A
guitar controller is a
video game controller designed to simulate the playing of the
guitar, a
string musical instrument. Guitar controllers are often used for music games such as
UmJammer Lammy: NOW!,
GuitarFreaks,
Guitar Hero, and the
Rock Band series. The controllers are played by holding down a colored fret button that matches a colored, on-screen note, while pressing the strum bar as the note passes through the target. The controllers also feature a
whammy bar, which is used to bend notes and collect each game's equivalent of bonus energy. Different games and models of controllers have introduced additional features, such as effects switches, additional fret buttons, and fret touch pads. The fret buttons are colored usually in the order of (from lowest to highest pitch) green, red, yellow, blue, and orange.