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[MaximumZero]

So, I know I'm not the only Rocksmith/RS2014 player on this here forum, so I decided to make a thread dedicated to wanna-be guitar players like myself.

What's your favorite song? Most frustrating part of a song?

[jhxmt]

I just bought this the other day.  My fingers hurt.

I've been trying the opening riff of Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" on Riff Repeater (that's the thing, right?), and have levelled it up a fair amount, but I need to actually learn the damn sequence rather than fumbling around and simply reacting to what's on my screen.  The zen-like approach of 'live in the moment' doesn't work here.   

[MaximumZero]

Congrats on the purchase! What kind of guitar are you playing?

[Kaje]

I own an electroacoustic guitar that I bought a few years ago, with the notion of one day learning. I still haven't got around to taking a lesson yet, and I'm wondering whether Rocksmith might be the way to go for a while? How easy is it to learn using Rocksmith?

[jhxmt]

Congrats on the purchase! What kind of guitar are you playing?

It's an old (and slightly rickety) Squier stratocaster that I bought off my younger brother years ago for what was, in effect, pocket change.  A couple of the pickup selector settings don't work (I suspect an iffy wire somewhere) and it has a tendency to rattle a little when it's feeling irritable.  It is not the height of musical technology, but it serves. 

I own an electroacoustic guitar that I bought a few years ago, with the notion of one day learning. I still haven't got around to taking a lesson yet, and I'm wondering whether Rocksmith might be the way to go for a while? How easy is it to learn using Rocksmith?

I'm finding it fun (two days in), but I have yet to really work out how best to use it as a learning tool.  It starts you out nice and easily with some of the songs, but as they get harder you rapidly find that you need to be using the correct fingering positions or you're not going to make it...and since it doesn't exactly pause and let you get your bearings, the first time you run into a new chord or position is an exercise in, "oh good, I've got this one down, now I...what the hell is that!?  Oh, oh god, where do I put...aargh!" followed by a series of alien-like out-of-tune squeals from your guitar as you attempt to relocate your four fingers to nine different places simulaneously. 

Which is to say, it's fun!  It has a lot of learning material built in, if you delve into it a bit - the chord book is useful (and shows 'correct' fingering positions for them), and it's a good feeling once you start to notice those chords (or parts thereof) in songs that you were previously struggling with, and realise that if you've got your fingers in the chord position then it's so much easier to hit the notes than trying to see them as individual dots and simply reacting to them.

I doubt it'll ever equal the benefits of having an actual teacher, and it doesn't forego the need for practice, but it makes some forms of practice fun.  It's a bit like Duolinguo and similar tools - it takes a subject that is traditionally a pain to learn, puts it inside a game-like environment with a rewards system, and thus tricks you into thinking you're having fun while picking up the material.  Which you are.  It's win-win.

[Kaje]

That's a great post dude, thanks! I think I'll grab a few one-to-one lessons but then buy the game as an extra practice tool!

[scrdest]

I bought RS1 last October, switched over to 2014 'demo' after it was released, now I have both. Unfortunately, I have a fuckton of cDLC (player-made songs, requires a modified .dll to access debug mode on startup, look for them HERE).

Favorites... I used to really love Peace of Mind, some of the unlockables are pretty cool too. And Judas Priest. Damn are those things fun to play. I also feel obligated to bring up Rush because THEY ARE RUSH, GODDAMMIT, but the songs tend to be really technical.

As far as a tool for learning... well, I'm playing guitar for six years now, and the couple months after I got Rocksmith I found more improvements  than over the past three years. Although part of it was also looking up theory on the web. It's a massive leap forward too, but it's easy to dive in waaaaay too deep and just confuse yourself horribly.

The Lessons is a godsend, it basically condenses every trick you need to know and then some, though it's slightly lacking at teaching you things like holding your pick right - it's basically described in general, plus 'whatever feels good', and this might lead to some problems that only surface at tougher parts (whether speed, accuracy or whatever), but hey, there's internet for that.

Also yeah, it lacks theory, and you WILL want to learn that at some point, but for training the more physical skills involved, it's great.

[hemmingjay]

As far as a tool for learning... well, I'm playing guitar for six years now, and the couple months after I got Rocksmith I found more improvements  than over the past three years. Although part of it was also looking up theory on the web. It's a massive leap forward too, but it's easy to dive in waaaaay too deep and just confuse yourself horribly.

