I finally got to play Rock Band at a friend's place over the weekend. It's very fun. I had never played Guitar Hero before, so my skills on the guitar were pretty crappy for the first few songs. By about the fifth song I could get through some of the simpler numbers on easy and sometimes medium difficulties.

The drums were a cinch for me on most of the songs, which I half expected since I've played "real" drums for a few years. Some of the faster tempo songs (Maiden, Ramones) pushed me to my speed limit, but I was able to get through most of the songs we played on medium or hard difficulty.

I concur with those who've said that the drums are the instrument that most closely map to real-life drumming ability. It definitely forces you to develop limb independence once the level gets medium or higher. I'd love to see them add a left foot pedal for hi-hat and double bass in the future.

What surprised me a bit was how easy the vocals are. I was able to get 70%-80% on the hard level of many of the songs, and I have no vocal talent whatsoever. What I can do, however, is see the little triangle thing pointing and telling me I'm flat or sharp, and change my voice accordingly. Does it take the little hint thingies away on expert level? Seems to me a vocal "expert" should know whether they're singing on key or not.

Anyway, fun game. Looking forward to its Wii release.