Rocksmith

[Sky]

I know some of the folks here already have this and I've been leaning pretty strong on hints for xmas. Let's hope the old lady comes through. If not, I'll have it the week after xmas anyway :)

So at some point we'll need a thread for stuff. I was just browsing the steam forum to see if the physical copy installs to steam (achievements I might actually whore for! And it seems like yes?) and I read an interesting post that seems helpful. I know it's what I'll be doing to work through difficult passages, and I also recommend learning the 'real' notes.

OP of the Steam thread, "Can I slow tracks down?"

Yes, you can. Furthermore, I recommend you set the mastery to maximum when you do, because this way you will learn all of the notes at the same time. You will find the earlier levels of a song easy to do with a certain fingering, and then find you have to completely change what you are doing when there are more notes to play. But you can slow down to 25% speed which should make this ok.

So what you do is, pick the song, pick the arrangement you want, then pick Riff Repeater. Pick the part you want to play slower. Choose the Accelerator (bear with me, not an intuitive place to go, eh?), tune up when prompted and let the riff start. Now pause by pressing the space bar. In this menu go to Set Mastery and crank that up, I really recommend this, you can do this really slow. After setting that, it drops back into playing the riff so pause again and move over to Set Speed. Do as you will here. The riff will keep coming at you at that speed now, over and over. Pause to bump it up now and then when you are ready to move forward.

[Xilren's Twin]

I've had the Xbox version for some time now but just havent had the consistent time available to really spend on it.  I keep meaning to go back to it but i don't forsee that happening until some life changes happen (i.e. oldest kid going to college next year) and i get more free time.  My oldest is the actual guitar player in the family and it's not intesting to him at all.  I keep thinking it would be easier to pick up based on what i remember of his rapid skill gains from total novice to excellent player, but unfortunately it's was a combination of his youth (hand eye coordination, speed, flexibility), him getting real lessons for a few years, and spending hours and hours on it a day.

I may still try to do it to surprise him (i imagine playing rythmn to his lead would be fun) but right now my hopes are not high.  The first few sessions with Rocksmith i kept thinking to myself "why the heck did they craft guitar neck so narrow?  if they were wider i wouldn't have to fumble so much an hit wrong stings or multiple stings.  My hands are too big for this - is this really a full sized guitar?" etc etc.  Sad truth is Im old - not sure if I can actually pull this off.

[Ghambit]

Xil, dont get discouraged.  Do some more research and you'll find a guitar that fits your anatomy/playstyle.   Perhaps look into some steel-string acoustic electrics?

[Salamok]

stuff...

Pretty close to my experience, every time I play it I think this game is awesome, but then I put it back on the shelf and never seem to find time for it.  Part of this is due to the UI as Sky has already found out (without even playing it) it can be somewhat cumbersome. 

Also, Rocksmith thinks I am a better player than I am and keeps upping the difficulty to a level that is beyond fun for me.  The only way I have found to undo that is to reset the entire game, wish it were easier to just go into song mode and set the level you want to start the song at.  I should do the riff repeater to actually learn the songs but hey I'm 40+ with no illusions of becoming the great musician.  I am more than happy to just pluck along a note at a time as I take a trip down memory lane via song.

[Cadaverine]

I picked it up when it released on Steam, and have been trying to play around with it at least an hour or so a day.

It's fun, and I'm noticeably improving, but there are some annoyances.

Firstly, it lets you fudge some things, and fails you on others in what seems to be a totally random, and very annoying, manner.  When you do fail, it doesn't give any feedback as to what you're doing wrong.  In general, it doesn't give you much feedback at all, so god knows what kind of horribly bad habits I'm picking up.

That, and the arcade games are all locked, until you complete so many songs, or events.

My only other gripe is that, at least so far as I've found, there's no picking exercises

So far, it's fun, and I'd say it's a decent way to get in to playing guitar, but if you're in any way serious about playing, you'd be better off getting lessons, just for the feedback on what you're doing right/wrong, and to avoid learning bad habits.

