Rocksmith

[ThatGingerMojo]

Hey Guys,

Ever try playing Rocksmith 2014 for PC, Mac, PS4, or XBox?

I have it for PS4 and PC, and I love it. I have been playing guitar over 20 years and Bass for over 5 years now, so I am not what you would call a beginner. Does not make me a pro either, that is for sure. I think this game is great for learning new tunes, and having a jam track behind me. What I most find beneficial, is that is is fun. Which gets me off my ass an d practicing.

But, my question to all the forum gurus here....

Does it make me a better player?

I would argue that it is time on the instrument, so by default it has to make me better. Yet, I have not met many people who view Rocksmith as being a reputable teaching/practicing tool.

Opinions please.

 

[redramen]

I just started playing bass, so I dont know if I am getting any better because of Rocksmith. But I enjoy playing, and like you said, any time on the bass is helpful.

I think Rocksmith is especially useful if I want to learn how to play a particular song.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

The first edition of Rocksmith did basically nothing to make you a better player. It is essentially the video game equivalent of the worst kind of guitar teacher, the one who teaches you songs instead of music. The only actually benefit that was taught was learning to play without looking at the fretboard.

Admittedly, that is something many players overlook but if your end goal is to be a well-rounded musician you would be far better off with a solid 15-minute practice regimen over an hour of Rocksmith every day. I have heard there are considerable improvements to the second edition as far as education goes but I have no experience with it.

 

[redramen]

There are like mini lessons that they have in the new Rocksmith (not sure if there were any in the old one). Plus there are mini games which are basically practice sessions for things like string skipping, etc.

I agree its nothing like taking actual lessons. I am learning from books and rocksmith is not as deep as books on music theory, etc. But sometimes when I am tired of practicing scales, its nice to play Rocksmith and just play and learn a new song and have fun.

 

[ThatGingerMojo]

Do you agree with the time on the instrument theory, that any time is better than no time at all?

 

[mambo4]

It might be fun and build muscle memory. But it's a game, not practice.

It also trains your neurons to play in response visual stimuli,
rather than in response your ears (or your inner ear)
the latter being much more desirable for musicianship.

 

[DanMax]

It might be fun and build muscle memory. But it's a game, not practice.

It also trains your neurons to play in response visual stimuli,
rather than in response your ears (or your inner ear)
the latter being much more desirable for musicianship.

Yes, and also it tends to make the player tolerant of sloppy rhythm. If your rhythm is good enough to win the game, you likely won't bother to refine it further.

 

[ESPweasel]

Rocksmith 2014 Edition - PC/Mac (Cable Included) Is $42.51 on Amazon.

Dunno, a guy I was talking to (beginner) loves it and it sort of sounds like fun but $42.51 for a gameish thing?

 

[mambo4]

$42.51 for a gameish thing?

$42 bucks is not expensive for a video game, especially if it includes specialized hardware.
Most new titles are $60 and up, just for the disc.

 

[ESPweasel]

$42 bucks is not expensive for a video game, especially if it includes specialized hardware.
Most new titles are $60 and up, just for the disc.

LOL, I had no idea. When I ever bought games they were used and I may have gotten 4 PS4 games and maybe 2 for my X-Box.

If I got this I'd have to use it with my laptop so I could take it from room to room (Running Win 8.1)

 

[Killed_by_Death]

It also trains your neurons to play in response visual stimuli,
rather than in response your ears (or your inner ear)
the latter being much more desirable for musicianship.

I would venture that most new players are learning by tab, so the same thing is happening.

Yes, and also it tends to make the player tolerant of sloppy rhythm. If your rhythm is good enough to win the game, you likely won't bother to refine it further.

If people aren't willing to play the songs they learned w/o the aid of Rocksmith, then they're not serious about music.

 

[ESPweasel]

FYI: I have knee to knee instruction weekly. I was just wondering if it would be fun as a game. [/disclaimeroff]

 

[ThatGingerMojo]

Its a hell of a lot of fun. Countless hours playing and thrashing around the living room. Speakers blaring, great tunes pouring forth, and me practicing my rock star face. In all serious its great practice and keeps the hands moving. Might not be the best for long term retention or fine tuning technique, but very fun and worth the cash.

 

[Saratogacv60]

Rocksmith is a tool, it's not all encompassing. I think what rocksmith is good at is making playing fun. The song library between RS1 and RS 2014 is about 100 songs (if you are on PC you can get the import pack for $10 if you also buy rs1). DLCs also have added to the library with about 3 new songs available to buy even week or 2 weeks. So the developers are continuing to support it. There are also user created dlc but I have found that only 1 in 10 approach the quality of the official DLCs which are very well done.

The best part of RS is session mode. Which basically let's you jam with a variety of instruments. It's probably over the head of most rs users, but advanced players might find it fun and helpful to experiment. But it does take time to get use to as the user interface is not clear in how dynamic the tool is.

Another thing I like is tone designer which let's you experiment with different amps, pre amps and pedals to find a tome you like. There are lots and lots off content here. IMHO, just the cable (which works well with recording software), session mode and tone designer are worth $40.

