What is your routine?

[Elchafr]

Hello there.

 

This is my first post. I've been lurking around, gladly playing CDLCs from you guys and for that I ought to thank you. So here it is, thanks to everyone that makes CDLCs, thanks to all the people trying these CDLCs and making the community what it is today.

 

My question is this one:

 

What is your routine?

 

Let me explain.

Here is this new track you've been wanting to try out/practice the hell out of. You download the file, and launch Rocksmith. How do YOU do to get to 100%?

 

Do you do it once, just to see where the difficult parts are, and then do it again and again?

Or do you do it once and then practice every bit that's difficult for you? Do you go straight to Score Attack after that? Or do you just play it in Learn A Song endlessly? Do you stick to a song until you've come to 100%, or do you do one song once then another one, then another one, etc.?

 

How do you practice your songs?

 

I guess the answer is pretty obvious, but in my case, I've played the song once, and then once again, and then once more, and sometimes I'm stuck to 95%. Then I go into riff repeat mode, and try to aim higher. But that might not be the proper way to practice the song.

Also, sometimes, half the song is in master mode, and then I get to the tricky part, and I get to play one note every other note just cause I didn't get to the full difficulty of the riff.

 

Also, in Riff Repeater, what is your methodology? do you go at full speed and then increase difficulty as you practice, or do you set to a specific speed at maximum difficulty and then practice to get to full speed?

 

I guess my questions are a little confusing, it's just that I'm not sure I've got the best methodology and I'd like to know what works best for other people so that I can try it out and work a little more efficiently.

 

Anyways, thanks!

[tron001]

Slower riff repeater helped me but for the most difficult parts i experimented this method. I'm using a playthrough video of the custom and simply i stopped it in the difficult parts so i can focalize on the structure of the riff without the pressure of the speed.

At this point, it's just matter of practice, repeat the riff, play it more clean as possible and usually i use headphones  tweaking some settings in audio option to hear more me than the song.

Reach 100% could be not so important at the beginning, i mean, you can also play at 95% but the important thing is to be more clean as possible, try to do all the tecniques and improve them. And memory is also an important factor. So, try to train yourself to memorize a song as you have to play it on a concert without rocksmith monitor in front of you.  Once you memorize all the parts i think that should be easy go straight to 100%.

[D4wn]

I dont use rocksmith then I want to learn stuff, it dosent help me to learn anything, because it learns me songs in the "Guitar Hero way", that I can learn to play the song, but only if I play it though rocksmith, I cant remember the notes, Im just playing what it tells me on the screen :D thats why im using normale tabs to learn from, insted of rocksmith, it makes it alot easier to remember, im not sure if its the same for everyone, but it is for me, I also played guitar before rocksmith, so im only using it to make CDLC's :D

[firekorn]

@ : Try to use master mode or simply look a bit less your screen especcially when riff repeating ;)

 

I like to play a big series of song for a week, then other song and come back to the first batch to see how i've improved which makes me proud when i'm actually able to get a better score (i consider 99% being a perfect score on lead since it's so easy to have one note not being registered when you actually played it correctly!).

 

I also started to riff repeating the hardest riff the first time i encounter them more for visualization and memorization than really improving on them.

So i just start slow at full difficulty and build up the speed to see how far i can go without really trying to push my limit and it's by coming back later that i really see how i've improved by actually being able to get some riff at full speed without having to repeat them again and again.

 

But When i first started to play on Rocksmith i had a totally different approach which was more about playing at minimal difficulty and making sure i was comfortable with what RS was throwing at me on screen and getting my mark on the guitar at the same time.

[D4wn]

@@firekorn, I hate master mode in the 2014 version, its stupid and works really bad, I liked it better in the first one tho :DD but I learn alot better using normal tabs anyway and have done that before rocksmith even existed :D

[flyingturtle]

I approach it the same way I learned songs before Rocksmith ever existed, learning songs in sections, bit by bit.

 

Like you mentioned, I'll play along a few times in Rocksmith to get the song structure down -- mainly focusing on getting an approximation of the rhythm parts.  If the rhythm parts are difficult then, I'll use Riff Repeater to practice, slowing them down so I can play cleanly. This is important. I want to play clean, not fast here. I'll keep bumping up the speed till I get around 80 to 90 percent. Once I have most the rhythm covered, I'll tackle any bridge parts, then do solos

 

If the song is really difficult, or if it has a ton of notes, I'll then also rely on guitar tabs and learn the song that way first.

