Playing Music with Pump It Up

     Do you know anything about playing music? Well, generally, playing musical instrument is called “Playing Music”. But, have you ever heard that playing a game could be called as "Playing Music"? Here I would like to give you other point of view about an alternative to play music although you can not play any musical instrument. Besides, you even can improve your sense of music. And other interesting thing is you can play music like a musician just by playing a game. The game is called Pump It Up, a music-genre game, or well-known as a Rhythm game. With my background in music as an educated formal music olayer for 8 years and my experience during playing Pump It Up, I will explain, how and why playing that game is basically the same with playing music. I've tried to analyze from both sides, music and Pump It Up.

      Basically, the main purpose of this game is to challenge player's sense of rhythm. This kind of game is typically focused on dance and it requires players to press buttons in a sequence dictated on the screen. The game is played on a dance pad with five arrow panels: up-left, up-right, bottom-left, bottom-right, and a center panel. These panels are pressed using the player's feet, in response to arrows that appear on the screen in front of the player. The arrows are synchronized to the general rhythm - or beats - of a chosen song. The success depends on the player's ability to time and position their steps accordingly. And that’s the first reason why playing Pump It Up is the same as playing music. In music, you have to play every note according to the beat; you have to play it in time and position accordingly. In Pump It Up, if you don’t play it correctly or out of the beat, you’ll get less score such as great, good, bad even miss. This is the same way and the same problem that happen to the musician while playing a music score. Sometimes they play it out of the beat, and of course that’s wrong because they do not play it correctly. In playing music, you have to play each note perfectly, like you have to step the pad correctly to get a perfect timing. Less than it, you fail. Based on it as the background, I could say that playing Pump It Up is just like playing music in a different way but in the same basic.

     The first thing is about Rhythm. Rhythm is one of musical element which is very important besides melody and harmony. Sense of rhythm is the ability to perceive and measure time. Everyone is born with an innate sense of rhythm, beginning with the sensation of the heart beating in the womb. The ability to musically feel and express rhythm is a talent like any other — some do so more easily than others, but everyone with a career in music devotes a great deal of time and attention to it. With practice, attention, and an open mind, rhythm improves. And so, we can say that a Sense of Rhythm can be improved by practicing. What kind of practice? It’s a musical practice. Just because it’s called musical practice, doesn’t mean it’s always about playing musical instrument. When you play and have practice with the game Pump It Up continuously, even regularly, you are faced with the music world. You are practicing with rhythm which means you are practicing music too. Musicians make rhythms with musical instruments. That, you could say for our purposes, is music. But Pumpers also make rhythms with every single movement of their feet to stomp the dance pad. Pumpers make rhythms, perceive and measure time, and make settled rhythms. This is basically what a musician does. What I’m trying to say is, if musicians play their instruments to make rhythms is called playing music, in the same way that’s how you can say Pumpers make rhythms with their feet are also playing music. Usually, “sense of rhythm” refers specifically to the ability of maintaining a strong pulse which is the most important aspect of a musical sense of rhythm. This can be achieved while a Pumper tries to step the dance pad according to the arrows on the screen, and also, according to the beat of the song.

     The second thing is about the ability of hearing. In playing music, this is very important. You cannot just play music instrument without hearing what you are playing. It means you must have the ability of hearing. Well, I can say proudly that Pumpers also use their ears to hear each song they are playing with in order to play the game. These two activities are done together at the same time. However, in playing music by reading a music score, actually there are 3 activities; reading, hearing, and playing. And this is adapted in playing Pump It Up. You read the music score on the screen, hear the music and improve your psycho-motoric skill by doing movements. It is just the same with playing music. Your two sides of brain are working balanced, as if you are playing Pump It Up too.

      The last thing is about the technique in playing Pump It Up is literally the same with the technique in playing music. There are several techniques in Pump It Up, such as Drill, Stairs, Matic, and Triple. The pattern of the steps in Pump It Up are also the same like in music, such as triol ; 3 notes in 1 beat (3 steps divided for 1 beat), long notes (freeze steps), sixteenth notes (4 steps divides for 1 beat), and so on. The technique like Drill is called Thrill in music which is playing 2 notes repeatedly and quickly according to the beat. While in Pump It Up, drill means stepping 2 panels with both feet continuously and quickly. So it’s the same but in a different way.  Stairs is the same like Arpeggio technique in music; the figure is also like “stairs”, repeatedly up and down. Matic is the same like the common technique in music when you play sixteenth notes quickly; you have to keep focus on your eyes so you won’t lose any notes (in Pump, any steps). Triple in music is called as Harmony which is when you play more than 1 note in 1 press; it could be 2, 3 or even more. But as the same as in Pump It Up, you can’t miss one of this notes group (steps group). You have to play them correctly. It's just like in music, you have to play it with no miss on each notes.

     From all of the aspects that I have got in playing Pump It Up personally, I can say that if you are playing Pump It Up seriously, you’ll achieve the one that we called “musicality”. By letting our body to feel the rhythm, we also improve our sense of rhythm. Based on it, I’ve discovered that Pump It Up is not just a game for fun, for relaxing, and for sport (some others say for losing weight). Even the benefit is more than all of those things. But of course, everything can be reached only by effort, and practicing. So Pumpers, your hard effort to master this game is not useless. I can say proudly, you are playing music.