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When it comes to music and rhythm games, Wii Music stands in a class of its own. Unlike other music games, which penalize players if they don’t play perfectly, Wii Music is a musical playground where there are no mistakes. Here anyone can pick up and master the huge array of instruments available, through simple motions like strumming and drumming. Musicians in your band jam by simply playing their instruments to the beat of a song or by improvising to their heart’s content. Play faster. Play slower. Skip a beat, or throw in 10 more. No matter what you do, Wii Music automatically transforms your improv stylings into great music.
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Gameplay: Getting Your Band Together
In Wii Music every band has six members: Two play the main melody, two cover the percussion beats, one covers the bass groove and one uses the song’s chords to support the melody. As a band, the six members often play their special parts at the same time, though each player can jam however and whenever he or she wants. Play all at once. Take turns in the spotlight. Pair up in creative ways throughout the song. You can bring the band to life by yourself, playing one part at a time-or with up to four players. See game mode below:
- Solo Play: When you play by yourself, you can add one part at a time to arrange the whole song exactly how you want. The Tutes are on hand to back up your band in any parts you need filled.
- Multiplayer: When in a band with friends, up to four people can be band members.
- Wii Friends: Using WiiConnect24, you can send your jam videos to Wii Friends who own Wii Music. They can then watch your performance, modify it to their liking and send their jam videos back to you.
Tutes: Your Own Private Back-up Band
When not playing with friends, you can invite jam masters known as Tutes to play with you. They’ll join a session playing an instrument that each thinks is strong for a specific song. You can simply enjoy the musical camaraderie, or pick up instrument tips by watching them jam. If you choose to watch, the Tutes will show you lots of techniques for many of these instruments, then ask you to follow their examples. They’ll start with the simplest techniques, then as you master each one, show you even more nuanced ones.
- Easy to Play Improv Jams – All members of your band jam by simply playing their instruments to the beat of a song or by improvising to their heart’s content. Play faster. Play slower. Skip a beat, or throw in 10 more. Wii Music challenges you to transform your improv stylings into great music. There are no mistakes and no game scores-just playing for the pure joy of playing.
- Wii Controls Immerse You in the Music – You can play most of the 60-plus instruments in Wii Music using simple motions with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers. Strum to play guitar, banjo and sitar. Drum to play jazz drums, congas and snare drums. Hammer away to play piano, vibraphone and marimba. Unlike most music games, Wii Music doesn’t make you use many complex buttons. You only need to imitate playing the instrument.
- Virtually Endless Ways to Make Music – You choose the song and instruments and decide whether to blaze through a rock take on classical songs, put a jazzy spin on folk tunes or transform Nintendo classics like the Super Mario Bros. theme into Latin-flavored numbers. The song list is only a takeoff point-it’s how you improvise with the songs that matters.
- Share Your Band Jams With Friends – They’ll see your Mii band members, your players’ improv styles and your instrument selections. They can watch your recordings, or play over parts of your song, then send their modified recording back to you. So you can send improv jams back and forth over WiiConnect24, changing them again and again.
60+ Instruments
You can play most of the 60-plus instruments in Wii Music using simple motions with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers. Strum to play guitar, banjo and sitar. Drum to play jazz drums, congas and marching drums. Hammer away to play piano, vibraphone and marimba. Unlike most music games, Wii Music doesn’t make you use complex buttons. You only need to imitate playing the instrument. Wii Music offers virtually endless ways to make music.
Designed with classic Wii gameplay in mind, Wii Music includes many other modes and play options besides the main band jams, including several musical games and an enhanced video playback mode for recorded jams.
- Videos Mode: Watch your jam videos in an enhanced playback mode that brings your jams to life with fun environmental effects and dramatic camera angles.
- Mii Maestro: By waving the Wii Remote like a conductor’s baton in this mini-game, you’ll lead a Mii orchestra through orchestrated songs, such as The Legend of Zelda theme. Make them play quickly, slowly, strongly or gently-the orchestra is at your command.
- Handbell Harmony: In this musical mini-game, you’ll play in a handbell ensemble by swinging your Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Everyone on the team has a job to do: play one of your notes only when the tune demands it.
- Pitch Perfect: How good is your musical ear? In this whimsical musical quiz, you’ll have to solve challenges, like putting note-playing Miis in order from lowest to highest pitch.
- Drum Mode: In the one mode that uses the Wii Balance Board accessory (sold with Wii Fit), you can feel what it’s like to play a real-life drum set. You’ll use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as drumsticks, and place both feet on the Wii Balance Board-which work as virtual pedals for the bass drum and hi-hat cymbal.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars very nice music game!
