A waste of time? Or an effective learning tool? - Assessing the effectiveness of a digital games-based learning approach in music education

Abstract

This research is a multiple case study on four participants who had access to the game Rocksmith 2014 remastered for sixty days. Following the sixty-day period, a post-test was conducted. The participants were assessed by two guitar experts and then interviewed by the researcher to understand if Rocksmith was an effective way to learn how to play the guitar. At the time of the interview, these participants were aged between 25 and 28 years and had varying levels of experience playing the guitar and video games. The findings suggested that as a learning tool, Rocksmith can teach certain guitar playing skills. These include (but are not limited to): teaching technical skills (such as knowing how to hold the guitar, correct and efficient left and right-hand technique, tremolo picking, sliding, and moving across the fretboard efficiently). Despite this, the interviews revealed that the participants did learn about other aspects of guitar playing, such as being able to play hammer-ons and pull-offs. In their interviews, the participants expressed a belief that Rocksmith is a useful tool for learning. Still, they also said that it was hard to find the motivation to continue playing. While they described their experience of playing Rocksmith as enjoyable and immersive, they also expressed having little motivation to continue playing. The study further tried to assess whether the skill of being able to read guitar tablature was transferable outside of the game. The findings revealed that this was inconclusive and that further study needed to be conducted.