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Rocksmith/Bandfuse...

#81
MarshallNole said:
I;m learning Man in the Box on Rocksmith and they have some slides in that song. RS suggested I play the guitarcade slide game to get better at it.

Slides hurt my fingers. I also find it very hard to slide to lower frets from fret 4 and lower. It is like an awkward angle for my wrist and Rocksmith usually tells me to slide faster.

How do you make slides cleaner? I feel like maybe I am pushing too hard on the string while sliding b ut I don't want to get the string rattling from pushing too lightly.
Click to expand...


How high or low do you have your strap when playing. That could make all the difference. The higher your bass is closer to your head, the easier it will be to make these movements.
 
#83
MarshallNole said:
I;m learning Man in the Box on Rocksmith and they have some slides in that song. RS suggested I play the guitarcade slide game to get better at it.

Slides hurt my fingers. I also find it very hard to slide to lower frets from fret 4 and lower. It is like an awkward angle for my wrist and Rocksmith usually tells me to slide faster.

How do you make slides cleaner? I feel like maybe I am pushing too hard on the string while sliding b ut I don't want to get the string rattling from pushing too lightly.
Click to expand...

I do not know the new version of Rocksmith, so I am not sure how good the teaching material is, I hear it is much better than the old version, but I would think you have a technique issue.

Are you putting your elbow in close by your body? I am just guessing this is the case, if it is, I put a couch cushion in between my students arms when they are learning. It seems more comfortable to pull your elbow right in to your hip but you can get a much better reach and range by keeping it off your body. This also helps keeps the lower part of your palm (fretting hand) off the fretboard.

I would highly recommend at least one lesson with a proper bass teacher just to confirm you are doing things properly. Bad technique is extremely hard to correct.
 
#84
gregmon79 said:
How high or low do you have your strap when playing. That could make all the difference. The higher your bass is closer to your head, the easier it will be to make these movements.
Click to expand...

+1

Marshall, it sounds like you may be wearing your bass low. The lower it is, the harder it will be to slide all the way down the neck. In terms of slides hurting your fingers, I think its just a matter of building up calluses on your fingers. I remember a time when pretty much everything I did hurt my fingers.
 
#85
DiabolusInMusic said:
I do not know the new version of Rocksmith, so I am not sure how good the teaching material is, I hear it is much better than the old version, but I would think you have a technique issue.

Are you putting your elbow in close by your body? I am just guessing this is the case, if it is, I put a couch cushion in between my students arms when they are learning. It seems more comfortable to pull your elbow right in to your hip but you can get a much better reach and range by keeping it off your body. This also helps keeps the lower part of your palm (fretting hand) off the fretboard.

I would highly recommend at least one lesson with a proper bass teacher just to confirm you are doing things properly. Bad technique is extremely hard to correct.
Click to expand...

I am taking lessons with a bass instructor. We haven't gotten to slides yet and I didn't tell him I play Rocksmith. I just practice what he gives me.

I will pay attention to where my elbow is and work on keeping it away from my body. I will also ask my instructor about it.
 
#86
When it comes to RS I have nothing but great things to say about. I started playing guitar in high school 25 years ago I never got good could play riffs and just jam out with friends, but never learned more than a couple of songs and never a full song. when my daughter turned 14 she wanted to learn to play the bass so I bought her a nice Ibanez, and I taught her some little riffs and a few things but she never got any place with the bass or my guitar and she gave up and for the last 3 years the bass just hung on the wall collecting dust. this year for Christmas I bought the RS game for my kid (also I wanted to try it too), from the moment she opened it, all she has done every night for hours on end is play her bass. it is a amazing transformation she has under gone in three weeks she has learned to play 10 songs at over 90% accuracy. she will sit on the couch and plug into one of our amps and just play riffs and jam out while she watches TV. in the age of Video games were the attention span of the youth of today cant wrap their heads around how to play a instrument RS is the way to get the kids sitting and playing.

The game it self is in by means a 100% perfect teacher, but what it dose is teach you to have confidence that you can learn to play the instrument you have sitting on a wall. the early lessons are very easy bass lines to learn like NEXT GIRL, and THE HORRORS song, there are a lot more complexity levels in some like THE CURES "boys don't cry" this one has frustrated her but she practices it each day and is getting a better grasp on Simon Gallops style of play.