[Ghambit]

I've always looked at Rocksmith as something to play AFTER you've learned at least basic guitar.  Go through one easy beginning method book, read up on techniques, and THEN play Rocksmith to pick up the songs.  I mean really, it's nothing more than a glorified solo book that just so happens to be a game. 

[Salamok]

I've always looked at Rocksmith as something to play AFTER you've learned at least basic guitar.  Go through one easy beginning method book, read up on techniques, and THEN play Rocksmith to pick up the songs.  I mean really, it's nothing more than a glorified solo book that just so happens to be a game. 

It also has all the amp/effects models built in, which is glorious.

[Cyrrex]

I mentioned a few weeks ago in the What Are You Playing thread that I had picked this up and gave some early impressions.  Now, a few weeks later, I have some real experience with this game.

First, I would just say that I fucking love this "game".  I manage to get a good 3 or 4 hours in a week, and would do assloads more if my life allowed it.  I think it is a technical marvel, despite the obvious failings of the interface and the gaming elements.

I am learning to play the guitar via this thing, at least in a certain sense.  I still suck, but I suck far, far less than I did a few weeks ago.  I can also tell that, as a teaching tool, this is good enough to take me much, much further...and it is intuitive and fun enough that I still actually WANT to go much further with it.

Some random observations:

- When the game starts to get too hard, stop playing the career mode.  Just go into individual songs and practice practice practice practice them.  I find myself sticking to a small handful of songs that I rotate.  The songs get progressively harder as you improve, but they don't get stupid hard like the career mode for some reason.  Partly I think this is because you often have the choice of selecting the Single note mode, which avoids any chords or combos.  This seems to be a fantastic way to improve, because it stays easy enough to stay on top off and still manages to make you improve.  It is also exactly as fun as the career mode anyway, so it just makes more sense.  When you begin to master the single version of a song, switch to Combo.  This too will start out slowly and get harder as you improve.  It is almost as if the difficulty AI works better in this mode.  I also found that after doing this for a while, I was then able to go back to the place in the career mode that was proving to challenging, and then just blowing right through it.

- If find that doing the above has helped my not only to get my hand/eye coordination to improve, but I can also tell that muscle memory in general is starting to develop slowly.  And the callouses are starting to form and the hand and wrist pain is going away.

- In the very early stages, you can "reset" the game difficulty so that it goes back to super easy mode.  Do so a few times when you are brand new to this, to avoid frustration.

- Go into the Arcade Games that support what you are trying to accomplish.  Even the stupid Duck Shooting thing helps in the beginning.  I don't otherwise spend much time here (yet), but I know I will probably need to do more in here to practice chords and stuff. 

- The riff repeater, while smart, is not much fun when you are a real beginner.  Counter to what Sky and the others have said, I would avoid it until you you get to a more intermediate state.  You will have more fun playing full songs on a lower difficulty, and be less likely to put it back on the shelf for three months.  That said, I have no doubt at all that I will do exactly as Sky suggested once I feel I am good enough to incorporate all that stuff.  Were I to do it now, I would not enjoy myself.

And again, what a bit of technical genius they have pulled of.  The detection and feedback form me has been routinely excellent.

Biggest thing missing?  FINGER PLACEMENT!  It is only intuitive on the simpler stuff.  Wish they would slowly walk you through how to place your fingers with the harder stuff.

[Gets]

Picked up the PC Bundle (Game, Real Tone Cable, guitar, normal cable, strap, two picks, bonus songs) the day this thread was made and have been playing it as much as I can. Always wanted to get this ever since it was first announced. Yay, delayed European release!