 

I can learn songs WAY faster with tabs (if they are good tabs). Easiest and fastest way for me to get professional tabs is to get from guitarinstructor.com -- fairly cheap for single songs. Next, I'll use a slow down tool that can loop sections of an MP3, like Transcribe or Amazing Slowdowner software on my PC/Mac.  I can also use my Boss eBand JS-8, or my Korg Pandora to do that, too, but Transcribe and ASD are the best slow down tools I've found. They use superior slow down algorithms. I tend to prefer Transcribe as my favorite.

 

Once I learn the song, I'll go back in Rocksmith and try again. Sometimes, I'll have to relearn parts slightly as Rocksmith may have different fingerings for some of the parts that I learned from tabs. If that's the case, I'll use Riff Repeater to get them nailed down.

 

Important thing is that for some songs, they can be a work in progress, taking weeks or many months to get them perfect. You might be able to learn a song in a matter of days ,but to get 100 percent or even in the 90s, might take a while, as you don't have the technical skill yet to play it at tempo. I'll just practice the difficult parts over and over, sometimes in Rocksmith, or just loop it with Transcribe and play over it every day till I nail it.

 

Also, once last thing. Getting 100% in Rocksmith isn't even success for me. Even if I can get that, I'll also concentrate on the nuances, like pick attack -- how hard to hit the strings for some notes, trying to use the same level of dynamics. In metal that could be a combination of pinch harmonics, or a palm muting notes. In blues, like Stevie Ray Vaughan, it's hitting the strings aggressively so the notes ring out, and playing softly with a delicate touch in slow tempo parts,.   Also learning to apply the right amount of vibrato can take a life time to learn, as each guitar player has their own style.

 

That's the hardest for me. Playing the right notes isn't my end goal, but making the notes sound right, with the proper feel and touch, is what I strive for. 

 

[Elchafr]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

I've just started playing bass. I've played guitar for about 15 years now, with tabs and friends (never took a class, always for fun, so I'm not a 'shredder', just playing the tunes I like). And as I said, I just picked up playing the bass.

What struck me in RS is that there is no "carreer mode", which means one tends to go and play the songs they like, instead of playing according to their own limitations (which can be frustrating).

I'd love for RS to have a "Play this one next" option, where it would automaticly suggest a track (or a list of tracks) depending on how well you've done so far (i.e. if you played a song with a certain difficulty, it can suggest you to play the song X because it's a little harder to play or to play song Y cause it has the same benefits but is a little easier, so that you don't get frustrated to play something too hard for you). What I mean is that there should be kind of a way to know what your next track SHOULD be if you want to improve more efficiently (it's late and I'm not sure of being clear, hence the paraphrasing).

But maybe it already exists and I'm just not aware of how to do it, so if that's the case, please let me know!

[firekorn]

It partially does exist but it's not that efficient in my point of view since RS ask you to get over a certain pourcentage which is in the end not always a good goal and most of time aim at difficult song from what i've seen so far.

 

Overall the hardest thing is to find how it works best for you since RS isn't that smart when it comes to suggestion for exemple and other things. One thing for sure is that most (everyone?) of those who start to be good enough (meaning what you want it to mean) start with full difficulty and just slow down in the riff repeater if need be.

 

I forgot to mention but i really lower a lot the volume of the song to clearly hear myself through RS which is very important for many things like dynamics, precision, and other litlle details that make the way you play really stand out.

[lilstrats]

It partially does exist but it's not that efficient in my point of view since RS ask you to get over a certain pourcentage which is in the end not always a good goal and most of time aim at difficult song from what i've seen so far.

 

 

Yeah , definitely . My goal is to try to play the song OUTSIDE of RS...I try to play it several times in master score attack and commit it to memory, this doesn't always work as I jump around and want to play a bit of everything in a practice session. This actually improves my playing, I jump massive plateaus quickly and the improvement is noticed as I play all types of songs in all types of tuning, with all types of techniques (bends, barre chords, arpeggios, trem, hammers and pulls, tapping, slides, major shifting)...I don't learn a lot of whole songs, I only know about 3 or 4 from start to end...

However, every time I notice I get better , I can rip through some riffs outside of RS, and can improvise with ease...

I know I should focus on one or two songs, but this is what's fun and what works for me.

 

If I am determined to learn a whole song, I will play it over and over, (with master mode turned OFF) , get it as high as I can then use riff repeater (starting at 70% speed per piece) and go from there...I learned Aces High in an afternoon (not including solo) and I consider myself a beginner. 

 

:)

[Uffda01]

In Learn A Song Mode - you can sort by "recommended" - which is what I use most - usually when playing the recommended song - I will play it two or three times, this does have you jumping tunings frequently - but I've found it does a good job of challenging me..

 

My drawback with following that route is that I have a bunch of songs at 50% - and no real mastery of any song..at this point I am still very much a novice, so I am ok with that right now as I feel a broader exposure to musical styles and techniques is what I need - when I get a good chunk of songs to say 65-75%, my plan is to go back and revisit songs to be more focused and get a personal library of stuff up closer to 100. I know repetition is required, and at this point my learning is scattered - but I know I have a lot to learn and its still an open book.