This, so much. I have played for 18 years on and off, in a band for four years at the bar gig level(but still terrible). I always had great feel and could riff/jam with anyone and catch on and lead a song, but I lacked the fundamental rhytm and chops until RS 1 and now 2014 is so much better. As far as what is the hardest on me, Avenged Sevenfold and Trivium(CDLC)

And I am playing an ESP LTD 1000 EC Deluxe with EMG 81/60 active

[scrdest]

I guess that's behind it makes you step out of your comfort zone. Even if your mother was a neurosurgeon and your father crushed rocks between his fingers, and a freak accident turned you into Elasto-man, you still have to learn to keep up with what's going on on the screen in Learn a Song and Session Mode trains you to keep track of rhythm and changes.

That said, I am not a fan of Session Mode. After the initial wow factor wore off, it turns out to be rather primitive. Notably, for all its modes, it lacks Locrian which, while dissonant as hell, could be useful for more metal sound and more importantly, makes it harder to notice a veeery important thing about how scale shapes work (RS points it out for you in one of the later Session mode missions, but it's easy to miss).

Oh yeah, and gear - nothing to brag about. I'm using one of the Ibanez GIO models, I think it's GSA60, basically the equivalent to Fender's Squier series, so a cheap-ass beginner guitar (although Ibanez's are better, because while manufacturing is Chinese with all that entails, they own up to making those and so have quality control, and it's actually very good for what it is).

[Ygdrad]

I also own this game, but no guitar, I play on a cheap Squire J Bass by Fender. How does this cdlc thing work, can it work in multiplayer?

[scrdest]

I also own this game, but no guitar, I play on a cheap Squire J Bass by Fender. How does this cdlc thing work, can it work in multiplayer?

Yeah, the game treats it like any other song and IIRC, the only multiplayer is on the same machine.

[Ygdrad]

I tried various cdlc's and was rather disappointed. I don't know if they usually get the lead guitar right, but the bass was usually pretty bad with some odd or missing notes. Probably because the bass was added by people without a good ear for it. If this is what I get on the popular downloads, then I'm not expecting much at all from the more obscure ones

[scrdest]

I tried various cdlc's and was rather disappointed. I don't know if they usually get the lead guitar right, but the bass was usually pretty bad with some odd or missing notes. Probably because the bass was added by people without a good ear for it. If this is what I get on the popular downloads, then I'm not expecting much at all from the more obscure ones

Eh? Popular downloads? Where do you get them from? The site I linked just shows the cDLC by most recent update (or upload) by default. And the download page usually has comments on it, so you know what to expect, and the authors often fix the problems with the cDLC in further releases.

[Ygdrad]

I tried various cdlc's and was rather disappointed. I don't know if they usually get the lead guitar right, but the bass was usually pretty bad with some odd or missing notes. Probably because the bass was added by people without a good ear for it. If this is what I get on the popular downloads, then I'm not expecting much at all from the more obscure ones

Eh? Popular downloads? Where do you get them from? The site I linked just shows the cDLC by most recent update (or upload) by default. And the download page usually has comments on it, so you know what to expect, and the authors often fix the problems with the cDLC in further releases.

You can sort the cdlc's by number of downloads, second column from the right, "DLs". I'm guessing the problem is how few bass players there are and most of the ones playing rocksmith are probably still learning. I'm seeing comments of praise and thanks for those songs that are basically missing 1/5-1/4 of the notes on bass.

[scrdest]

I tried various cdlc's and was rather disappointed. I don't know if they usually get the lead guitar right, but the bass was usually pretty bad with some odd or missing notes. Probably because the bass was added by people without a good ear for it. If this is what I get on the popular downloads, then I'm not expecting much at all from the more obscure ones

Eh? Popular downloads? Where do you get them from? The site I linked just shows the cDLC by most recent update (or upload) by default. And the download page usually has comments on it, so you know what to expect, and the authors often fix the problems with the cDLC in further releases.

You can sort the cdlc's by number of downloads, second column from the right, "DLs". I'm guessing the problem is how few bass players there are and most of the ones playing rocksmith are probably still learning. I'm seeing comments of praise and thanks for those songs that are basically missing 1/5-1/4 of the notes on bass.

And you do NOT have Dynamic Difficulty on? Because I've been playing around on emulated bass, and did not have any issues with that.