Rock Band 3 Pro Keys and Keys Trainer Hands On Impressions

Harmonix is set to take the Rock Band franchise to the next level with Rock Band 3.  We already know about the nuts and bolts of the game like, new pro instruments and modes, new tracks, new training, new menu system and more.  Recently I had a chance to spend sometime with the new Keyboard and it’s Pro Keys Mode and Keys Trainer.  These modes will truly give gamers a real instrument experience right on their console.

For those who have never played an instrument and want to, the Trainer mode is the best place to start.  Harmonix brought in various music instructors to help create specialized learning programs for each of the pro instruments.  These trainers teach you everything from theory, modes, chording and more. For keyboards you begin with simple single notes, and slowly progress to more complex combination, including chords and then working with the sharps.  The way the mode works is you start a lesson the game will show you on-screen what to do, and then you need to repeat the lesson till you get it right.  If you make a mistake the game will stop and show you what you did incorrect and then you begin again.  Once you have completed the lesson successfully you can either continue that lesson for more practice or move on to the next lesson.  And to make the trainer not only rewarding in the sense that you learn to play the keyboard, you also get points towards your overall career mode.  Unlike Rock Band titles past every mode in the game will contribute to your overall career progress.

Once you get the basics down you can then pull in any song from the game into the trainer and learn the song in steps.  After getting a hang of the keyboard I had a chance to bring the hit “Sister Christian by Night Ranger into the trainer mode.  The trainer then breaks down the song into small sections and you once again learn be repetition.  If you mess up you are shown what you did and then you do it again.  As you master a section you move onto the next section till you master the entire song.  After a few minutes of the beginning of the song I felt real comfortable that we were able to jump into the game and on Pro Keys Easy I was able to finish the song quite well.  While I felt like the translation of music note to the keyboard was solid, I had one issue when playing in a full group, the onscreen display for keys was really hard to see.  Due to the keyboard track requiring 17 notes to be coming down the screen the size of them was really compacted.  While this sizing issue won’t be an issue when playing in smaller groups or solo, in a full band you will need a big TV or be close with the keyboard.In about 10 minutes I went from no keyboard skills at all to being able to play the basic notes of Sister Christen and it was very enjoyable!

Rock Band 3 is looking really solid and will allow gamers to break out of plastic toy musicians.  The team has been doing an amazing job and I haven’t been this stoked for Rock Band since the first game debuted years ago.  The Pro Keys and Pro Keys Trainer are really great additions to the Rock Band Franchise.  Keep an eye on our twitter for our Hands-on Impressions of the Pro Guitar, and Pro Guitar Trainer.