Rocksmith

[Sky]

7 to 10 is 3 frets, you should be using index on 7 and pinky on 10. As far as sliding, that comes with practice. Ditto finger angle, though be sure you need to not be hitting other strings, because using the left hand to damp unplayed strings is another important skill.

I just got a new Barrett Tagliarino method book, he's by far my favorite method author (I've recommended a couple of his books for years in the guitar thread). This new one is odd, as it's on one hand a more advanced book that assumed knowledge of two of his older books, but is also an amzingly good resource for what we're discussing, getting your left hand into shape with targeted practice for damping, skipping, which finger to use, etc.

This book I consider a must-have for all students: http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Fretboard-Workbook-Barrett-Tagliarino/dp/0634049011/

This exercise is in the first book I mentioned, but it's an ancient one so not really copyright :) It's called The Crab, because you crawl up the fretboard. Basically you start on F (1st fret 6th string) and play each note with each finger (1,2,3,4) then move to the 5th string and repeat. Work your way up to the first string, then reverse it back down (4,3,2,1) until you're back at the lowest note. Then move your hand to the second fret and repeat the exercise (2,3,4,5) and so on.

The tough part...once you get going, don't lift your fingers once they're down. Focus on damping unplayed strings, it gets a bit complicated to explain out without a wall of text. This will definitely help with keeping your pads vertical as you move upwards.

[Ozzu]

Good info in this thread.

I'm still working at it. Things are getting easier, but I do lose it when chords start coming at me pretty quick. And finger flexibility like was mentioned above. That's kind of a thing at this point.

Such an enjoyable game though and it really feels like a worthwhile time investment. Even when I'm not doing the training stuff, being able to jump in some songs I know/love and play along is just awesome.

[Sky]

Losing when things start coming fast is one reason this version is such an improvement...quickly hit the space bar (I use my toe :)) and go into the new riff repeater and work on that section until you have it down. This is how we've learned songs for years, but without the benefit of such a powerful slow-downer tool. Back in the day I had to use our multitracker which had a variable speed tape deck. Play/rewind/play/rewind arg.

[Merusk]

After some research I found that there's no way they're going to let the RS1 songs import to 2014 without buying RS1.  Sadf, but since it's on sale I went ahead and bought it, then picked-up some of the DLC I wanted. 

Holy hell, I don't think I'll ever be fast enough to get Hangar 18 past 9%.    I now have an even greater appreciation for the metal god guitarists.

[Sky]

You should check out some Pantera while you're respecting :)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/222057/

To be honest, though...once you can play some stuff it's a LOT easier playing your own fast leads than learning someone else's, imo. That's why we were an originals band back in the day :p

[Sky]

Flash sale, go!

Fuck, while I was adding DLC they took DLC off the sale. What up with that?

[Trippy]

Songs for the first Rocksmith are on sale, though, for 50% off.

[Sky]

Which is cool....but they 'fixed' the 'error' just as I was about to check out with two songpacks from the new one. Daaammmiiit.

Still, good time to get things from the old one, I guess. And for fence sitters to finally learn to play!

PS: Since I'm getting a new camera that will do HD video for xmas, I would think about doing some quick demonstrations of things people want to see. It's so tough to explain even simple things.

[Merusk]

Bought this for the Nephew.  He's really musically inclined (piano since he was 4) but my sister never had cash for the guitar he got for his 13th birthday before they moved to Portland.  Looks like a good substitute to me!

Also; I figured out Harmonics today and proceeded to pluck away on them for a good 30 mins, driving everyone insane.  Then I realized I should have been doing the Guitarcade for that, not just plunking on the select screen.  Heh.

I feel like I'm already starting to find the limitations of my $199 guitar, though.  One: it seems to hate the "E" string and keeping it in tune. I wonder if it's a neck problem.  I frequently will not get 1E and 4E because Rocksmith doesn't recognize it.  The duckshoot game is where I notice this the most.  Two: The thing is 3/4 size because I bought it for my daughter who has played all of 4 hours on her profile. I'm nearing - I think- 50 (she kicks me off steam so I have no real metric)

[Sky]

Part of it is the strings, if they're too light gauge you will bend the note sharp when you fret it. Listen close to a fretted note, push hard and soft as you play. Ideally, you want to push as softly as you can while still getting the note to ring clearly. In practice, I mash the shit out of the strings, I use a fairly heavy gauge with a custom low E string because I like that to be really thick.

But yes, cheap guitars struggle to stay in tune. The greatest thing about my two better guitars is that they more or less will stay in tune the entire time I'm playing.

Rocksmith can be a bit of a dick about tuning, both in recognizing notes and in accepting a string that's not quite tuned correctly. I strongly recommend learning proper tuning, both the 55545 fretted tuning and tuning with harmonics (imo harmonics is the best way to tune, but the B string is a bitch). And hit that tuner often and run through it a couple times to make sure it's right. One of the most important things I learned about tuning is you want to tune UP to a note. Think about string tension as you're winding the peg, when you are tuning up you are keeping the tension in the peg tight. When you tun down, it's loosey goosey and playing will pull it until it tightens up. This can be slight, but it's always a factor (except locking nuts, but those make me nuts haha).