This is a pretty fun game!Lots of instruments to choose from and controls are very easy.I play this game with my family a lot.There are lots of funny stages.You can also have a little practice,play mini-games and a lot more.
You can make your own videos and view them that you know how you played.Lots of songs to choose from.There are slow and fast songs.Before you play a song you can choose which instrument you want to play.
2 Stars Pro Drummer: Wiimote Lag Kills This Title
I’m a professional drummer and also have worked in game dev since ‘95, and for me this game became too frustrating to play because of one simple flaw: there is a lag between hand flick and game reaction. This is a well documented problem, though not necessarily universal among all set-ups. Some players either may not experience it, or maybe simply do not notice it because they don’t expect to play these wii instruments in good crisp rhythm in the first place.
But this lag could very well be why many reviewers here have no fun when playing the game. When conducting, for example, you must hit a good 0.3 seconds before the actual downbeat. When playing drums, you will soon be in tears.
I have not noticed the game-killing lag in other titles, but there may be a simple explanation for this. When playing action or sports games, any small lag between input and game reaction is quickly learned and accounted for, often subconsciously, and becomes a part of gameplay. Not so with music, where your ear and actions should sync up precisely, and you expect to hear, feel, and react to a consistent tempo. As you try to adjust your rhythm to what you are hearing on Wii Music, the tempo shoots all over the place.
By the way, watch the gameplay videos and ask yourself why is nearly no one is able to play consistently and tightly in tempo — when you’d assume the producers had hours of gameplay videos from which to choose.
Anyhow, I have tried component cables, adjusting the sensitivity of the remote sensor, changing batteries, switching from hi-def to low, turning off surround sound, and have decided that this thing is like a junked toy piano that is neat to tinkle on but is actually unplayable. Which also means it’s worth far less than the retail price.
A shame, since it looks as if it could have been a fun sand box and music teacher (which is why I’m giving it 2 stars instead of one), if it wasn’t so impossible to make anything sound any good at all.
5 Stars Musician for WiiMusic
Having played the trumpet for 20+ years, I was excited to see a Wii game that included the whole orchestra- not just guitars & drums. While you cannot learn to play an instrument or read music with this game, it does a good job teach timing & pitch. Jam sessions are fun- the combinations are almost endless. Lessons are more like structured Jam sessions- you get to practice first with the music patterns before “recording” your performance. Some of the musical terms might be over the head of non-musicians but you can learn or understand them through experimentation while you play. The best part of WiiMusic is the Handbell section. This is THE BEST game I’ve played with a group of people (up to 4 at a time). I guarantee you and your friends will become obsessed with the handbells- you just can’t quit until you get it right! The Directing game is a lot of fun for 2 people. Trying to keep the orchestra together with two people directing is hilarious. The “Game” section is actually hard- you really have to listen but you can learn basic pitch and patterns. Finally, you can record your Jam sessions (saving the music videos) and review your performances on the handbells & directing. This is a great game- two thumbs up from this band geek.
5 Stars Great game for the WHOLE family!
I’ve always loved my Wii–just wish I had more time to play it. 
We got this game as a family Christmas present, and boy was it worth it. Everyone, from my 3 year old son, to my wife and I enjoy the game. Nintendo has really thought out a lot of these type of games, and, with the unique wireless aspect of playing the Wii, it really adds to the game play.
Some of the fun parts of the game we enjoy are the option to play songs with bells. We’ve done this lots during Christmas in our family with real bells, so having a virtual/game version was a blast. Wii Music offers simple songs to more advanced, but it’s a blast to play together.
My son really enjoys the Dog Suit “instrument” option. It’s funny how Nintendo added some goofy things like this, but, within one of the jam session options, you can select to “play” a dog suit. This involves barking and howling, moving your hands, etc. Lots of fun, and, as I said, my son gets a kick out of it.
Within the section that allows you to conduct a symphony, it’s fun to see what you can get the players to do. My son gets them to sweat almost every time since he has them playing so fast, and then holding a note for a long period of time.
In the end, this is a fantastic game that the whole family can enjoy. There are lots of varieties (rather than repeat them here, I suggest reading the product description) of game options, with some of our favorites above. You really can’t go wrong with this one…
1 Star Boring! Not worth the price
When I first saw this game advertised I thought it would be great. My husband plays in a band and is all about music and different instruments, so I got this for him for Christmas. Maybe if he was 3 he would like it… but it’s totally boring. It’s nothing like using real instruments and who wants to play nursery rhymes? Really? Maybe I’ve just been spoiled with Guitar Hero, but this game sucks.
