Rock Band questions

So I did my research (and got help here long ago) and got RB2 and BRB.

A co-worker is thinking of getting RB for her nephew (?) whom my wife and I have deemed as pretty musically talented. So now it's my job to do the research again and figure out the best deal for them to get a RB set going for him and his brother.

The conclusion I've come to so far is that I should suggest:

Rock Band 2: Special edition (guitar, mic, drums)
Rock Band 3 Bundle (keyboard)

Depending where they buy this will run about $240-300. In my estimation this is the best and cheapest way to get all of the stuff. Does anyone else have any suggestions or more info about importing stuff or keyboard parts for older RB?

If she's getting him Rock Band to try to nurture his musical talents, the pro guitar is probably a pretty good idea. Otherwise, it's just a game. :P

I'd say the drumming is pretty solid for helping with real rhythmic skill. That independence and subdivision is not natural for most people and I think that's a good thing.

I've looked into how the keyboard thing works, and while it's unnatural for me (I'd rather read music), I think the ability to get your fingers used to playing intervals without being able to look constantly at your hands is helpful. Sure, it's only a jumping off point, but it's a hell of a lot more fun than weeks of five-finger exercises.

The vocal stuff is also good. Not everyone can just sing on pitch and the game gives you instant feedback about where your pitch lies in relation to the actual pitch you're trying to hit. This can help undeveloped ears.

The guitar is practically useless musically other than reinforcing rhythm concepts.

Keep in mind the kid is 10. He's more talented than most of his classmates but while most people take for granted being able to clap a steady beat in time with a song, or sing it or even tap their foot with something.

I'm excited about the pro guitar, but I'll personally reserve judgement until I see it in action. I'm inherently skeptical about the pedagogical worth of music games. I'm currently not keen on the idea of just a push button guitar (even if the hands are in the right position) because it doesn't emulate the exactitude of where the fingers need to be and the amount of pressure needed to hold the strings (especially for an acoustic). However, with actually guitars that work with RB3 coming out, I'm hopeful and excited. I do think learning the hand positions will be good, but I'm already bothered by the fact that the keyboard doesn't have weighted keys (though they are at least velocity sensitive).

They should get him $300 worth of drum lessons. I love guitar hero for fun, but as a person who bought the drum kit bundle and also has been playing drums for a long time I can tell you that the two don't help each other very much. Haven't played the new keyboard but I assume that it'd be a lot better for learning, the pro guitar is just retarded though. At that point there's no excuse for just not buying a real guitar.

Like the keyboard, I'm not sure it will teach him how to play anything for real, but the concepts are there. Non-drummers have a hell of a time with the drums and drummers can play them quite a bit more easily. There's obviously a skill in there. Being able to subdivide different beats with different parts of your body is a skill.

It's unlikely he would stick it out with real lessons in anything. I think this could help him with music fundamentals and give him a jumping off point if he wants to pursue music more seriously at some point.

Also, he's in the middle of friggin' nowhere. I doubt there's anyone he can take real drum lessons from other than some local "drummer." Sorry, the only people I'm more skeptical of than guitar teachers is drum teachers. There are at least 4 people in my neighborhood (whose homes I pass regularly when taking evening walks) that have what look to be $1000ish trap sets rotting in their garages.

Also, $300 worth of lessons still won't buy him an instrument. I hear his parents are thinking of getting him piano lessons (and apparently have some sort of real piano), but I hate the thought that he's going to take from some old church lady who doesn't know crap and makes him work on boring 5-finger patterns for weeks. There's something to be said for that stuff, but I get disgusted at how bogged down some instructors get on perfecting fundamentals.

It doesn't matter how good a student is at fundamentals if they get so sick of music that they no longer want it in their lives. I think parents that put their kids on the piano at 3 years old and then make them practice 3 hours a day every day of their youth... I think it's borderline child abuse.... but that's another issue.

Basically he's a kid with a little talent. He likes music. He might have fun with RB and I think he could learn some really rudimentary things in the interim. I'm not trying to educate him unless it's as a side-effect.

Rock Band is fantastic for introducing kids to music they would not normally be introduced to, so yes it is important for a musicaly talented kid. Rock Band 3 has more "big ones" like John Lennon, The Doors, and Bob Marley, plus you get a lot of downloadable content. The keyboards are fully fuctional out of Rock Band as well, you can play them through any USB port.

I don't really have a lot of advice, but I think this is a fantastic idea. I haven't heard much about the keyboard, but I know the drums are a very good tool to help with rhythm and limp independence. I used to play a lot on RB/GH before my set broke and I feel it helped me out at least a bit.