Again this game is not a substitute for a live human teacher, but what it will do is drive a person learning to play into budding bass player, and well worth the money you invest in it to light that fire in you or your kids
 
#87
When it comes to RS I have nothing but great things to say about. I started playing guitar in high school 25 years ago I never got good could play riffs and just jam out with friends, but never learned more than a couple of songs and never a full song. when my daughter turned 14 she wanted to learn to play the bass so I bought her a nice Ibanez, and I taught her some little riffs and a few things but she never got any place with the bass or my guitar and she gave up and for the last 3 years the bass just hung on the wall collecting dust. this year for Christmas I bought the RS game for my kid (also I wanted to try it too), from the moment she opened it, all she has done every night for hours on end is play her bass. it is a amazing transformation she has under gone in three weeks she has learned to play 10 songs at over 90% accuracy. she will sit on the couch and plug into one of our amps and just play riffs and jam out while she watches TV. in the age of Video games were the attention span of the youth of today cant wrap their heads around how to play a instrument RS is the way to get the kids sitting and playing.

The game it self is in by means a 100% perfect teacher, but what it dose is teach you to have confidence that you can learn to play the instrument you have sitting on a wall. the early lessons are very easy bass lines to learn like NEXT GIRL, and THE HORRORS song, there are a lot more complexity levels in some like THE CURES "boys don't cry" this one has frustrated her but she practices it each day and is getting a better grasp on Simon Gallops style of play.

Again this game is not a substitute for a live human teacher, but what it will do is drive a person learning to play into budding bass player, and well worth the money you invest in it to light that fire in you or your kids
 
#88
I'm looking at picking up one of these games soon, not as an educational tool, but just as a way to encourage myself to practice when the motivation just isn't there.

From what I've seen, Rocksmith seems to have more songs, but the display seems geared more to guitar hero / dance games than actual guitar and bass players. BandFuse seems like it has a much better tablature display.

Any thoughts on the visual styles from those who have played both games?
 
#89
Quick question, I'm thinking I can but want to make sure, can I use the same cord I have raft came with bandfuse with rocksmith too? I see some I can grab on eBay, the game, at decent prices but they don't come with the tone cord or whatever. Can I use the one that came with bandfuse with rocksmith?
 
#91
gregmon79 said:
Quick question, I'm thinking I can but want to make sure, can I use the same cord I have raft came with bandfuse with rocksmith too? I see some I can grab on eBay, the game, at decent prices but they don't come with the tone cord or whatever. Can I use the one that came with bandfuse with rocksmith?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the cords for each game do not work with the other game (at least mine don't).
 
#93
DiabolusInMusic said:
I do not know the new version of Rocksmith, so I am not sure how good the teaching material is, I hear it is much better than the old version, but I would think you have a technique issue.

Are you putting your elbow in close by your body? I am just guessing this is the case, if it is, I put a couch cushion in between my students arms when they are learning. It seems more comfortable to pull your elbow right in to your hip but you can get a much better reach and range by keeping it off your body. This also helps keeps the lower part of your palm (fretting hand) off the fretboard.

I would highly recommend at least one lesson with a proper bass teacher just to confirm you are doing things properly. Bad technique is extremely hard to correct.
Click to expand...

I just tried keeping my elbow away from my body and it hurts my wrist more. It actually feels much more comfortable and smooth keeping my elbow in close to my body.
 
#94
brendanbassist said:
I'm looking at picking up one of these games soon, not as an educational tool, but just as a way to encourage myself to practice when the motivation just isn't there.

From what I've seen, Rocksmith seems to have more songs, but the display seems geared more to guitar hero / dance games than actual guitar and bass players. BandFuse seems like it has a much better tablature display.

Any thoughts on the visual styles from those who have played both games?
Click to expand...

We were having a discussion on the Bandfuse forums about why we prefer one game over the other. I prefer BF but think RS has some excellent features. Below is a repost of mine from that forum discussing what I liked better about BF. Apologies for the long-winded post but I tend to do that (shocking, I know!)

1. Tablature Scroll vs Note Highway. IMO the RS note highway is clunky and difficult to read (especially with fast runs) and it significantly reduces the amount of fun I have playing the cover songs. Maybe its becasue I've spent years looking at tablature but for me, the presentation of the BF tab scroll is a million times easier to follow. The tab scroll also indicates timing in a far easier to understand format. So on this basis alone, BF is my preferred choice for playing the cover tunes.

2. Recording. The fact that BF records almost everything you play and then gives you the option to save the recordings is absolutely key for me. I've played in bands for years and without a doubt, the single best learning tool for the bands as a whole has been to record all of our rehearsals/gigs. Its easy to think you're nailing something while you're playing it. There are times when I've finished playing a song and thought I totally killed it. And then I listened to the recording. Yikes! Recordings don't lie and have been instrumental to my growth as a player. Not only that but being able to quickly record riff ideas is also great. How many of us have come up with awesome riffs when just screwing around and then think we'll remember it later only to totally forget the idea? So the fact that BF records everything and also allows for recording over a blank backing track is reason enough for me to buy the game.

