A New Path to Guitar Mastery

To put it plain and simple, music is awesome! The way it speaks to you in a language beyond languages, conveying every emotion conceivable for everyone to relate to. It’s amazing how each individual can be capable of expressing their creativity through unique blending of notes by way of vocal prowess or with inspired artistic use of instruments. Enter the guitar, a widely popular stringed instrument that has evolved by thousands of years to its current incarnations in the modern age. With the possibility of plugging in acoustic/electric guitars on to computers and various digital platforms, technology can now aid more than ever in enhancing one’s craft. One such innovation paved by software is Rocksmith by Ubisoft Entertainment; the award winning one stop tool in learning everything you need to start rocking it out on your guitar.  The Rocksmith package includes a software disc (either for PC , X-Box 360 , X-Box One, PS3 or PS4) and a real tone usb cable that connects to the standard output jack of most electric and bass guitars. Just hook it all up to your TV and home theater through your computer or gaming console and you are good to go.

The whole experience is presented in a highly interactive game-like interface. All the nuances of playing the guitar are covered from tuning, using a pick, strumming, learning chords and scales— to mastering techniques like hammer ons, pull overs, slides, bends, harmonics and more. Rocksmith also comes with actual songs that incorporate varying styles from the likes of Aerosmith, Foo Fighters, Paramore, DefLeppard, Green Day, Joe Satriani, Oasis and countless others from a library that can be expanded through online download. The difficulty level of playing a particular song is automatically adjusted to your abilities. More notes would start popping up on screen as you get better and better. And unlike games like Guitar Hero and their simplified plastic guitar, Rocksmith uses actual tablature that you would have to pluck and strum with accurate precision.

Aside from the default Rocksmith missions and other modes, you may choose to spend time with the Guitarcade. A feature that showcases mini games like Duck Redux (where you shoot ducks by plucking specific notes from your fret board), Scale Racer (where you play different scales on your guitar neck to accelerate your car from oncoming cops), Gone Wailin’ (a flappy bird style of gameplay where you balance height on a horizontal moving screen by how loud you play notes), Return to Castle Chordead (a first person shooter where you play chords to blast oncoming zombies), and a whole lot more. It basically aims to improve a specific skill set through competitive repetition in a fun engaging environment, complete with online scoreboards!

Still doubtful of Rocksmith’s credibility? In a video featurette released by Ubisoft, Jerry Cantrell (Lead vocalist/guitarist of Alice in Chains) says that “Playing any instrument is not easy, it hurts like hell when you first start playing it (a guitar). It takes a lot of dedication and a lot of work. Having something like Rocksmith when I was a kid would’ve been something I would be very interested in.” Jim Rosenberg (President of Epiphone Guitar) can also be quoted to saying, “When I learned how to play guitar, I was looking at tablature and static notes on a page. With Rocksmith, there’s no comparison. It’s very much like playing a video game but it’s a learning software that is much more than that. It’s really interactive with a lot of visual feedback. It’s fun to use.” Furthermore, Marina Korotkikh (A Senior Research Associate at Research Strategy Group) conducted a study with 200 people nationally in the US. After giving them the software to use at home for 3 weeks, a large majority noticed a significant improvement with their speed, movement and familiarity with the fret board. The results led to Rocksmith being considered as the fastest way to learn guitar.  Interested in starting your journey? Rocksmith 2014 is now available at all leading video game outlets nationwide. Not bad for a new year’s resolution.