Initially I stuck to whatever the game recommended, but it got obvious after a while that this involved not getting to practice what you want and skipping to new songs quick. As a total guitar novice it just kicks the feet underneath you when the game suddenly throws new shit at you during a rehearse. But it's not like I mind, since most of my problems in playing correctly involve not being able to cover four frets with four fingers and a double-jointed pinky (I think my tendon slides over my knuckle, giving the finger a snapping movement). I'm trying to learn "I Can't Hear You" right now, but I'm failing in jumping 3 frets because of the aforementioned midget-hand/uncooperative-pinky issue.

Visual progression I find is crucial here though. Feeling improvement is subjective, but a score is a score and gamification works. The minigames seem cheesy to a gamer's eye, but they're really damn useful, fun and clever once you play them with a guitar. Yeah, the menu suffers heavily from consolitis, but I've gotten used to it. Load times are really quick at least.

It's just sad that the only reason we can't use the guitar as a method of navigating the menu is because Sony disallowed having an alternate controller. I'd like to know their stupid reasoning. Also not a fan of selling a DLC that just unlocks the locked content for 12€.

People have asked if it's possible to use a different USB cable, but most people who have attempted claim failure. I'm guessing the Real Tone Cable has some authentication built in.

Right now I'd like to know how to disable tune-check before getting to do _anything_ and getting rid of the intro button mashing when starting the game.

[Salamok]

I am pretty sure the realtone cable has some analog->digital conversion magic embedded in it.  I have heard you can use it sans rocksmith to record.

[Sky]

Right now I'd like to know how to disable tune-check before getting to do _anything_

That's not a bad habit to get into, though.

[Cyrrex]

Right now I'd like to know how to disable tune-check before getting to do _anything_

That's not a bad habit to get into, though.

Yeah, but every 4 minutes?  Seems a bit much.

[Sky]

Oh, yeah that's a bit much. I thought he meant before you can do anything after booting the game up.

[Gets]

Launching the game has its own tiny ritual you need to do. Spacebar, spacebar, Enter, Enter, Enter. Doesn't seem like much, but since by this point I've already laid back on the couch with the plugged in 6-string I have to do this with my foot and I think my laptop doesn't appreciate the heel kicking it has started getting lately.

Getting past the intros in modern games is a bastardized version of what used to be entering cheatcodes.

Trip report: Clocked 17 hours in the game total so far. Got the intro to "Satisfaction" nailed down, but after listening to Sir Mick express his depressive state in slow-motion for about a hundred times I can't even ace the next bit at half speed. Either I go too far or too short on the slide or fumble the hammer-on+pull-off bit. Slowly starting to understand why musicians drink so heavily.

[Amarr HM]

Can you plug your own guitar into this & will it improve your (fingering) soloing?

[Cadaverine]

Yes, you use your own guitar.

It might help improve your fingering, depending on your skill level.  If you're Sky, this is probably just a fun game to play along with.  Myself, with next to zero experience, I've noticed definite improvement as I've been playing the game.  Things that used to completely throw me off, like moving up and down the fretboard, or dealing with more than the E and A strings have become a lot easier.

Chords still wreck my day, though.

Fake edit:  Game needs more songs by The Black Keys.

[Sky]

Yeah, I want to get it just to jam along with and learn some new stuff. Does it teach the solos? Because Megadeth. Some Allmans DLC I like, Jessica is awesome to jam to, but I know the modern lineup's extended version (from Jazzfest 2007 with Chuck Leavell sitting in). The last time I tried jamming to the album version it was bizarre.

I see four Black Keys tunes in the DLC, did you mean in addition to those?

Failtip: chords wreck my day, too. Especially if it won't let me fake it with inversions.

I saw a promo for the game and was a bit let down that it seems to push more tab learning (which is ok) and not notation (bummer, I need to learn to sight read). Note names > fret numbers.

[Oz]

Some things I've noticed.

To unlock the arcade games, just get gold on the relevant technique challenge (ie getting gold on harmonics challenge unlocks the simon says harmonics game)

The note lane shows you where to put you fingers by highlighting the frets (you can get away  with just the far left one for your index finger)

[Cyrrex]

Yes, you use your own guitar.

