Learning to Play Guitar

Several years ago I recommended RockSmith as a Christmas gift. This year I finally got tired of waiting to receive it and went to get it after Christmas. First I had to acquire a pickup or microphone for my acoustic guitar. Then I purchased the game from the local Gamestop. The key part of the game is the cable that interfaces between the guitar and video game console. Unfortunately both connections were one-quarter inch male headphone plugs and so I had to return to the guitar store to buy a coupler. I searched for it at 3 different Radio Shacks but they have stopped stocking useful items like that in favor of cheap electronic toys. After such an experience, I vowed never to return to that chain again.

I got everything home and set it all up on my PlayStation 4. The first thing to do is calibrate the guitar which I did painlessly. Then I used RockSmith to tune my guitar. I have an electronic tuner, but RockSmith does a much better job and is infinitely easier to use. Then I ran through a few lessons.

In my lifetime I have taken several sets of guitar lessons but never really learned much. While I enjoyed going to the lessons, I never really got into the practicing part. RockSmith has a number of games to play to make practice fun and interesting. Furthermore the game is very patient. When I couldn't quite hit the right notes during one lesson, it never got upset. When I finally figured it out, it provided some encouragement. A human instructor would have been incredibly frustrated and less than supportive by the time I got it right.

Naturally the first day I played the game, I worked at the guitar until my fingers could no longer touch the guitar strings without hurting. I made sure to try again the next day and went as long as I could again. It was important to make sure to tune the guitar again before playing. The sensitivity is such that if your guitar is out of tune, it is difficult to play the correct notes. A simple tune fixes the problem and doesn't take very long.

I have always wanted to learn to play the guitar well and RockSmith from Ubisoft is the perfect way to do that. I paid full price for the game at around $60 and think it is well worth the money. While I work in the video game industry and probably could have gotten a discount, this was one game I felt like paying for and recommend it for anyone looking to increase their guitar playing abilities.