Also, when tuning up, especially on new strings, bend the strings back and forth a bit. Good bending practice, go up and down with it and pretty wide. This will stretch out the string, new strings often go out of tune until they're stretched.

It's funny all the little bits of info one picks up after three decades of playing, heh.

[Sky]

The Ox? YES PLEASE

[Velorath]

Rocksmith executive producer Nao Higo has been on his twitter feed looking for PC players interested in Beta Testing updates by sending an email to rocksmith@ubisoft.com. I'm pretty sure you could provide them with some useful feedback Sky, you should contact them.

[Sky]

Sent.

Hope they're ready for some nagging about a more advanced tab mode :)

[CmdrSlack]

Has anyone used this for bass? My kid is bugging me to teach her how to play, and I need to get myself back in the habit of playing. This seems like it could be an easy solution for the both of us.

[Sky]

I'm 1000% better on bass in this game. Less colors to keep track of, fewer chords to throw you, less fast lead playing. I probably end up playing 2/3 of the time on bass because it's less frustrating with the interface.

Also:


I'm a bit better now, but I struggle with the last couple % because it wants you to play every little pickup note exactly as recorded, and Steve Harris don't play that way, dammit. So it keeps breaking the multiplier and I basically gave up on the Leaderboards because I've played the damn song professionally and been complimented by other bassists so pfft! I think one of the toughest parts of the game is that there isn't a lot of wiggle room for riffs that are really just unwritten jams or random pick up notes. Nature of the beast. Still, lots of fun and I HIGHLY recommend it.

[Dren]

Losing when things start coming fast is one reason this version is such an improvement...quickly hit the space bar (I use my toe :)) and go into the new riff repeater and work on that section until you have it down. This is how we've learned songs for years, but without the benefit of such a powerful slow-downer tool. Back in the day I had to use our multitracker which had a variable speed tape deck. Play/rewind/play/rewind arg.

Completely this!  I love the new riff repeater.   It blows away the first version.  I adjust either speed and/or mastery levels until I have it down to at least a level where I'm not frantic during the actual song.

[CmdrSlack]

I'm 1000% better on bass in this game. Less colors to keep track of, fewer chords to throw you, less fast lead playing. I probably end up playing 2/3 of the time on bass because it's less frustrating with the interface.

Also:


I'm a bit better now, but I struggle with the last couple % because it wants you to play every little pickup note exactly as recorded, and Steve Harris don't play that way, dammit. So it keeps breaking the multiplier and I basically gave up on the Leaderboards because I've played the damn song professionally and been complimented by other bassists so pfft! I think one of the toughest parts of the game is that there isn't a lot of wiggle room for riffs that are really just unwritten jams or random pick up notes. Nature of the beast. Still, lots of fun and I HIGHLY recommend it.

Awesome. The kid's going to be 8 in February, but I'm not 100% sure that she'll stick with this or with guitar. Rocksmith seems like an easy way to get me playing again and to get her playing if she's willing to put in the time. In either event, I get to play more games and get the benefit of soothing myself with music. Life is good.

Also, your thumbs-up is pretty much the gold standard as far as reviews of this product are concerned.

[Sky]

Aww, shucks :) The last version was cool, but they really knocked this one out of the park. Short of a true tab mode, it's a really nice improvement and a lot of fun to play.

Got into the beta but it seems to just be to test integration of UPlay into the client so it doesn't launch separately

[CmdrSlack]

So I would imagine that investing in better speakers is probably a good idea? I've been way lax and this PC only has crappy speakers. It seems to support a fancier setup.

This is the flagship gift for this season if she gets it. Kid just got a shared-with-me Kindle Fire HD when school rolled out the BYOT policy.


We're still at least a year out on Lego Mindstorms. (Yes, that's just me needing an excuse.)

I sure hope that there's a way to unbox/install this without totally destroying the box. I want it to be Xmas morning ready ... yet still seem shiny and new.

[Sky]

I play mine through my audio receiver, so yeah. Something where music sounds good, and if you're doing bass you want a sub. I got a good deal on a 100W sub during last year's black friday on newegg...once I took my receiver apart and re-soldered the output daughterboard :p

[Merusk]

I wish, wish, wish WISH I had started vids or recording of my progress.  It's goddamn amazing to me.  I'm no professional and I'm quite sure my technique is shit but I would not have guessed that I'd be able to hit "In Bloom" to 45% on my first attempt playing back when I started on Halloween.  Amazing to me that I'm not even through the 60-days yet, AND I haven't been regular enough due to weekend commitments and business travel.

And that's just one song.  I'm at 50-86% on a lot of the very simple stuff.  My hardest is Knights of Cydonia, at 47% or "Jenny" at 21%  Which sounds crappy but has me really damn happy!

This is an awesome system.

[Sky]

Noice!

