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Rocksmith

Gulo Blue

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 4, 2013
Messages
13,502
Just got it. Never played anything before, but I did enjoy Guitar Hero. I wish this had come out 1st. It's very well done. There's a fair chance I could learn from this. It probably won't be as big a deal as it deserves to be because everyone will think it's more Guitar Hero, but it's much better than that.

I bought it before learning there's a competitor, Bandfuse. The main difference as I understand it is that Rocksmith adjusts difficulty on the fly and presents things more like guitar hero while BandFuse displays guitar tablature. I suspect the learning curve a steeper with tablature, but if I get through this a still want more, I might go get the other one.

I need to toughen up my finger tips.
 
I never thought about it before but do games like this help to learn the guitar? I bought my first guitar, acoustic, back in October. I still pretty much suck.
 
I never thought about it before but do games like this help to learn the guitar? I bought my first guitar, acoustic, back in October. I still pretty much suck.

The games that have been out for a few years, the ones that come with plastic guitar-shaped controllers, do NOT help you learn guitar. Not much at least. This is different.

Rocksmith came out last year with the goal of actually helping people learn guitar and I know a guy that says it worked for him. There are 3 main components to Rocksmith. There are some short video lessons, there are about a dozen games that make you practice repetitious stuff, and then there are the songs.

The video lessons are followed by 'repeat-after-me' components that asks you to do the lesson 3 times, if you can't it slows it down and tries again, and once you get it, it speeds up.

I've only played the simpler video games. One is set up sort of like Tapper where people approach along a number of lines. You have to pick the right string you knock 'em back. I've also played one with zombies approaching you with chords over their heads. You have to hit the right chord to shoot that zombie. There are about a dozen games, all retro 8-bit looking.

The songs are very well put together. You play over a track of the other instruments. At 1st they just give you a few of the notes. As you improve they keep adding notes. Once you've really got it down, they quit showing you the notes you never miss. By the time you score 100 on a song, you're actually playing it. I'm nowhere near there.

There's also a studio setting where you can just play. The game has settings to emulate mountains of effects pedals.

Another important thing. HDMI adds a lot of lag. There's a chart of ideal audio set ups and less ideal arrangements to minimize lag. The best setup for an HDTV is to run component cables with the RCA audio plugs going directly to a receiver and then speakers. Not through the TV. I run mine through the TV via component cables and RCA plugs and there is some lag, and it's annoying, but not as bad as it was with HDMI. It's definitely playable. Standard def doesn't have any problems (I think.)

You should still watch other training videos for technique (I'm told.) For example, it will tell you in a lesson to strum both up and down, down on the downbeats, but it doesn't catch you if you ignore that advice.

There is original Rocksmith and now Rocksmith 2014. I got the newer one. There are lots of youtube videos if you want to see it in action or see what people think.
 
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The games that have been out for a few years, the ones that come with plastic guitar-shaped controllers, do NOT help you learn guitar. Not much at least. This is different.

Rocksmith came out last year with the goal of actually helping people learn guitar and I know a guy that says it worked for him. There are 3 main components to Rocksmith. There are some short video lessons, there are about a dozen games that make you practice repetitious stuff, and then there are the songs.

The video lessons are followed by 'repeat-after-me' components that asks you to do the lesson 3 times, if you can't it slows it down and tries again, and once you get it, it speeds up.

I've only played the simpler video games. One is set up sort of like Tapper where people approach along a number of lines. You have to pick the right string you knock 'em back. I've also played one with zombies approaching you with chords over their heads. You have to hit the right chord to shoot that zombie. There are about a dozen games, all retro 8-bit looking.

The songs are very well put together. You play over a track of the other instruments. At 1st they just give you a few of the notes. As you improve they keep adding notes. Once you've really got it down, they quit showing you the notes you never miss. By the time you score 100 on a song, you're actually playing it. I'm nowhere near there.

There's also a studio setting where you can just play. The game has settings to emulate mountains of effects pedals.

Another important thing. HDMI adds a lot of lag. There's a chart of ideal audio set ups and less ideal arrangements to minimize lag. The best setup for an HDTV is to run component cables with the RCA audio plugs going directly to a receiver and then speakers. Not through the TV. I run mine through the TV via component cables and RCA plugs and there is some lag, and it's annoying, but not as bad as it was with HDMI. It's definitely playable. Standard def doesn't have any problems (I think.)

You should still watch other training videos for technique (I'm told.) For example, it will tell you in a lesson to strum both up and down, down on the downbeats, but it doesn't catch you if you ignore that advice.

There is original Rocksmith and now Rocksmith 2014. I got the newer one. There are lots of youtube videos if you want to see it in action or see what people think.

Thank you very much. I haven't thought of getting a bass or electric guitar so soon but it's something to think about. It looks pretty cool, I wonder if they have a PS4 version in the future?
 
Thank you very much. I haven't thought of getting a bass or electric guitar so soon but it's something to think about. It looks pretty cool, I wonder if they have a PS4 version in the future?