3. Videos. I'm a fan of the music videos that accompany the BF tab scrolls for for several reasons. First, I just like the videos. Most of them I've seen before but a few I haven't. Regardless, I like having them, especially when playing songs I know fairly well. Also, it makes it more intetresting for anyone else in the house to watch when I'm playing. Just looking at a tab scroll or a note highway can be pretty boring for on-lookers so the videos add something else to watch. I also enjoy the videos from the professional players. As a bass player I would have preferred if they included a few more bass players besides Bootsy but I still enjoy the videos from guitar players.

4. Ducking. This is a no-brainer in terms of its usefullness. Being able to remove the bass tracks from tunes is incredibly important in terms of learning to properly play a cover tune. If the bass line is present, its easy to sort of fudge your way through the song because your ears hear the right notes whether you are playing them or not. Its one of the key reasons why guys who have never played in a real band before sometimes struggle when they play with live musicians....even if they know the song perfectly when playing to a recording. Playing along to a bass track is a sort of crutch and its easy to think you really know a song when in fact, you might not. Recording also comes in to play here as its incredibly helpful to record and listen back to exactly what you've played with no bass line in the background to fool you into thinking you've nailed something you haven't. Lastly, ducking allows you to also think and play outside the box if you want. Maybe you have a different idea for how something should be played. With no bass track to follow, you are free to explore whatever and whenever you want. If the bass track was present, it would sound like crap and get all muddy if you veered off the path but with ducking, you are free to play whatever you want. And record it! I can't overstate how important this is to me.

5. Song Selection. This is highly subjective but I prefer the songs as a whole in BF moreso than RS. I know RS has more songs available (and some overlap exists between the games) but I find that I enjoy playing almost all of the songs in BF and probably less than half in RS. But as I said, thats totally subjective.

6. Vocals. Allowing for vocals not only makes the game more versitle and interesting, it allows for a more social game experience. My wife doesn't play guitar or bass but she can sing so we can jam together. Also, I'm a lousy singer but after working with the vocals a bit, I've shown (admitedely small) improvement.
Click to expand...
 
#96
Well that's sort a crappy you can't interchange cords, they're the same thing. Marketing. I pulled the trigger on RF 2014. Found it on eBay, with the cord, for $40. Now I can see which one I'll dig more. BF has been quite a good exp so far. I already think I know that I'm going to like BF over RS for a few key reasons but we shall see.
 
#97
gregmon79 said:
Well that's sort a crappy you can't interchange cords, they're the same thing. Marketing. I pulled the trigger on RF 2014. Found it on eBay, with the cord, for $40. Now I can see which one I'll dig more. BF has been quite a good exp so far. I already think I know that I'm going to like BF over RS for a few key reasons but we shall see.
Click to expand...

is "RF 2014" a cross between Rocksmith and Bandfuse :smug:
 
#98
MarshallNole said:
I just tried keeping my elbow away from my body and it hurts my wrist more. It actually feels much more comfortable and smooth keeping my elbow in close to my body.
Click to expand...

If you are fretting a g sharp on the e string in first position can you fit a finger between your fretting finger and palm or is your finger flat to the board? Is your elbow close to your body or touching it? Close is fine, just not too close.

If you could post a pic or vid it would help more to assess your playing style.

You could be doing fine and just do not have the muscles yet. I know I sound redundant but one good lesson can go really far.
 
#99
I recently had to share a room with a total stranger for 8 weeks in a hotel recently, only personal items I could bring besides clothes were a bass and my PS3. Before I could finish playing one track on Rocksmith the first day he was asking to play.

My room-mate had no previous instrument experience of any kind, By the end of the 1st week my new roomie was out shopping for a bass, and by the time we left he felt more then accomplished, learning about a dozen or so tracks competently with no noteway. The day I left we went amp shopping and he happily settled on an Orange CR100. Boom, a bassist is born. ;)

I don't think the "spark" would have ignited in the slightest if I had just brought my bass and amplug and plunked away during that time. It presents music in a very real and digestable way to anyone.

My takeaways from that experience were: Rocksmith is a great "first kiss" or foray into the realm of playing an instrument, and two basses jamming together is as boring as one. :p
 
#100
To those "on-the-fence" over whether or not they should get the game, you can always go to YouTube and do a search. A bunch of people posted videos of their playing.

For example...

Here's what the "original" Rocksmith looks like:


Actually, if I want to "Rocksmith" when my wife is watching T.V., I go into the other room, get on YouTube, and play along to a game-play video that someone has posted.
 

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