Why no guitar tab?

[DivideByZero]

So, between Rocksmith and Rocksmith 2014 I have 100 hours play. I still don't know what string is what colour when what I am playing suddenly switches about. Doesn't matter if it's easy or complicated either. It just makes learning the songs boring and frustrating. I have actually started switching to a web browser to see what bit I am supposed to be playing and how it looks as the redacted notes being played slowly does not help. Why is there no option for tab mode after all this time (please tell me there is and I have missed it!) Or failing tab mode - a better way to review what you are supposed to be playing - a song browser or something.

By 100 hours in this should still not feel alien to someone who has been playing the guitar for 30 years and video games for almost 40.

[DivideByZero]

Should also note, I have the view set so Red is at the bottom, more akin to tab - but I think the main problem is the notes come top to bottom, rather than right to left as if you were reading tabs. If you think about it, for red to scroll down to the bottom string, it has to sail past all 5 other things first - this seems wrong. Maybe if the scrolling was right to left it would be less confusing.

[MTZIGG]

Go in Riff repeater Select the whole song .set all to 100% .Slow down the song to learn it .I have used tab for years . I still think it is better not to invert the strings .
This is not a tab reading program.There is nothing you look at on screen that even relates to tab.Of course you could relate the strings .
Its still a just different way to learn.
I started out with the strings inverted for the same reason
I took sometime for this old guy get used to it but I cant put it down now .

[Paladin]

I learned on tab's and with an teacher for years. When you are sitting across from the teacher you are mirroring what you see. The note highway non-inverted is the same thing. I also use to write software, and I go back to how the game was modeled. They toook the view of teach and student and modeled on that relationship for expression of how to play songs. I tried the inverted highway, didn't work for me either.

[caldaar]

Inverting the strings is the closest to tab you can get.

But, the reason it is not TAB is that it doesn't work well for real time sight reading with all of the other skills... Bends, harmonics, slides, mutes... Too much information.

The original RS which went by the name Guitar Rising... was in a tab format.

Also, another product tried to compete with RS using a Tab notation... And has since been discontinued. It didn't work out well.

[DodderingOldMan]

This may not be entirely relevant to your needs, but there is a tool you can download that will quickly and easily create tabs for every song you own in Rocksmith. I often find it a preferable way to start out learning a song at my own pace. That said, I'm a beginner, definitely not a musician, I've never had lessons, so I'm probably going about it the wrong way. But I find I reeeeally struggle with comprehending what I'm supposed to be playing in Learn a Song mode.

I guess you could print out the tabs, or put them up on a second screen or a tablet or something, and use them while playing Rocksmith. Not sure how that'd go, but it could be helpful in some situations.

[caldaar]

Originally posted by DodderingOldMan:

This may not be entirely relevant to your needs, but there is a tool you can download that will quickly and easily create tabs for every song you own in Rocksmith. I often find it a preferable way to start out learning a song at my own pace. That said, I'm a beginner, definitely not a musician, I've never had lessons, so I'm probably going about it the wrong way. But I find I reeeeally struggle with comprehending what I'm supposed to be playing in Learn a Song mode.

I guess you could print out the tabs, or put them up on a second screen or a tablet or something, and use them while playing Rocksmith. Not sure how that'd go, but it could be helpful in some situations.

I wouldn't say that you are doing it wrong, because everyone learns different. But as a beginner, you are passing up the main benifit of RS.

That tool exports the Master level of the song in tab form. But you might not have the skills and strength built up to play the Master levels of the songs.

Going through the learn a song method, it will provide beginner versions of the songs and build the level up as your skills build. Same thing that a teacher would do, pick easier versions of music to teach a skill, then give you harder versions later.

What both you and the OP should try, is go through the lessons. Play string skip saloon just to get used to what color each string is. Drop songs down to 0% in Riff Repeater then let learn a song build you up. For a few months, don't go for song mastery, but go for playing a bunch of different songs letting Learn A Song pick the level, so that you can learn skills.

If you already set a ton of songs to master... then the easiest way is to create a new profile in RS to run off.... That way you don't affect songs that you already mastered.

Then after a few months, try concentrating on that one or two songs to perfect (preferably easier songs).