[CmdrSlack]

We decided to make this a Christmas Eve present for the kid simply so that she'd have time to play. We do two family meals with two different sides of the family on Christmas, so we have started rolling out the big gift on the 24th.

It was also an excuse for me to install it on the PC early...and test it out, of course. Two hours later, I'm feeling it in my fingertips. Holy shit, beginner ranges from sad and pathetic to testing my limits...this will be loads of fun. If the kid really plays and shows that she'll practice, I'm tempted to get her a Squire or similar cheapo electric for her birthday in February.

[Merusk]

33% off on steam today, but the DLC is not.  Boooo.

[Sky]

Yeah, the fall sale had the DLC up for sale for a few minutes but yanked it before I was able to check out. Last year all the DLC was on sale, too (that's why I have so much!). I was holding off on buying a few packs, so I'm not sure their strategy is working this year...since I still haven't bought them.

[Thrawn]

Got around to finally installing 2014 on Steam....still have yet to get my PC to recognize the cord correctly. 

It's a PS3 cable originally from the first Rocksmith, but everything I've read says it should work just fine.

[Sky]

It's just 1/8" to USB, should work fine on the pc.

[CmdrSlack]

Ok, this is odd. Rocksmith's Shop page lets me select The Clash, The Cure, The Allmans, and some other song packs. It says they're compatible with 2014, etc.

Steam won't let me purchase because I don't own Rocksmith.

Yeah, I own the 2014 version. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY, STEAM.

Short of buying the older version of Rocksmith, does anyone have any advice on how to unfuck this?

[Trippy]

Ok, this is odd. Rocksmith's Shop page lets me select The Clash, The Cure, The Allmans, and some other song packs. It says they're compatible with 2014, etc.

Steam won't let me purchase because I don't own Rocksmith.

Yeah, I own the 2014 version. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY, STEAM.

Short of buying the older version of Rocksmith, does anyone have any advice on how to unfuck this?

Nope you have to buy the original and then the songs you buy for the original will be available in 2014 automatically (the original doesn't even need to be installed). Note that if you want the songs bundled with the original (not the songs you buy separately) to be available in 2014 you need to buy the 2014 Disk Import Tool.

[CaptainNapkin]

This is on sale right now at Amazon for $49.99 with cable, all platforms. Good time to jump in if you don't have it.

[Salamok]

Got around to finally installing 2014 on Steam....still have yet to get my PC to recognize the cord correctly. 

It's a PS3 cable originally from the first Rocksmith, but everything I've read says it should work just fine.

I originally bought Rocksmith for the PS3 then later repurchased it through steam for my PC, I did not have to do anything special to get the ps3 cord to work with my PC.

So is there any way my PS3 purchased original Rocksmith song packs can be made available to a steam purchased Rocksmith 2014 on my PC?

[Gets]

Got around to finally installing 2014 on Steam....still have yet to get my PC to recognize the cord correctly. 

It's a PS3 cable originally from the first Rocksmith, but everything I've read says it should work just fine.

There actually is a slight difference between the cables made for RS1 and 2014. There is an issue with the old Real Tone Cable not working with Windows 8 due to Windows USB driver issues. Try switching between USB 3.0 and 2.0.

So is there any way my PS3 purchased original Rocksmith song packs can be made available to a steam purchased Rocksmith 2014 on my PC?

No.

[Sky]

Put 90 minutes on the non-stop mode, let the old lady pick the tracks and suddenly it was 1am after several 'just one more song...' Game is so much fun to jam with. I can play a lot of the bass stuff cold fairly passably, but a lot of relatively easy passages with a lot of movement (Dobie Gray's Drift Away for example) are still really tough due to the way they mark the frets. I know I gripe about it, but it's really the thing keeping the game from that final dash of greatness. It's frustrating to be jamming along and then 'well what note is that, or that, or goddammit why are you only giving me a fret number every ten notes, aaaah!' And then the song ends and I can play the riff passably just by jamming over it.

If you want a really solid core bass track, I highly recommend Good Enough by Tom Petty. I love the track and it goes over basic root/fifth bass playing with octaves and a few passing tones without going overboard. Very relaxing to play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE9mM_ut62Y

You should also try out Soul Man by the Blues Brothers for some groove lessons. Real fun groove without being too complex. For a more complex awesome groove, Le Chic's Good Times is a great riff and pretty repetitive. Another easy song good for groove is the Police's Message in a Bottle, the verse and pre-chorus are pretty straight grooves and then the chorus is an easy but deceptive little groove (easy if you grew up with the song, might be tricky otherwise).

[Velorath]

Good Enough is one of the best and only intermediate bass songs that bridges the gap between "can get 97% the first time you play it" easy stuff, and the incredibly difficult stuff (in particular a lot of the metal tracks).

[Khaldun]

Daughter wants to switch over from bass (like, the big orchestra kind) to an electric bass guitar, so we're getting her Rocksmith and I think maybe the Fender Squier Modified Special, which I'm seeing for $150-170.

I'm toying with joining in and getting the Les Paul Epiphone...