That's another conversation I had where I'm passing on basically one guy's opinion...acoustic vs electric. There are trade offs regarding which is easier to learn on. You have to press down on acoustic string harder than electric, but the string spacing and fret spacing is smaller on electric (which makes it tough to get all your fingers where they need to be for some cords if you have regular or fat fingers.) One thing he said is that a cheap acoustic guitar is going to suck more and it might be more frustrating to learn on because you don't know when the problem is that the guitar is cheap. A cheap electric guitar is a safer bet. As long as the tuning pegs are solid, there's not much that can go wrong. Just get a comfortable shape.

For that reason, he steered me away from the acoustic/electric guitars. Especially, if I was looking for something cheap, it would probably have the problems of a cheap acoustic guitar.

I also saw in some reviews that some guitars won't work with the game for some reason. It seems to be a rare thing, but I made sure I could return my guitar and get another one if it didn't work out.
 
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That's another conversation I had where I'm passing on basically one guy's opinion...acoustic vs electric. There are trade offs regarding which is easier to learn on. You have to press down on acoustic string harder than electric, but the string spacing and fret spacing is smaller on electric (which makes it tough to get all your fingers where they need to be for some cords if you have regular or fat fingers.) One thing he said is that a cheap acoustic guitar is going to suck more and it might be more frustrating to learn on because you don't know when the problem is that the guitar is cheap. A cheap electric guitar is a safer bet. As long as the tuning pegs are solid, there's not much that can go wrong. Just get a comfortable shape.

For that reason, he steered me away from the acoustic/electric guitars. Especially, if I was looking for something cheap, it would probably have the problems of a cheap acoustic guitar.

I also saw in some reviews that some guitars won't work with the game for some reason. It seems to be a rare thing, but I made sure I could return my guitar and get another one if it didn't work out.

I'm not sure what is considered cheap as guitars go, but I got my for $420. I guess that's probably on the cheap side. It's a Seagull S6 Original, if that means anything to use, and plays well for me.

I had read about the frets and strings as far as spacing. Big tall guy like me has short and stubby fingers, my biggest problem. Electric would probably be harder, at least I think so.
 
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$420 isn't on the cheap side. I always felt bad watching parents buying cheap guitars at a mall knowing the kid is only going to get frustrated and never want to learn.
 
I'm not sure what is considered cheap as guitars go, but I got my for $420. I guess that's probably on the cheap side. It's a Seagull S6 Original, if that means anything to use, and plays well for me.

I had read about the frets and strings as far as spacing. Big tall guy like me has short and stubby fingers, my biggest problem. Electric would probably be harder, at least I think so.

I'm talking about the ~$150 range. For that much you can get a fair electric, or a frustrating acoustic. If things go well with this, in a year or two I'll probably look into getting an acoustic. At that point, I was told to expect to want a $400+ instrument.
 
The guitar I play on most is a Sigma acoustic(made by Martin) cost me $125. Wasn't easy to play when I first bought it, but put a little bit of work into it and now I play it 95% of the time. $400+ you can get a good sounding/playing acoustic, like a Takamine or Epiphone. About the game, I have never tried it but anything that gets you to practice will make you better. Watching YouTube videos and looking for tab, scales, or lessons is how I learned.
 
The guitar I play on most is a Sigma acoustic(made by Martin) cost me $125. Wasn't easy to play when I first bought it, but put a little bit of work into it and now I play it 95% of the time. $400+ you can get a good sounding/playing acoustic, like a Takamine or Epiphone. About the game, I have never tried it but anything that gets you to practice will make you better. Watching YouTube videos and looking for tab, scales, or lessons is how I learned.

Same here, YouTube and apps for my Kindle. Right now I pretty much have to go really slow to make it sound decent enough. It's hard for me not putting my fingers on multiple strings at the same time when I'm not suppose to.

Why couldn't I get my mom's side of the family's, regards to fingers, long and thin. Thanks, Dad - lol.
 
I just stumbled across this thread and I too just recently bought the game.

I am a beginner (can play the basic chords and a few songs), and my son is actually a pretty good player.

The game is exactly as the OP described it. It's a lot of fun, and will def teach you guitar.

We have a few at home, and I have used this game with an old Ibanez electric from the 70's, as well as a Takamine acoustic electric. You can really play with either as long as the thing plugs in. If you prefer acoustic, the Takamine cost about 375 used and has pretty good action, pretty easy to play. Its a smaller body, so probably sounds better plugged into an amp than it does just straight acoustic. We've been really happy with the guitar though, FWIW.

Mitch, get the game. It's awesome.
 
I just stumbled across this thread and I too just recently bought the game.

I am a beginner (can play the basic chords and a few songs), and my son is actually a pretty good player.

The game is exactly as the OP described it. It's a lot of fun, and will def teach you guitar.

We have a few at home, and I have used this game with an old Ibanez electric from the 70's, as well as a Takamine acoustic electric. You can really play with either as long as the thing plugs in. If you prefer acoustic, the Takamine cost about 375 used and has pretty good action, pretty easy to play. Its a smaller body, so probably sounds better plugged into an amp than it does just straight acoustic. We've been really happy with the guitar though, FWIW.

Mitch, get the game. It's awesome.

I would like to but I don't really want to buy another guitar..I bought my Acoustic in November and I'm pretty sure the better half doesn't want me to buy another one..at lease not yet..maybe in the fall.
 
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