At this rate, rock and roll could be doomed.

If people truly wish to get in touch with their artistic sides or merely amuse themselves to "rock out," it's about time they invest in an actual instrument. Forget about the death of the record or the consideration that CDs are teetering toward uselessness -- music has greater technological and pixelated fish to fry.

Beatles Rock Band was released last week -- materializing yet another lethargic alternative to hard work, practice and creativity. Rock Band has preyed on American youth and will spread like an unstoppable virus. Kids and teenagers, along with Halo specialists and the World of Warcraft elite, will unite and spend countless hours mimicking those adorable computer generated lads from Liverpool. Actually, they'll be pushing buttons and trying so hard to get down basic progressions that almost anyone could do with a bit of work and patience.

But those two things are almost dead last on a long list of priorities for American youth. They want instant gratification, and if there's one thing they don't need lessons for, it's video games. Even wrinkly rock gods pointed out the technological threat to musicianship.

"It irritates me, having watched my kids do it," Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason confessed to the BBC last week. "If they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons, they'd be damn good by now."

It's actually more like: If they spent as much cash on real instruments as they did on their video games, they could have a pretty nifty electric or acoustic guitar.

Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles each cost $299, and the game itself is $60, according to Best Buy's Web site. You could also drop another $250 dollars for the limited edition premium that includes plastic replicas of John, Paul and George's instruments. Or you could have a Fender electric or a Taylor acoustic guitar for the same price.

And the best part about that Fender or Taylor is that the possibilities are limitless. After the Beatles, feel free to move onto the Jonas Brothers.

Young local musicians, too, are frustrated by the Rock Band plague.

"Standing up or sitting down and pretending to play is less rewarding," says SF State music major Evan Cooper, 19, who picked up drums at age 11. "They don't want to try a real instrument because it's a lot more work."

Pick up a guitar and give "Stairway to Heaven," "Satisfaction" or "Iron Man" a shot, because beating the game blindfolded on expert doesn't make you a rock star and isn't going to get you any more action.

Radiohead wrote a song in 1993 for their debut record, Pablo Honey, called "Anyone Can Play Guitar." They probably didn't know they might just have to go back into the studio and record, "Anyone Can Play a Fake Plastic Guitar."