Chords

[Wolfie_Rankin]

I'm just starting out, finding my way around a guitar, which for me is quite an alien thing... ok for masters of the art, but me?

So I'm enjoying Rocksmith, I'm starting to become familiar with the frets and positions of the strings, although two weeks on and it still throws me. I'm not a gamer, I have a very slow mind, a reasonable writer, but something like this is really challenging me.

I'm trying to learn songs, and am ok until chords turn up, and then I back off and try another song, because chords are scaring me, like there are spiders on the frets.

Yeah I know I have to face up to them sooner or later, hopefully sooner before a real phobia sets in.

Put my finger here, another one there, try not to mute the string... oh dear, I've muted two strings.

I'm failing at the gymnastics, and the quickness of it, even in the guitarcade I have ask the scientific investigation board in my mind about what I'm seeing coming at me, and they don't normally reply until next tuesday afternoon.

I am wondering if there's something wrong with my skinny fingers, or perhaps if the narrow neck of my Hagstrom Viking P is indeed too narrow for me, like I'm trying to put glass slippers on bigfoot.

What I've been doing is waiting for the chords to pass in songs, and concentrating on the rest of it, keeping in mind that I'm still not as familiar with the frets and strings anyway.

There is a sense that if I were to give up, that this current situation might be enough to do that, and I really don't want to.

Wolfie Rankin.

[Got2bjokin]

Do you use Riff repeater when practicing songs? I ask because you haven't mentioned it.
Riff repeater is great because it allows you to slow the songs down to a speed so you have more time to figure out the chords and position your fingers, it also lets you break the song down into smaller sections. If you haven't, give it a try (Before the song you wish to practice starts, press the spacebar). There is also a good youtube video on using the Riff repeater in Rocksmith.

My next question is do you do any practice outside of Rocksmith? There are a heap of online free lessons, one I recommend is Justinguitar.com. His beginner course will help get you up to speed with chords and chord changes.

Rocksmith is good, it makes practice fun, but it will not teach you everything. A bit of outside help will improve your situation.

[Got2bjokin]

Just checked your profile, another aussie.... Not enough of us on here.
Friend request sent.

[Wolfie_Rankin]

Yeah, I used riff repeater, and really like it too... not getting chords in there (somewhat of a relief to be honest). I imagine I can use it over the whole of a song? I haven't tried to set start and end yet (if that's possible). I was using it for "Losing my religion" and "Dead Man's party" Funny, in the latter I started Riff Repeater and there was just the one note! Well that was easy. :)

[paperboy2000]

Skinny fingers are no bad thing for guitar.

For chords, I personally would recommend that you practice them outside of Rocksmith (really you should practice most things outside) preferably with a metronome so that you can change "in time" from one to another.


1) learn the fingerings (write them down while paused or look them up on the internet) so you can play them outside of RS;
2) learn each chord such that you can play them cleanly;
3) learn to switch between them in a steady meter that's slow enough so that you don't need to play the next chord until it's properly fingered;
4) Repeat step 3, speeding up the meter as long as you can play cleanly;
5) vary the chord progression.

You should learn some basic "open" chords (say A,C,D,E,G and A minor, E minor, D minor). Also "E" and "A" form power chords (which are built off the E and A chords).

But in general, especially when you're starting out it's a good idea to get some "foundational" stuff outside of the software.

[Talon]

If you're new to the guitar (like me) you'll want to learn some finger stretching and strength exercises. This is something that Rocksmith doesn't really cover but it's important. Others may be able to suggest better exercises but so far I'm trying the ones described on this page: https://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38306&page=1&pp=7

[Got2bjokin]

Here is the Riff Repeater tutorial on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHEjyxAXOOg
Contains some good info on using it.

[Wolfie_Rankin]

Thanks for that.

[ianj001]

Originally posted by paperboy2000:

Skinny fingers are no bad thing for guitar.

For chords, I personally would recommend that you practice them outside of Rocksmith (really you should practice most things outside) preferably with a metronome so that you can change "in time" from one to another.


1) learn the fingerings (write them down while paused or look them up on the internet) so you can play them outside of RS;
2) learn each chord such that you can play them cleanly;
3) learn to switch between them in a steady meter that's slow enough so that you don't need to play the next chord until it's properly fingered;
4) Repeat step 3, speeding up the meter as long as you can play cleanly;
5) vary the chord progression.

You should learn some basic "open" chords (say A,C,D,E,G and A minor, E minor, D minor). Also "E" and "A" form power chords (which are built off the E and A chords).

But in general, especially when you're starting out it's a good idea to get some "foundational" stuff outside of the software.

What he said... learning to finger some basic chords will give you a good foundation. You will also be able to quickly recognize which chord it is and finger it without thinking. It becomes muscle memory. Like all things, learning to play the guitar requires some patience. You could try some of the guitarcade games such as Castle Chordead (I think that's what it's called). It just focuses on getting you to play some chords in succession and killing zombies (you can't beat that!) It's a fun way to practice those chords and without trying too hard you will start to remember the finger positions.

[Wolfie_Rankin]

I am playing the bar room one which is basically just the strings, but it has been helpful. I have stepped up to the duck hunt game, and doing ok with that one. I'm getting some nice results while playing songs (at their most basic level), I'm not as confused about strings and fret positions as I was, and have found that I can do a few bends too. I will progress to chords, but slowly, slowly. :)

[905]

You should most definitely do Justin Guitar's beginner course. It is free, the play list is on youtube. He teaches you the basic chords and barre chords in that course. You should also probably let RS suggest songs to you instead of playing what you like. Initially, I think RS suggests easier song. Often the songs we like are the harder songs. Both castle of the chorddead and star chords are good games to practice chords.

[Bee guy]

I would also recommend going through the lessons. Watch all of them, even the ones you think may be pointless, like how to attach a strap, there's always a few nuggets of knowledge in each lesson. Practice each one until you have it at 100%, and you will find that the more you have completed, the easier it is to get through learning a song. But sticking mostly to the lessons and the guitarcade games at first will be really helpful.

[Wolfie_Rankin]

Thanks for the help, I have just discovered F.

[cpt cannibal]

Here's my two cents. I was in your same shoes, and I took a different path to (what I consider) success, in a way that is probably frowned upon by most.. but if you're having fun then who can judge? Just giving another perspective.

So I'm over 30 years old and was just learning guitar. Aside from having a hard time remembering the finger position for chords, my fingers don't seem to bend certain ways even if I force them into position with the strumming hand. Probably correctable with exercises and stretching, but I began to LOATHE when a chord showed up.

I switched to emulated bass and had an absolute BLAST playing this as a beginner because A) there are only 4 strings to worry about, and probably more than 60% of the notes only use two of those strings, and B) chords are far less common in baselines.

I soon went out and bought a bass guitar. Its been over a year and I've only plugged in the original electric guitar like once or twice. I only play bass. I still struggle with chords, but playing bass allowed me to learn easier, and in a more enjoyable manner, than the guitar was.

I've gotten 100% on quite a few songs now, and while there are certainly songs I can't even come close to doing, most of them I can handle respectably. Not saying there aren't AWESOME talented bass players or that bass requires no skill, but its definitely easier when starting out!

[Wolfie_Rankin]

Thanks, it's a thought, but I dunno. Starting to feel a bit put off really, I have had a few moments where I improved slightly, but feel I'm sliding backwards in some ways too... might just go back to writing, it comes easier to me than this.

[Poolboy47]

Just play in the the guitarcade and lessons as much as you can. It takes hundreds of hours before something becomes muscle memory