USA Today got the scoop on the latest peripheral to join the Rock Band party.  In addition to guitar, bass, drums, and mic, Rock Band 3 will support “a 25-key, fully functioning MIDI keyboard.”  RB3 project director Daniel Sussman on the keyboard: “We’re actually utilizing the full two-octave range that the keyboard controller has.  Everything that you are playing, whether you are playing on easy or expert, is accurate musical information.  The track looks like a real keyboard track, and you are playing notes on the keyboard that if you were to step away from the game and were to play on a real piano, they would be the right notes.”  For those of you wondering about the keytar rumors from a while back, it’s been confirmed that the keyboard is designed to use on a lap or strapped over a shoulder.  Watch the video embedded above to learn more about how the keyboard will work in-game.

Also announced was a new Pro Mode which makes the guitar, drums, and keyboard experiences more realistic.  For example, “More realistic music notations replace the standard color-coded notes during gameplay. For guitar, numbers flow down the screen along six guitar strings, telling you where to place your hands on the neck and when to strum.”  In fact, two new guitars are currently being developed that include actual strings where you need to strum.  Game developer Harmonix is working on a six-string Fender Squier Stratocaster and third party peripheral maker Mad Catz is making a Fender Mustang Pro.  Harmonix’s John Drake on the more realistic guitar: “It can tell where your fingers are based on technology in the neck and the bridge of the guitar.  No buttons.  While you’re playing it, it feels exactly like playing a real guitar.”  The drums will get three new cymbals and gameplay forces you to play the correct cymbal at the right time.  Says Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos: “If you are someone who is looking for a deeper challenge either because you are an expert player looking for the next level of challenge or because you actually have musical aspirations, there is the Pro game play (mode), which is really going to start to close the gap between simulated music and real musicmaking.”

Rock Band 3 will release for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii this holiday season.  Look after the break for a partial tracklist organized by decade (the disc will contain 83 new songs in total).

[Via USA Today, here & here]

2000s

• Combat Baby — Metric
• Dead End Friends — Them Crooked Vultures
• Get Free — The Vines
• Lasso — Phoenix
• Me Enamora — Juanes
• Oh My God — Ida Maria
• Portions of Foxes— Rilo Kiley
• The Hardest Button to Button — The White Stripes

1990s

• Been Caught Stealing — Jane’s Addiction
• In the Meantime— Spacehog
• Plush — Stone Temple Pilots
• Walkin’ on the Sun — Smash Mouth

1980s

• Crazy Train — Ozzy Osbourne
• Here I Go Again— Whitesnake
• I Love Rock and Roll— Joan Jett
• Just Like Heaven — The Cure
• Rainbow in the Dark— Dio
• The Power of Love — Huey Lewis and the News
• Sister Christian — Night Ranger

1960s-1970s

• Bohemian Rhapsody — Queen
• Break On Through — The Doors
• Crosstown Traffic— Jimi Hendrix