I’m old enough to remember musicians getting angry over Guitar Hero. But they always seemed to be missing the point. Nobody was seriously suggesting that a video game controller would replace an instrument that’s been going strong since the 15th century. Guitar Hero was a fun game, and if it persuaded a new generation to pick up the real thing, it was a net positive for the universe.

A similar feeling washed over me seeing the LiberLive C1 on the ground at CES 2025. If the guitar’s future is in peril, it has nothing to do with the existence of the self-proclaimed “first-ever stringless smart guitar.” And really, referring to the thing as a guitar at all seems to be missing the point.

Learning instruments is difficult, time consuming, and can be incredibly frustrating. Take it from me, a decades-long terrible guitar player. Like Guitar Hero before it, it would be unserious to suggest a product like this poses any manner of existential threat to the guitar (besides, the emerge of non-guitar pop music did most of the heavy lifting there).

There’s something gratifying about an instrument you can simply pick up and play. In fact, in a strange way, being a guitar player might have worked against me with the C1. You have to reorient your brain to embrace the instrument’s simplicity.

There are a series of chord names associated with buttons on the side of the instrument’s neck. Holding one of these while “strumming” the paddle on the C1’s body plays a chord. And that’s really all there is to it. There’s no playing individual notes and nothing approximating shredding. You can, however, strum and sing along with songs on the app. It’s effectively karaoke with an added dimension.

It’s fun, it’s portable, it’s $699, it lasts six hours on a charge. And it won’t be replacing guitars any time soon.

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