It might help improve your fingering, depending on your skill level.  If you're Sky, this is probably just a fun game to play along with.  Myself, with next to zero experience, I've noticed definite improvement as I've been playing the game.  Things that used to completely throw me off, like moving up and down the fretboard, or dealing with more than the E and A strings have become a lot easier.

Chords still wreck my day, though.

Fake edit:  Game needs more songs by The Black Keys.

This.  All of this.  What seems to happen is that you slowing begin "mastering" one string at a time.  First Red (E), then Yellow.  I am at the state now where I am slowly getting better at Blue and learning to put it together better with Red and Yellow.   And so on, and so on.  You start to integrate combos in slowly as well.  Then the game suddenly starts throwing chords and more complicated stuff at you, and you yell out "WHAT THE FUCK !?" and quickly exit the current song.   

Another gripe:  The minigames seem to all have been developed by a different human being.  In most cases this doesn't matter.  Push start to begin, or just strum a few times, no big deal.  But Dawn of the Chordead...what the fuck are they thinking here?  This is the game everyone raves about, but I don't understand it.  The entirety of the the other parts to this game have the interface set up so that the Red (E) string is always at the bottom of the screen, and my brain has adapted to that.  For this minigame, and only this minigame, they put it at the top of the screen.  I started the game the first time, and my brain instantly locked up.  I think actual fecal matter must have started pouring out of my nose.  Why the fuck would they do that?  It appears to be a really, really smart minigame, and God knows I need to practice chords.  Why?  Fucking why?  I literally could not move my hands...I just stared at the screen while zombies came up an urinated on me.

[Gets]

Another gripe:  The minigames seem to all have been developed by a different human being.  In most cases this doesn't matter.  Push start to begin, or just strum a few times, no big deal.  But Dawn of the Chordead...what the fuck are they thinking here?  This is the game everyone raves about, but I don't understand it.  The entirety of the the other parts to this game have the interface set up so that the Red (E) string is always at the bottom of the screen, and my brain has adapted to that.  For this minigame, and only this minigame, they put it at the top of the screen.  I started the game the first time, and my brain instantly locked up.  I think actual fecal matter must have started pouring out of my nose.  Why the fuck would they do that?  It appears to be a really, really smart minigame, and God knows I need to practice chords.  Why?  Fucking why?  I literally could not move my hands...I just stared at the screen while zombies came up an urinated on me.

Since you only need Bronze in the Technique Challenge to unlock a minigame I went ahead to confirm this. Seems OK for me.

[Dren]

I'm at probably week 4 with the game now.  I really like it and try to play 1-2 hours per night, but often fail due to life stuff.

Everyone here has pretty much the same goods and bads listed as I would.  I have the PS3 version.  My biggest complaints are loading times too long, tuning every 4 mins, having to use the controller too often (think I need to create a neck strap for the thing....,) and the clunky UI. 

Oh, sombody said it earlier, but they do show you fingering.  It is in the shading of the frets.  There is a beginner video on the subject right at the beginning.

I'd love to have the speed and mastery settings for just rehearsing the entire songs.  It works great for the riff practice, but I'll get a riff down in about 15 minutes and then have to completely back out of several screens and go back in just to get to another part of the song.  Sooooo clunky and time consuming for something so simple...

Also, why don't they have a clear screen of the notes when I hit pause??!!?  I'm pausing it so I can practice that huge chord coming my way and they grey it all out and put a huge opaque area at the bottom of the screen.  I have to time it just right to get the notes to stay at the top of the screen.

Anyway, still a great game to get to know the guitar more.  I've never picked one up seriously before this game and I haven't regretted doing it JUST FOR THIS GAME.  My ultimate wish would be to find the desire and passion enough to get serious with better guitars/amps/etc.   The least of my wishes has already happened.  I avoid set times of week and costs for lessons.  I have a ton of cool pedal effects and amps.  I can play along with songs with a full band.  The tuner is easy to use.  I'm having fun playing guitar.

