RS + Guitar lessons =

[CoachL23]

Hi,

 

i have not posted in a while as I have not been great with making time for my practising.

To be honest I found myself in a "Rocksmith rut" I have been following the lead path since RS1 and apart from some basic picking and hammer on skills (very basic) I felt at though I was still very far away from where I wanted to be.

 

I decided to find a guitar teacher and take a lesson. I figured he could tell me exactly where I am and what I need to be doing to move forward. This would also keep me accountable if I know that I have spent money on a lesson I better put the practice in to make it worth it.

 

It did wonders for my confidence and also felt good to have someone there focusing on you rather than you go to a mates house and they just showing you what they are doing on a guitar.

He said I seemed to be going well and gave me a few exercises to work with. The two main points were learn some theory such as what the notes are on the board like where # and b come in. The second was the major chords, just get those major chords down.

 

I went back to RS this time moving to the rhythm path. There are so many good songs that are just major chords, for the first time I feel I'm playing something and could also do it without RS. I also looked again at the lessons, and if you go further down into the chord sections they get into major chords in section 2 and 3. I think they should have started with these myself.

 

These things helped me out and have got me back on track.

 

I would recommend spending the money and getting a guitar teacher, and using it with Rocksmith. RS alone might keep you in a beginner state longer than you want, get some guidance and then use the game to make your practice easier.

 

Hope this helps 

[Unleashed]

I think if you really want to play guitar, you have to take lessons. Otherwhise you'll maybe endup learned many things but the wrong way. Rocksmith will never be able to replace a real teacher.

[andrake]

The major factor that an instructor brings to any learning process is feedback (no, putting your guitar close to the amp won't count).  An experienced instuctor will know all the common mistakes you make that will impeede your progress.  By fixing these early, you will not have to retrain what you have learnd to get rid of bad habits.  Another advantage of an instructor is they have a curriculum.  Playing on RS you pick and choose what you want to learn and miss out on important fundamental.

[firekorn]

It depends with the curriculum of the player too, I already know all I need about music theory and I'm more comfortable when I learn things by myself than when somebody give me instruction that I don't feel comfortable with.

 

So yeah guitar lesson is a great tool to learn, but the teacher and the player will change the effect of the lesson, and money is always a factor where RS can cost only 20$ for a countless number of hours, a teacher can be easily around 30$ an hour.

 

The more tools you can combine the better and RS is one of those tools to learn as the lessons and a band for exemple or youtube videos for others.

[CoachL23]

Maybe RS2016 should collaborate with Marty Schwartz or Justin Sandercoe as online references to compliment their product.

 

In your experience is it best to just return to a guitar teacher once you have mastered the things he has asked you to work on? or keep the trips regular weekly / monthly. I worry about spending £26 and he just telling me to learn 3 more chords.

 

thanks 

[VanHendrix]

I think if you really want to play guitar, you have to take lessons. Otherwhise you'll maybe endup learned many things but the wrong way. Rocksmith will never be able to replace a real teacher.

Sadly there's kids like me who have other siblings and are in a tight money situation who can't afford lessons. Rocksmith has got me to where I am now, aka playing songs like Sweet Child 'o mine and such without help from the game. Honestly, at the end of the day it comes down to how much do you want it. Just saying.

[always4lora]

thinking of taking lessons myself, might give Roc Prodigy a quick bash before going down that route.

[Vlowman]

My guitar teacher is coming round tomorrow... Shoulda been practising what he showed me, but I've been playing Rocksmith all day instead... Whoops!

[Rockinbiscuit]

I 'broke the ice' with Rocksmith/Rocksmith 2014, and am currently learning from various sources:

Guitar Pro 6 - Can finally read tab to a degree now. The software also let you select the tab of the part you want to play which you can listen to, mute that part and export the 'backing track' to play along with and of course print out the tabs.

 

I learned Over the Rainbow (I know, I know, I just like the song) and currently learning Ave Maria via that.

Learning Books and other Learning Tools/Video's/sites:
The Justinguitar.Com Beginner's Guitar Course (Book & 2 Cds)
The Justinguitar.Com Beginner's Song Book v2
The Justinguitar.Com Pop Song Book
The Justinguitar.Com Rock Song Book
The Justinguitar.Com You Tube Videos for beginners course and song books
The Andyguitar.co.uk You Tube Videos for beginners course
The Ask any member of AVForums 360 Music Gaming Section pretty much anything - They also have a song of the week thing going on which I haven't got into yet, not for want of trying, just seem too busy 'finding my feet' as it were.
 

I learned Chasing Cars by watching the Justin video tutorial of it about 2 times. Simple as most of it (or all of it if you don't want to add anything fancy) is just a couple of strings.

 

The Avforums that I mentioned there are invaluable, I made a lot of friends and can pretty much ask them anything as well as socialise with them and have a laugh, they have been a good help in pretty much every aspect from gear advice to playing tips. We upload to soundcloud what we play, and there is no judgement just good solid constructive advice.

 

Then of course there is this forum, everyone seems friendly enough and do some fantastic work and cdlc exercises.

 

I think if I just used rocksmith, tabs, guitar pro 6 or the Justin or Andy sites to learn to play I'd have lost a little interest, but learning from every available resource keeps me going and the fact that I love sitting there and strumming or picking away since I find it pretty therapeutic.

 

I have had a couple of lessons with my sis as she plays, but not been able to see her lately. I have been thinking of going for one or two professional lessons just to see what I should do to make the most of all this free stuff thats about.

 

When I was younger I did have a little go on an acoustic guitar, but never really picked one up and played. I started 3 months ago now, thats when I really picked a guitar up and got into it. These days there are a load of different ways to learn how to play, much, much more than back in the 80's/90's and before then.

 

Also, if you can buy one, get a recorder like a Zoom R8, or if not use a free app on a phone, pc mic or whatever means you need and record yourself playing. I have found that is a great way to learn as you can hear the mistakes and improve on them the next time you try.

I shove all my recordings on soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/trisguitar

Not recording a great deal at the moment as I'm in the middle of improving on some stuff I know and learning more. Ignore the 'JMD' ones that are up there at the moment, thats just me sorting out my amp head and cab.

 

As for chords, they are a nightmare for me. I know D off by heart and thats about it. I seem to be better at playing single notes, but I know I should really be getting to grips with A and E and switching between them

 

All the best, and keep at it, it's all worth it in the end and a fantastic hobby if nothing more.

 

tris

[CoachL23]

Over the weekend I decided to go back to RS1 for a bit just to see the difference. Wow that was weird, I forgot how bad the note recognition was compared to 2014.

 

I do like the path stuff though driving you forward with songs and forcing you to work on them to move on.

 

The one major thing I found, and this backs up  what Rockinbiscuit was saying is hearing what you have played back to you. This was so helpful, and really allows you to asses what needs work.

 

I think it's crazy they took this out but I can understand it as it must have been the cause of the long load times.

 

I will be trying to record my playing more, I think this will help.