repertoire.