[Ghambit]

Oh, sombody said it earlier, but they do show you fingering.  It is in the shading of the frets.  There is a beginner video on the subject right at the beginning.

That's not fingering, those are fret numbers.  By fingering we mean "1, 2, 3, or 4" as in the numbers of your fingers.  On your right hand (if they had fingerpicking) it would be "p, i, m, a".
Granted, guitar is a fairly improvisational instrument.  If you can get it done on your own comfortably, so be it I guess.  But it is something that may indeed lead to bad habits, like using your index finger to play every note until you need the others.   

[Oz]

The highlighted fretboard is 4 frets (for your 4 fingers).  So if fret 3 through 6 are highlighted finger 1 is fret 3, finger 2 is fret 4, etc.  there are no crazy spacings on the fret hand (so far) so just notice where left most part on the highlighted section is, stick your index finger there, then the other 3 fingers on the next 3 frets.

Edit: the game assumes a pick so there is no right hand fingering (pima)

Edit 2: if you mean fingering for chords...yeah nothing for that.  Maybe in the big chord book (in game) the showing fingering...

[Dren]

The shading does show 1,2,3,4.  I'm not understanding your misunderstanding.  You have to be fast to see it, but the shading changes depending on where you are supposed to put your fingers.  Numbering and lettering might work too, but they didn't do it that way.

Chord fingering is in the practice area.  After that, you have to just remember.

[Sky]

Good now I can make you guys play the chords I hate  

2
3
4
x
x
4

Or the B section to Capricho Arabe that's based off this barre:

5
6
5
3
3
x

  That last chord is an F played in a D shape. Can you guys dig what that means? If so, you're on the cusp of one of the greatest discoveries of guitar playing.

(edit - not sure how the game is displaying the fretboard, but you should be using a descending order so you can learn tablature: top number is the highest string, bottom number is the lowest string, tonally)

[Trippy]

Game default is flipped, the idea bring you are seeing the fretboard as if it was transparent. Fortunately there is a setting to flip it for people that can read tablature.

[Gets]

I flipped it right away because why point the gun at your foot if you're trying to learn guitar?

[Ghambit]

The shading does show 1,2,3,4.  I'm not understanding your misunderstanding.  You have to be fast to see it, but the shading changes depending on where you are supposed to put your fingers.  Numbering and lettering might work too, but they didn't do it that way.

Chord fingering is in the practice area.  After that, you have to just remember.

I. want. numbers.  Not a shaded area I may or may not see.  And shaded area does not help read tab or notation either.   Lastly, guitar fingerings aren't as simple as just moving your hand to the shaded area.  That much is apparent on the very 1st event.  You play a riff down the neck and have a few notes up the neck, but the game doesnt "shade" the region up the neck so you're ready with the right finger.  Also, as Sky says above, many times your fingerings and shapes will change.

I'm not knockin the system, it works simplistically for what it wants to do and obviously I can easily infer the missing bits, I just would like traditional finger denotation.  If not numbers maybe colors or something I dunno.  Not just light shading where you put your hand.

[Gets]

Leveled up to New Act. Fuck, my fingers are too short fuckity fuck fuck power chords fuck.

[Sky]

For chord practice, make sure you memorize the five basic chord shapes in cowboy/open position. C, A, G, E and D. Everything on the guitar works off some variant of those 5 shapes.

Gets, you don't get a pass for short fingers. I'm a stubmeister and played bass arpeggios. What's the trouble with power chords, they're pretty straight forward root/fifth played with first and third fingers. If you add the octave on top with the pinky or laying down the third finger, it fattens it up some. Power chords with an A or D string root you can make super fat by also adding the fifth underneath, like a D power chord on the A string:

x
x
7
7
5
5

Which on the D string you have to account for the funny tuning hump (and it's a G power chord there):

x
8
7
5
5
x

If you nail those 5 cowboy chords completely, that unlocks the next step of fretboard understanding and the reason for that funny little tuning hump on the B string will become clear.

