Patent ID: 8003872

Claim:
A method, executed on a game console in communication with a display, for facilitating interaction of a player with a music-based video game using a game controller simulating a musical instrument and having a note-producing mechanism simulating that of an instrument the game controller simulates, the note-producing mechanism comprising a plurality of input elements, the game controller also comprising a secondary input mechanism, different than the note-producing mechanism, the method comprising: a) displaying, on the display, target musical data associated with a musical composition, the target musical data corresponding to one of the input elements of the note-producing mechanism, the target musical data additionally indicating input from the secondary input mechanism may be provided; b) receiving a first music performance input comprising input from the input element of the note-producing mechanism that corresponds to the target musical data; c) reproducing a portion of the musical composition in response to the received first music performance; d) receiving a second music performance input from the secondary mechanism of the game controller; and e) altering a gameplay characteristic of the music-based video game in response to the received second music performance input.