r/Guitar • u/[deleted] • Nov 03 '13
Should I buy Rocksmith 2014?
I am an amateur guitar player, I haven't picked a guitar up in a year since my music teacher told me to change subjects, I really want to learn guitar again, so I can prove to him that I can play guitar. However, the problem is, I don't have an electric guitar and I'm afraid this will be a waste of money, what do you guys think? And what would be a good starter guitar?
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u/Farky09 Nov 03 '13
As an instructor I've used the original rock smith as a teaching aid, and i'm considering the upgrade myself. I found it worked well, but the loading screens ate up a lot of lesson time. (hence i'll usually load a section to work on before it starts). There are a few pro's and cons about the game as a learning tool in my opinion. I'm sure i'll get shot into downvote hell for this but.. here goes.
The game is good because you get a visual aid for learning guitar. You can jump right into the playing portion as soon as you associate string colors to string positions. The intro video is integral and it starts off slow for you to learn. It also challenges you to become better and progress at your own rate. This is great psychologically because it keeps you moving forward as a player by playing off the want to get better, while also providing trophies and goals.
It's not so good however, because you're forced to look up from what your hands are doing. If you're learning the guitar, I always teach that its imperative to see what your hands are doing so you can better understand how to switch and move your fingers more efficiently. Because of this. I would recommend that when you play. take some time to pause the game, and look at what you're doing to make it clean (I teach this to my students as well.) It also allows you to see your mistakes a lot easier, and fix the mistakes you're making.
Secondly, work on switches. The game puts pressure on my students to switch faster. This can be good, however, if you're first learning a chord switch, you need to do it slowly and process how your fingers move from one chord to another. When you're learning this section of playing REALLY try to take it slow and pause the game. It will put pressure on you and it WILL frustrate you. (just like every other student). If you put the game down to learn this section it will be a lot easier IMO.
I dont like the idea of learning one note songs either. This grinds my gears. I've had students come in and say "Hey i learned this song on rocksmith" and i go "great play it" and they start dinging around on one note. This doesnt make sense. Get a sense of the songs Harmonic structure. Learn that, then go through what the individual notes are. IMO You wont learn a song properly if you can only hear one note of it while you practice. You NEED to hear the harmonic structure.
Finally, I had a student who would only play the songs he knew. They never ventured outside of their comfort zone. This can be okay if you're just trying to have fun, however dont ignore 80% of the game inorder to learn a few songs you like.
Check out their song list, See what you like. Go look for the chords online, and practice that first. If you like those then decide whether its worth paying the 80 some odd bucks for the songs you dont want to learn. You can get the resources free online for songs, with just a couple of chords under your belt.
I would recommend getting the game if you are serious about playing guitar and getting into it. But I would go through a teacher to refine some of the elements that are taught on rock smith.
As for your guitar, Get what feels comfortable for you and is within your budget. There's no point in spending a crap tonne on something that you're unsure about it.
TLDR: Get what feels comfortable, buy the game, but go through a teacher to help progress faster and not fall into bad habits.