From Guitar Hero to ROLI Piano: How rhythm games became real music learning.
From plastic guitars to real piano keys, what began as a game is now a gateway to real music learning.
Levelled-up music learning
Many of us have a memory of playing rhythm games at some point in our past. Maybe it’s a memory of putting our synchronisation skills to the test, stomping away on an arcade dance machine, or, for those of us on the more musical side, picking up that tiny plastic guitar and mashing down on colored buttons to the tune of "Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce.
November 8th marks the 20th anniversary of Guitar Hero, the game that brought the dream of being a rock star to the living rooms and bedrooms of millions around the world, but the story of rhythm games goes back farther than plastic guitars or rock-star facades. From early button-press mechanics to full-bodied dance pads, living-room band kits to piano-based interactive learning, rhythm games have continuously explored how music can be played and enjoyed, but also stand as a prime example of how musical games can become real music learning. Today, with the ROLI Learn app and ROLI Piano, that lineage reaches a new iteration. We’ve moved past the illusion of playing an instrument and built a bridge to actual music learning and performance.
Early iterations of timing-based play
One of the earliest examples of rhythm and timing-based gameplay is Dance Aerobics on the Nintendo Entertainment System, using the NES's 3x4 dance mat, the Power Pad, as a controller. While primitive, the 1987 game required players to step on the pad in time with patterns set to music. The main concept was simple: coordinate your movement and rhythm to clear the level. While simple, it laid the groundwork that the future onslaught of rhythm and musical games would later follow, and by the mid-1990s, this concept exploded into the mainstream.
In 1996, PaRappa the Rapper emerged as a landmark rhythm game, developed by NanaOn-Sha. "PaRappa the Rapper is a rhythm game in which … the player must make PaRappa rap in response to the teacher by pressing the buttons with the correct timing." With a killer rap-based soundtrack and the game’s distinct visual aesthetic, replete with vibrant graphics, players became part of the experience of beatmaking to a degree — press buttons in sync with a teacher’s rap cues; the better the timing, the higher the rating, and ultimately, the better the song sounds and feels as you play along.
Added to that, the ranking system (Cool, Good, Bad, Awful) rewarded performance and allowed a “freestyle” mode once the player achieved the “Cool” rank. This freestyle mode takes the game from simply being a case of matching the rhythm presented to the player, but gives them a chance to express some musical creativity.
Simultaneously, arcades and bedrooms turned into DJ booths with the introduction of Beatmania in 1997. The Konami title introduced keys and a turntable controller to gameplay, as players pressed five keys and scratched a turntable in time with the cascading notes, a format that many of us know very well.
Full-body engagement: Dance Dance Revolution
In 1998, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) transformed rhythm gameplay by mapping foot movement to music. A major upgrade from the early mechanics introduced with Dance Aerobics, players stepped on an illuminated dance pad, corresponding with the cascading illuminated arrow cues on the game screen. What’s more, the Konami classic was synced with a music library of licensed contemporary music from an expansive range of genres, as well as original songs produced by Konami's in-house artists. Personalising the gameplay experience in this way further immerses players, taking the power of the mind-body connection inherent in the gameplay to new heights with the added emotional connection we have with music.
As a result, DDR was quite literally revolutionary. Rhythm games became more physical, kinetic experiences than ever before, and with the addition of music that we know and love, we made formative memories as we danced and played along. This shift expanded the appeal of rhythm-based games and showed the power of musical interaction and gameplay.
Living room rock stars: Guitar Hero and Rock Band
Perhaps the most significant turning point in the evolution of rhythm-based gameplay came when developers Harmonix and publisher RedOctane, inspired by Konami’s arcade hits GuitarFreaks and DrumMania, set out to bring the rock-based rhythm game genre from Japan to North American audiences.
The early 2000s exploded with landmark titles such as Guitar Hero (2005) and later Rock Band (2007), completely transforming the shape of home console gameplay. With the advent of Guitar Hero, players could live out their dreams of superstardom with a guitar-shaped controller, pressing colored fret buttons and strumming a bar in time with the flaming fretboard of scrolling notes. This controller was also quite innovative in its proximity to emulating what it would be like to play the guitar for those without the technical skill.
The first release, on November 8, 2005, in North America, used cover versions of 30 rock songs spanning decades of air guitar anthems. Rock Band built upon that model, adding drums, vocals, and multi-player band performance, turning the concept into a full ensemble experience. Arguably, players were still a few practice sessions short of being able to take on Wembley or MetLife Stadium. But one thing’s for sure, the games democratized music performance to a degree. Even players with no musical background could pick up the plastic instrument and feel like rock stars. They taught timing, coordination, and pattern recognition, and it was a widely accessible way for people to experience what it was like to play music.
Beyond simulation: the limitations of traditional rhythm games
With all its innovation, the rhythm game genre also had its limits. Games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band offered immersive performance simulation, but they didn’t necessarily teach transferable musical skills. Pressing buttons in time gave the feeling of music, but not always the mechanics of real instrument playing: sight-reading, fingering technique, phrasing, or dynamic expression. They remained, fundamentally, games; highly engaging but largely separate from real-world musicianship.
That’s where we come in.
With the ROLI Piano, Piano M, and the ROLI Learn app, the rhythm game ethos evolves, with real music learning as the primary goal. ROLI Learn gamified the sometimes-daunting piano lesson experience, giving learners transferable skills that can be taken off the RGB-lit keys and applied to any keyboard or grand piano. The ROLI Learn app supports four different views to guide learners towards reading sheet music. Starting with Cascade View (the most Guitar Hero-like view), learners progress to the Rainbow and ColorNote views before ultimately acquiring the skill of reading sheet music and recognising note names. The rhythm-game-inspired mechanics become a scaffold for real musical ability.
Arcade-style games within the app—such as SuperLuminal and Springboard—use gameplay mechanics borrowed from rhythm games and redirect them toward musical learning. SuperLuminal challenges players to shoot asteroids and enemy ships by playing the correct keys; each “dimension” corresponds to a key signature, and some asteroids appear in scale or chord formations, with visuals mirroring the note highways of Guitar Hero.
Springboard brings more nostalgia into the mix, following a platformer or sidescroller style reminiscent of Super Mario. Learners navigate a band through levels while strengthening keyboard coordination and note knowledge. With both these games, playing is intrinsically tied to learning.
Plus, with an extensive library of thousands of contemporary and classical songs to learn along to, ROLI Learn makes sure that the emotional connection we have with music bolsters our learning experience. Having fun playing along to your favourite songs is a big part of the reason why we all want to learn to play music, after all.
Real music learning that scales
One of the most powerful aspects of this evolution is the desire to increase accessibility to music while giving learners greater depth in their musical understanding. Traditional rhythm games offered low entry barriers to performance: pick up the plastic guitar, follow the colored prompts, and feel like a rock star. ROLI Piano and the ROLI Learn app riff off that — taking the fun, game-like, reward-driven experience but offering a path into deeper musical understanding.
Learners can start their musical journey with an arcade-style experience that introduces them to scales, chords, key signatures, and sight-reading, rewarding them with feedback and pushing their skills with challenges and high scores. With time, learning piano becomes less about beating their personal best and more about building real piano skills that will last a lifetime and deepening their connection with music.
From past to present: A lineage of musical play
Twenty years on from Guitar Hero, the core appeal of rhythm games—syncing with music, mastering timing, performing—remains intact, but what ROLI shows is that the appeal doesn’t need to end with simulation. If anything, it opens the doors to real music learning and performance. The journey of rhythm games has always been about engagement with music. With ROLI, that engagement becomes something tangible: real skills, expression, and artistry.
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