There are still many things I do not know and every day is a school day. Like yourself, I am always aiming to improve on my abilities and am not perfect and capable of error. I also don't have a MASSIVE amount of time in rocksmith and play more outside of it, but I'll add my mistakes for that too.

If you have some feedback, positive or negative, leave a comment and maybe I'll add it to the guide!

I cannot stress this enough, this was one of my biggest mistakes when first starting! Do NOT try to play fast!

My old instructor in the military drummed this mindset into me with rifles and shooting, but the same applies to instruments! Efficiency and speed come from deliberate actions.

With anything new you learn, whether it's the notes to a new song, new chords or how to do a skill like bends or slides, do it as slowly and deliberately as you can at first. You'll feel the need to try to speed up after a few successful..ish attempts, but fight that instinct! The human brain has a great ability to lock and memorise all of your combined attempts and make it become muscle memory. Therefore, if you continually try to speed up and add mistakes into your playing, that will become more permanent and harder to correct later on. If you play slowly and correctly and not speed up, you will naturally become faster as the notes seem to flow by themselves, after your brain has made that new muscle memory.

It can be very tempting to only use the index, middle and ring fingers when playing at first and you may be inclined to think that's all you need. Maybe you think they're stronger and it's too hard to play with the pinky. Try not to get sucked into that trap and use your pinky as often as you can! If it doesn't develop along with your other fingers it will get left behind and then when you really need it for a big stretch, you'll find yourself struggling!

Some people may not agree with this tip, but I personally think the learn a song function doesn't always prepare you in the best manner for getting a song quickly. I used to just play with dynamic difficulty and then be suddenly surprised after all the single notes turned into chords. I would attempt the same song over and over and be a little caught off guard each time, not quite ready for when the notes would appear.

What I do differently now

Now I go on ultimate guitar to look at the tabs beforehand or maybe even go visit Marty Schwartz like many a new guitarist has done in the past. If you don't know Marty, here's a quick link. ---->Marty Music
He's a great source for learning the guitar and really explains it in a way that anybody could understand it. The only issue is he may not play the same exact notes as the ones in rocksmith for all his videos. Remember, there's several different places on the guitar that can play the same note, do what comes most comfortably.

Here's an example video of where Marty plays a song, in what I consider to be an easier way, that is different from the rocksmith notes.

Regardless, checking out the notes or the slow way to play the ENTIRE song, not just the easy, "fake" notes at the start seemed to be the best way of doing things for me. That way, I could play all the notes slowly and deliberately and then jump into the learn a song mode, a bit more prepared.


If you don't want to stray away from rocksmith, there's a number of other things you can do, like use the helpful riff repeater OR set it to max difficulty and just listen and watch the notes and not play. That will give a helpful idea of the target you're aiming for at the end and the general rhythm and flow of the song.

• I used to ignore the suggested content. Don't do this! Look at the new chord coming up and play it handful of times before clicking that play button again!
  
• I thought the minigames were a waste of time. A few of them like star chords are complete gems! It might feel like wasting time and not reaallly playing, but it's all useful skills that will help you improve in a more general sense.
  
• I cared too much if rocksmith detected my notes. Ignore it a little bit, it's not a perfect machine! Just play the note and listen yourself. Does it sound good? Am I muting any strings? Go with your gut and if you think it sounds good!
  
• I didn't do the lessons. BUT now I think they're great and actually incredibly helpful for beginners and intermediate players alike! (I can't comment on expert I'm not even close to there yet haha)

We've all been there. For me (and probably a few others reading this) a big hurdle was barre chords. The key to all elements of guitar, regardless of what you're stuck on is patience, practice and time. The finger strength and coordination to overcome a barre chord doesn't come overnight or doing one 8 hour session of playing. It comes from 15 minutes every day, one little bit at a time.

Remember to stay calm and try not to get frustrated.

I know this can be easier said than done sometimes, but just remember you picked up the guitar because you thought it was cool and a fun activity to try. KEEP that love and energy when practicing, don't let the thing you're getting stuck on make playing guitar a chore. It's not a chore, it's awesome!

Still Stuck? Just try moving away from it temporarily, have some fun and play something you CAN do! There's nothing wrong with just revisiting an old easy classic song sometimes because you enjoy it. The problem will still be there another time and you can come back to it.

Feel free to add your own opinion in the comments and I might add to the guide!

I'm also not done with this guide yet, it's still a work in progress so I'll also be adding and editing to this guide every now and again with new tips and tricks that I think of!

If you want to be extra nice please check out https://www.twitch.tv/thegamegateway and give me a follow :)