Sure, playing a red string once a second is boring... but the LAS will add more notes. Giving you time to learn the strings, try that bend, get that slide.... properly shift your fretting hand... Properly press the string the right way.... to clean up the sound... etc. To practice perfectly, instead of practicing fast.

Learning guitar is a marathon, not a sprint... Try to run to the end too fast and you will burn yourself out, lock in bad technique, or potentially injur yourself (cramps, carpal tunnel etc.)

[DivideByZero]

Cheers for the input people. Maybe I will invest some time in the other way round and see if that helps.

[Bee guy]

Another aid you can use, Dr Strings makes a set of colored strings in multi-colors, which matches the game. The set is a little expensive, so be careful installing them, don't kink them when installing, or have them bunch up on the tuning pegs, which can possibly cause a minor kink or a place for the string to fatigue and break. The color eventually comes off in places, such as where the strings rub against the fret wires, and where you pick, but it takes a while for that to happen, but it's definately a very effective visual aid with the game. In my opinion, a very good investment. They also glow brightly under a blacklight.

[sumhavok]

Originally posted by caldaar:

The original RS which went by the name Guitar Rising... was in a tab format.

Also, another product tried to compete with RS using a Tab notation... And has since been discontinued. It didn't work out well.

Thank you for this info. So orignally the company was GameTank?

https://www.engadget.com/2008/02/07/guitar-rising-perfects-the-guitar-hero-with-real-guitars-genre/

[sumhavok]

OP: I came from tabs and GuitarPro 5, and was disoriented at first. Eventually, you will get used to this and will probably end up preferring RS's “guitar karaoke” format for playing on the fly.

[caldaar]

Originally posted by sumhavok:

Originally posted by caldaar:

The original RS which went by the name Guitar Rising... was in a tab format.

Also, another product tried to compete with RS using a Tab notation... And has since been discontinued. It didn't work out well.

Thank you for this info. So orignally the company was GameTank?

https://www.engadget.com/2008/02/07/guitar-rising-perfects-the-guitar-hero-with-real-guitars-genre/

GameTank created the Cable, and the initial game to demonstrate the capabilities of a cable designed specifically for real-time feedback of the notes played. It was showcased at the 2008 Game Developers Conference.

Ubisoft saw the potential and bought and funded the project, getting all of those sponsors that you see on the splash screen involved to create a production ready version. Which became Rocksmith.

The initial game was a side scrolling tab-ish version... But through testing they found that the note highway, like we have now, was the easiest to get all of the information that you needed to play difficult songs at full speed.

Bandfuse tried to compete with RS by going back to a more traditional tab type note track. One of the reasons certain On-Disk songs from RS1 could not be relicensed for RS2014, because the artist signed with Bandfuse. That has since gone under and is no longer supported.

[L-Ro]

I'm going to have to try going back to the old non inverted way and see if it helps my playing.

[caldaar]

It is worth a try... If you do that, drop your difficulty really low to give yourself time to adjust..

I prefer non-inverted.

[Johnnie Concrete]

Originally posted by Bee guy:

Another aid you can use, Dr Strings makes a set of colored strings in multi-colors, which matches the game. The set is a little expensive, so be careful installing them, don't kink them when installing, or have them bunch up on the tuning pegs, which can possibly cause a minor kink or a place for the string to fatigue and break. The color eventually comes off in places, such as where the strings rub against the fret wires, and where you pick, but it takes a while for that to happen, but it's definately a very effective visual aid with the game. In my opinion, a very good investment. They also glow brightly under a blacklight.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TWIN-PACK-of-DR-NEON-Multi-Coloured-Fluorescent-Acoustic-Guitar-strings-11-50-/201504134984?hash=item2eea951748:g:aMEAAOSwEeFU3ely

[DivideByZero]

While I appreciate the idea being submitted with coloured strings, it wont help me. You can't play while looking at the strings and also looking at the screen, so I can't see how the stings being coloured would help anyone.

I can still read and play tabs a lot better than this. I still find there is often ambiguity between frets (was that a 2nd fret or 3rd?) which you just don't get with tab. Same with the less used green and purple strings. This will all get better with practice and is probably a more friendly way for noobs. But with 30 years sight playing tabs which is the most common notation for guitar, this is still a huge step back.

Practice makes perfect, but lack of built in options is still dumb.