[diamonddog]

always play songs on 100% difficulty, just slow them down when I have challenging parts. some songs I have even slowed down to 10% speed and worked up from there.

( I used to play up through the difficulty but as I got better I changed to playing 100% and i tend to get to learn it faster) 

 

 

my method

 

I play through a song on 100% difficulty to get an understanding of the song.

 

challenging parts I will RR the whole chorus or riff until I have a handle on it. 

 

then start playing through the whole song on say 70% speed (adjust accordingly)

 

At 80% speed I start singing the words ( this helps take the focus off the guitar and helps with memory) using the subconsious mind much like driving a car, the more you do it the less you need to think about it).

 

from there I progress the speed up to 100.

 

I will not let the Master mode take over until I reach at least 95%

 

I do not really care about getting 100%, I would rather know that the song sounds good than knowing that I have made the program which has it's own flaws happy.

 

I regularly play songs that I have no interest in learning, quite often you learn the most from the songs you like the least.

[Gamut]

My routine is mostly comprised of playing Learn a Song. I usually warm up with some simple stuff, and then work my way up (and tune my way down) to the metal! My song selection is much like a radio station's - I play a little of my old faithfuls, but for the most part I play a lot of whatever is new and interesting to me at the time. Because my interests are always changing, I never 100% anything. =P

 

But I try not to hole myself up in LAS too hard. I spend a lot of time in the main menu, since Amp Mode isn't a thing anymore, just rocking out and working on my tone. I poke into Session Mode every now and then so I can pretend that I have friends who play drums and bass (all of my friends are guitarists, vocalists, and guitar/vocalists). And sometimes I'll even look up tabs for a song not on CF and learn it the old fashioned way!

 

I also spend a lot of time on the acoustic, since every minute I spend on it makes me feel more agile on electric.

[TheSinistro]

My routine is mostly comprised of playing Learn a Song. I usually warm up with some simple stuff, and then work my way up (and tune my way down) to the metal! My song selection is much like a radio station's - I play a little of my old faithfuls, but for the most part I play a lot of whatever is new and interesting to me at the time. Because my interests are always changing, I never 100% anything. =P

 

But I try not to hole myself up in LAS too hard. I spend a lot of time in the main menu, since Amp Mode isn't a thing anymore, just rocking out and working on my tone. I poke into Session Mode every now and then so I can pretend that I have friends who play drums and bass (all of my friends are guitarists, vocalists, and guitar/vocalists). And sometimes I'll even look up tabs for a song not on CF and learn it the old fashioned way!

 

I also spend a lot of time on the acoustic, since every minute I spend on it makes me feel more agile on electric.

I do exactly like you, i think it´s boring to repeat the exactly same songs 'time after time'.

It´s good to have a variation, so you can improve in general, and play the songs you already played before to see how you are doing after some time away from them.

[gollum]

I play a whole bunch of songs that I like starting from the easiest to the most difficult.

In addition to this, I start off with some finger strengthening exercises.

So its like

Finger exercise>fav songs>one or two new songs>riff repeat difficult part of one or more songs

 

With riff repeater I go 100% for a easy to medium songs and start with low speed to auto speed up

for difficult songs, I go slow speed low difficulty and auto speedup and difficulty.

 

It also helps to check youtube on how to actually play some lead songs 

[madzillagd]

My play is starting to change a bit with my platform.  The first 6 months of RS I was on the Xbox 360 and only played a couple times a week.  I never used RR or any of the other tools because it was a pain using the xbox controller to do it.  I spent all my time using Learn Songs and I'd just skip around song to song and rarely played something 2 times in a row.  Wasn't a great way to learn the individual songs but the variety kept me interested.  

 

Switched to using the PC a few months ago mainly because of the CDLC and I'm slowly starting to use the RR tools etc.  Not a whole lot but more than I ever did on Xbox. I tend to download a lot of songs by artists I like, and I'll bounce from one song to the next. RIght now my goal is to get things into the 90+% and not really fine tuning individual songs to 100%.  I'll go back when something is in the 80%s and work on it a few times to get it up in the 90%s. (Had the corrupt save file issue a couple times and lost all my progress so not sure how many songs I know) Being a total beginner my focus is more on training my fret hand to get around the fret board and less about learning a particular song.  After doing that for a few months I've noticed that when I do go back and play one of those easier early songs I had started on, I can often easily take it to 100% in only a take or two so I can tell I'm improving.  It just hasn't really been my focus to learn songs, I figure that will come once I get more proficient with the bass.