[Dren]

I. want. numbers.  Not a shaded area I may or may not see.  And shaded area does not help read tab or notation either.   Lastly, guitar fingerings aren't as simple as just moving your hand to the shaded area.  That much is apparent on the very 1st event.  You play a riff down the neck and have a few notes up the neck, but the game doesnt "shade" the region up the neck so you're ready with the right finger.  Also, as Sky says above, many times your fingerings and shapes will change.

I'm not knockin the system, it works simplistically for what it wants to do and obviously I can easily infer the missing bits, I just would like traditional finger denotation.  If not numbers maybe colors or something I dunno.  Not just light shading where you put your hand.

Agreed.  Sorry, thought you were saying there was no fingering information.  There is....it is just limited.  Heck, I want them to stream the real notes too just so I eventually understand the notes compared to the sound.  I work with bands at church a lot and they are always talking in notes because it is the best language to use when describing changes to a song or how one instrument should come in or end within a song.  I'm missing that currently, and I know it will always be a hurdle for me later.

[Dren]

For chord practice...

Good information, thanks.  I figured out quick that chords will be all about memorizing them.  There is NO WAY you can figure out the fingering when it is coming at you during a song!

I'm having a hard time with unintentional note bending due to stretching my fingers in weird ways.  Rocksmith picks up on it and keeps failing me on it.  Actually, I think my string quality is limited for issues like this.  I think I'll eventually have to upgrade from what I have (came with the beginner's set.)

[Sky]

  I work with bands at church a lot and they are always talking in notes because it is the best language to use when describing changes to a song or how one instrument should come in or end within a song.  I'm missing that currently, and I know it will always be a hurdle for me later.

Yeah, no shit. I'm saying the same thing more than 28 years later.

To pound home why the basic chord shapes of C A G E D are important, look at a B chord.

2
4
4
4
2
x

It's really just an A chord moved up two frets (A, Bb, B; 0, 1st fret, 2nd fret). So you learn the A shape and then move it up the neck to play chords with a root on the A string.

Ditto for the F chord. Like the B, it's not a unique shape (CAGED are unique). The F is just an E chord moved up one fret.

1
1
2
3
3
1

Of course, the fingering will be different, but one you learn to recognize the open shapes it's just a matter of re-learning them in a closed shape, usually with a barre (like the B and F you learn early on). The C G D shapes are less common but really open things up later.

[Cyrrex]

Another gripe:  The minigames seem to all have been developed by a different human being.  In most cases this doesn't matter.  Push start to begin, or just strum a few times, no big deal.  But Dawn of the Chordead...what the fuck are they thinking here?  This is the game everyone raves about, but I don't understand it.  The entirety of the the other parts to this game have the interface set up so that the Red (E) string is always at the bottom of the screen, and my brain has adapted to that.  For this minigame, and only this minigame, they put it at the top of the screen.  I started the game the first time, and my brain instantly locked up.  I think actual fecal matter must have started pouring out of my nose.  Why the fuck would they do that?  It appears to be a really, really smart minigame, and God knows I need to practice chords.  Why?  Fucking why?  I literally could not move my hands...I just stared at the screen while zombies came up an urinated on me.

Since you only need Bronze in the Technique Challenge to unlock a minigame I went ahead to confirm this. Seems OK for me.

That's blowing my mind right now, because I get the exact opposite picture.  Something to do with the flipping you mention in your alter post?

[CaptainNapkin]

This is $9.99 for Xbox at Microsoft store right now. Bummer, sold out already.

Is the Bass stuff an add-on or DLC? Or would I need a different version to get that? The info I've seen left me confused.