With legions of air guitar playin’ rock n roll wannabes defecting by the thousands to guitar games, one would think that a guitar toy that actually teaches kids to play the real thing would go unnoticed.

Not on my watch.

Hasbro and Tiger Electronics (same thing, really) has quietly come out with the Power Tour Electric Guitar, based on a Gibson design. Incorporating touch sensitive pads instead of guitar strings, shredders can easily learn chords by simply following the light patterns in the frets. This means that kids won’t be turned off right away by the need to built calluses on their fingers before it stops hurting.

Lessons are built right into the guitar itself and will teach kids to play six different rock classics, including “Wild Thing” and “Smoke on the Water,” and six original songs for them to master. When the guitar is in ‘learn’ mode, players advance by segments until the song is mastered. Once the player is able to correctly play the segment, the next segment of notes is introduced. If the player gets the segment wrong, the POWER TOUR Electric Guitar will play back the example a little slower. When the song is finally mastered, the guitar’s ‘band’ mode let’s them rock out to the song with a built in track. As players learn, they can select from rock songs of increasing difficulty, and even change the guitar’s sound to ‘metal,’ ‘punk,’ ‘rock,’ or ‘indie.’

The cool part is that you can connect the guitar to your MP3 player and jam in real time with your favorite hits. It comes equipped with a built-in speaker, dual-function knobs that let you add cool effects to your sound and the ability to change the tones from metal, punk, rock and indie.

But my favorite feature? In a nod to the cult film Spinal Tap, the Volume dial on the optional Power Tour Amp ($50) goes up to 11!
Guitar comes with strap, cable and DVD instructions.
Requires 4 “AA” batteries (not included).
Available in a white or black, the Power Tour Guitar is a rockin’ $69.99.