Are there any Guitar Hero fans out there? Here is a free Guitar Hero clone called Frets on Fire. Select the “Full version ZIP archive” link if you want the portable version. I’ve never played the original game, but I’ve tried this clone and it’s pretty good even though I’m absolutely pathetic at it. This game is really tough! I think I’ll stick to a real guitar.

Frets on Fire has an active fan community at http://fretsonfire.wikidot.com/, where you can get additional songs, how-to guides, troubleshooting and tips. You can create and import your own songs, too. There is a forum at http://www.fretsonfire.net. You can also learn a bit more about the game on Wikipedia.

There are 3 songs included in the download, and the game is compatible with Guitar Hero formats. And good news for everyone: there are versions for Windows, Linux and Mac!

And here’s Frets on Fire in action in a YouTube video of someone playing Canon Rock with it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIZY_UJX2VY]

BPM Notepad is a really simple portable app that allows you to automatically scroll down a text file at variable speeds for hands-free reading. It’s especially targeted to guitar players who need to scroll down a tab while playing – really useful!

Platforms: Windows, Linux
Size: about 2 MB

I was looking for a guitar tuner this week and found this site: http://www.yellow-gold-soft.com/.

It has a Guitar Tuning Fork and several other music-related free software such as

• Tonometer to tune a variety of musical instruments
• Musical Examiner to train your musical ear
• Metronome
• And a little Flash-based Virtual Piano