How are we supposed to learn the chords?

[SiegeFrog]

I picked up a guitar for the first time four days ago and am enjoying the game a lot, but I don't understand how we're supposed to learn the chords. I did the Chords 101 lesson where they teach you 2-3 chords and let you practice them. Where's Chords 102 and Chords 103? Are we supposed to learn them on the fly while learning the songs or the guitarcade? Clearly, I can go to outside sources to learn the chords and the fingerings, but it seems like there should be more resources in game, especially for practice. I realize there's the chord book, but there are 200 chords in there. Where are we supposed to start?

[Max_Inside]

Learning chords for begginers is like headacke but need some time, like it was said Rocksmith will help you in first steps with the guitar but it will not teach you like play properly. there are many sites in the internet which will show you how to play the chords but it is up to you how you will learn and for how long.

[unconnected]

Castle Chordead is a good way to start. Simple stuff at the beginning that you build on. It seems the most thought out minigame. Only problem is how repetitive it is but if you stick with it you will learn a few chords.

I started at 0, now know about 20 and can easily move to any of them.

[Itz STIKKZ]

I started playing for the first time ever with RS1. I had no clue about finger placement but I eventually learned what worked for me.

It's like the "meta" in a game: it tends to be what people hear works well so they adopt it as their own, but t may not be best for you.

I have huge palms and short fingers. Common placements dont work for me, so my personal style works best for me.

Point in this post is that you can either learn them from someone else, or learn what works best for you through experience.

Both are good options.

Good luck! =)

[Rock Paper Super]

In addition to everything said above, don't forget that you can slow things down in riff repeater to practice the chord changes in particular songs.

[ZenDog]

Chords 102 is further down the lesson menu, if I remember rightly. As others have said Castle Chordead (and Star Chords) are a good place to start.

I haven't looked at the chord book so don't know how it's laid out, but it wouldn't hurt to open it up and look at a few chords that can be played at the 1st and 2nd fret and have open (unfretted) notes in them. Those are called the open chords and are normally what beginners start with.

To begin with you want to learn the Major chords: A,C, D, E and G, the minor chords Am, Dm, Em, and the 7th chords A7, B7, C7, D7, E7, and G7. All in the open postion (at fret 1 or 2) So look for those in the chord book as they're probably the easiest chords to learn, and where most beginners will start.

There are a few songs on the rhythm path that use open chords, but I think there are more (and easier ones) in RS1/RS1 DLC. Doing easy and medium Score Attack songs (on Rhythm Path) might be another good way to pick up a chord vocab, and Learn A Song will get you there (eventually).

It does seems like the game is weighed more in favour of the Lead Path, and it's a pitty they didn't identify a few songs that will teach you most of the basic open chords you'd expect to learn when you're starting out.

[Barb the Marooned]

You're not alone, we all have trouble learning new things. After a while you will notice that there really isn't that many chords. There is the common shape and when you play more and more your finger will be able to make the chord on the fly - even new ones. Your finger are just not use to being in all these weird position. And ALWAYS use the correct finger the game tells you to use, being lazy and using the most convient finger when the song is easy will only come and haunt you later.

Also try switching to and fro lead and rythem. That really helped me.

[terwilliker]

I learned chords outside the game. It was much easier.

[caldaar]

Just like with learning from an instructor. An instructor is not going to give you 200 chords to learn in a couple of weeks. They are going to find the music that you like, pick a song, and teach you a few of the chords in that song. Then as you get good at those, you will learn other chords in other songs to expand your knowledge.

The chord 101 lesson, mainly teaches you a few of the most common chords... but more importantly, it teaches you that in a chord you need to be able to hear each string clearly as you play it. Then you take that, find a chord in the song you want to play, pause it... work on your fingering to make sure you can hear each string clearly.. and practice.

[-DarknightK-]

What I have seen is that as you improve, the game increases difficulty. As you level up, it will add. Also, you have a choice of Bass, Lead, and Ryth. If you select the Ryth path, it gives you more chords. I have three profiles one for each. If you select lead, you do not see a lot of chords. I got five songs I play with when I get bored with the leasons. The other day, I hit 94% on one of the songs and it jumped me up so high, I had to start using the rif repeater. It went from single notes to a mix of notes and chords. Plus, if was screaming along in real time. The game promoted me well past my actual skill level.and I saw more chords.

[caldaar]

Originally posted by -DarknightK-:

What I have seen is that as you improve, the game increases difficulty. As you level up, it will add. Also, you have a choice of Bass, Lead, and Ryth. If you select the Ryth path, it gives you more chords. I have three profiles one for each. If you select lead, you do not see a lot of chords. I got five songs I play with when I get bored with the leasons. The other day, I hit 94% on one of the songs and it jumped me up so high, I had to start using the rif repeater. It went from single notes to a mix of notes and chords. Plus, if was screaming along in real time. The game promoted me well past my actual skill level.and I saw more chords.

Not sure if you know, but you do not need a different profile for each path. You can change from Lead to Rythm to Bass on the same profile... by hitting the CTRL key and selecting the path you want to work on.

[paperboy2000]

I wouldn't wait for in-game. Once you get used to playing and learn enough chords to understand finger placement, go outside to learn more and practice. Learn some basic chords, e.g. A/Am/A7, C, D/D7/Dm, E/Em/E7, F, G/G7. Maybe start with A, Am, C, D, E, Em, G. You can do a lot with those. Play them outside of any song or game, just load a tone you like and play progressions that sound good. Open chords sound great with a cleaner tone. Play around and practice changing chords while seeing what works well together.

For barre/power chords, learn the A, E, and Am form barre chords. The E-form on the 1st fret will give you the F major chord too (omitted above). These also contain the e.g. A5/E5 power chord forms you'll see in-game. Once you learn these movable forms, start playing around with them. You can play any chord from E to the E twelve frets up and A to A. Try a 1-4-5 progression, for example the E-form at the 5th fret, A-form at the 5th fret then A-form at the 7th fret. That's A - D - E, a very common progression. Starting at the 3rd fret with the same forms you'd have G - C - D, also common. Play around and practice moving around the fretboard with barres and the power chord forms, see what sounds good.

All of the above is good to do if you feel bored or at a plateau, and it will also make it easier to pick up new chords. A metronome helps too. I haven't played much in session mode, but I think you can play chords in there too.

[SiegeFrog]

Thanks for all your informative replies. I've already started using some of your hints and advice, and I'm starting to learn the chords. Slowly. Also, I was doing some digging in the RS1 manual (unowned by me) that mentioned a feature I hadn't noticed in RS2014. If I pause a song in Learn a Song mode, one of the options is the Chord Book. I always figured that this would take me to the gigantic 200 chord book which was less than useful. However, if invoked within a song, it will default to only show you the chords that are used in that song. That's what I was looking for! Now, I at least have a fighting chance to practice the chords I'm going to need for the song before I need them for the song without having to dig through the whole chord book. I'm guessing this feature was obvious to most, but not to me. I'm still going to have to learn and practice the chords both in and out of game, but at least now the whole chord book isn't as daunting.

[wraith7201]

Originally posted by SiegeFrog:

However, if invoked within a song, it will default to only show you the chords that are used in that song.

Hmmm. I actually didn't know this feature existed. Thanks :)