The mini games are OK for beginners and can even challenge advanced users. They are fine for warm ups, but you "die" a little too quickly for my taste and loading a new game is to laborious. Some are complete wastes of time though.

What it's not good at is actually Learning a song. Because of how the notes show up you really are just reacting to what you see right in front of you as opposed to seeing a whole measure of music. This is fine for practices speed and going beyond your comfort zone, but you are not really leaning the song.

What it doesn't teach is any theory at all. Which is fine, it's not a music theory game.

Overall I think it's a great tool to get started playing guitar or bass, you will build dexterity and endurance but at most alone it will take someone to about an advanced beginer level. Lessons or books are necessary to take the next steps.

A new game will probably not come out for at least another year, which I hope will allow the developers to make the game better. If they can make a similar leap from RS1 to rs 2014 then they will have accomplished something truly impressive. They may need to in order to convince the now advanced beginners to buy the next installment.

 

[Saratogacv60]

FYI: I have knee to knee instruction weekly. I was just wondering if it would be fun as a game. [/disclaimeroff]

If you like music and video games it is a lot of fun. I didn't like guitar hero or the other Plastic music games at all. But I love RS.

 

[ThatGingerMojo]

I think too, the thing to keep in mind is; it is a tool, not the entire toolbox. Use it, but use other mediums to learn, (lessons, book, TB forum).

 

[bpc]

I know this thread is a bit old but I wanted to add my impressions of RS 2014.

I've faffed about on guitar for 20 years and never got beyond advanced beginner. I switched to bass in Jan 2016 and have been using RS to teach myself bass. I've been playing an average of three hours of RS every night for 5 months now and the improvement is huge. Still a long way to go but it is working for me. I mix the song down and the bass up so that my bass playing is much louder than the song. This helps me improve rhythm and damping the strings not being played. All of this is getting better and better. There are a fair few songs I can do without RS now and master mode is aimed at exactly this. (the notes dissapear and you play along to the song by ear, memory). No one so far has mentioned riff-repeater. This lets you slow the song down and learn it at your own pace. There are a fair few songs I started at 40% speed and gradually worked them up to full speed. Very satisfying, adictive and I can play them fairly well now IMHO of course.

There are over 20000 custom dlc songs now and more added every day. Who cares if some of them are wrong or not as good as the official ones. The poorer ones are better than nothing and at least offer a version of the song and many of them are very high quality indeed. It may not offer much to an experienced player but for a beginner it encourages time on the instrument and if used in the right way it will definitely teach you to play songs, ranging from complete beginner to advanced master. ( The official Rush stuff is waaay too hard for me and I may never get there).

Session mode is the closest it has to music theory by showing you the positions on the fretboard to play a scale. Any key can be selected. Very cool for learning to improvise in a particular key.

I have no affiliation with RS. Just a very happy user. I find myself practising the stuff I've learned through an amp and now use RS to learn new stuff. Well worth the money to me.

My daughter learned to play guitar with a combination of RS and a proper tutor. The tutor helped with technique and RS helped her to spend time practising without getting bored. She still practises on rocksmith and off it and she is much better than me at both guitar and bass but she has been practising every day for 3 years now.

If you are a complete beginner I would highly recommend RS as a way to make practise fun and learn to play songs. A teacher will add a whole new level by taching you good technique but RS takes the boredome out of long practise sessions.

EDIT to add. First rule of RS cdlc is we don't talk about RS cdlc. If I've broken a rule then sorry. my bad. maybe the fun police won't notice.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I'm still plugging away with RS & bought a pitch shift pedal so that I can play those alternate tuning songs w/o too much hassle.

 

[AndreasR]

I think the latest Rocksmith is a valuable tool for anyone wanting to learn guitar or bass. Not the only tool they should have, but a valuable one nonetheless.

 

[Chili_Time]

I think Rocksmith is incredibly fun and is a great way to learn new songs, especially for a beginner. RS makes playing guitar or bass (or both) fun from day one and it makes you want to keep playing. If you keep playing you do get better. Rocksmith basically allowed me to have success with instant feedback and convinced me I could actually learn to play an instrument at a low initial investment cost. So it is a great tool for a beginner to play and see if they love playing for about the cost of 2 or 3 lessons. Once I learn a song in RS I move to a backing track and that is harder for sure but also feels good to have success and memorize one of your favorite songs. It is a great program for a “hobby player”. I will say this… Rocksmith made me realize I really want to learn how to play. If you are asking if it is fun… hell yes it is a lot of fun!

What Rocksmith does not do – or claim to do – is teach you music theory or how to read music (or tabs). So in addition to Rocksmith you need to get good teacher to refine your technique and/or teach you to read music if you can afford lessons. If you can’t go afford a good teacher then you’ll have to look at books and you-tube for technical instruction on how to play and for music theory and how to read music (I’m using the Hal Leonard books for this to learn to read music) and looking for a good teacher.