What other learning "tools" are you using?

[Trey_Trey]

Just wondering what other tools others are using along side Rocksmith to learn playing?

1). I'm currently going through Justin Guitars (Stage 6). Great site, highly recommend.
2). Subscribe to JamPlay.com - A good resource.
3). Private lessons (more blues orientated)
4). Metal Rhythm Guitar Volume 1 - Troy Stetina (can't let go of the Hair Metal wanna-be inside).

5). Rocksmith - put it last because I'm still waiting for PC release.

I'm pretty much OCD'n this, but I started late and itching to catch up.

[JinjaBeard]

you can "catch up" / prepare yourself by practicing up on the songs you like from the tracklist using tabs/youtube resources, etc...that way you'll be ready to 'pwn' when you get your pc version. hehe

for me: i approach learning a song via rocksmith or tab and if i get hungup somewhere, maybe on a tricky fingering, i watch some youtube vids to see what others are doing. i hear good things about justinguitar.com(?). Martyz songs on youtube is great for learning specific riffs as well.

[Trey_Trey]

Originally posted by JinjaBeard:
you can "catch up" / prepare yourself by practicing up on the songs you like from the tracklist using tabs/youtube resources, etc...that way you'll be ready to 'pwn' when you get your pc version. hehe

for me: i approach learning a song via rocksmith or tab and if i get hungup somewhere, maybe on a tricky fingering, i watch some youtube vids to see what others are doing. i hear good things about justinguitar.com(?). Martyz songs on youtube is great for learning specific riffs as well.

I was thinking about doing some prep work before the game came out. Didn't know if it was best to just go in fresh and noobish. I've definitely been listening to the songs due to most of them being brand new to me. I'm really diggin Red Fang. Their videos are hilarious too.

[JinjaBeard]

I was thinking about doing some prep work before the game came out. Didn't know if it was best to just go in fresh and noobish. I've definitely been listening to the songs due to most of them being brand new to me. I'm really diggin Red Fang. Their videos are hilarious too.

i just went and watched a red fang video on that recommendation... hilarious is right! that's some good stuff.

i'm not sure of your current skill level, but if i was impatiently waiting for the game i'd go learn a few fun riffs to speed things along http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Brothertruck]

I'm number 4 going through guitar lessons only with a group. It's going well for the most part.

[LP68CA]

There are some nice resources at jamplay, and I'd also recommend Guthrie Govan's Creative Guitar books. They're interesting, filled with good speed/dexterity building exercises, and provide a good survey of the guitar landscape for beginning -> intermediate guitarists.

http://www.amazon.com/Guthrie-...id=1320095250&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Guthrie-Govan/e/B0034Q44JU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1320095250&sr=8-1)

[rednhax]

I think guitar-pro.com is the best learning and practising tool I have used.

I typically create practice routines that contains all the exercises, scales, licks, arpegios, etc I want to practice, each exercise is looped the amount of time I want to repeat the exercise. Each exercise uses it's own time signature which I update on a per need basis.

I also find the tool great for keeping track of riffs I come up with and even riff farming(I write down the riff in the software and add/remove/move notes around.)

Additionally, I found the tool very useful to practice very fast riffs at a slow pace and slowly increasing it to speed.

I use http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ to get tabs for Guitar Pro.

[LP68CA]

Guitar Pro is awesome. Not exactly a noob's Guitar Weapon, but if you've got a little technical ability and some experience it's great.

[JinjaBeard]

that jamplay looks good. i might forward that to a friend who just started guitar/picked up rocksmith.

[AlexLifeson]

Be sure to check out all the Marc Seal guitar lessons at :
http://www.youtube.com/user/DeadFossil

and
http://theultimateguitarshow.com/

Similar to Justin but more rock/metal type licks/style

[Goooner1]

Justinguitar is an excellent site for all levels, best thing is it's completely free!

Also taking private lessons once a fortnight for the last 6 months, other than that books and Youtube.

[rhinokio]

I am a subscriber to guitartricks.com its a bit more expensive than free but so far i love it, and i love being able to talk directly to any of the many instructors on their forums.

[IndienStrummer]

After reading so many comments on this forum about Justinguitar.com I decided to check it out. I'm a semi-experienced player and I'd just like to say after looking over the site for 15 mins that it is the best comprehensive online instruction I've ever come across. Mostly because of how he's organized all his lessons. The theory and practice are well integrated, with a good mixture of video, diagrams and text. I can't believe it's all free. I almost want to donate a few bucks to the guy based solely on a job well done. I'd definitely recommend it to all of the beginner and intermediate players.

[Barcham]

I think that Learn & Master Guitar is the best self teaching course available. It has a great support forum, great teaching materials and you will actually learn how to read music properly instead of using tabs which really teach you absolutely nothing about music. It also happens to be sponsored by Gibson/Epiphone, just like Rocksmith.
http://www.learnandmaster.com/guitar/

[DeepDrummer]

I use this site regularly.
http://www.12bar.de/
The scale and chord generator and the backing track generator are awesome.
I also use Sibelius 7 (music notation software)which has a "show fretboard option". It allows you to put notation on a page by picking the notes from the fretboard and on playback it places a marker on the fretboard when the note plays back. No advance warning of the note coming up though but it really helps figure things out. It has a costly price of admission though. Are many guitarists interested in learning notation? I have only personally met 10 or so guitarists. Do any of them read music? nope. I find that unfortunate and unfortunately Rocksmith doesn't seem to encourage that much either but then again it's a game and a darn good one at that..

[oldgeezer99]

http://www.justinguitar.com (excellent - thx, rem to donate/support to the guy if u want)

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com...dc&search_type=title (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/search.php?value=ac%2Fdc&search_type=title)

(great for tabs/chords for tons of songs, no cost either)

plus I've been buying a lot of "play along guitar" cds/books w/tabs/notes, eg Rush, Police, Pink Floyd, AC/DC etc from amazon.com

[ALuomala]

I have only been playing since June (I'm 43 yrs old), so I wanted to catch up to my 13 year old (she's been taking guitar lessons for 1.5 yrs, and played violin previous to that). I am also a geek/gadget-guy, so I have gone the tech-route to learn. I have been a little all over the place in my attempts to learn, but here is what I have used:

1) GarageBand (Mac and iPad): If you have a Mac (a newer one anyway), you will have it installed. For god's sake, use it!!! For a free program (well, bundled into the ridiculous price you pay for an iMac), it is incredible deal. The lessons are great, but the note-recognition software is spotty (I was going through my amp output (headphone jack)>iMac input port.... not sure if I would have better luck with the TrueTone cable (or other method). The iPad version of GB is OK, but there are no learning tools on it. For $5 you get some decent modeled amps and effects (IMO). One of the coolest things, IMO, was buying individual artist lessons (for iMac GB). I bought all of the Rush tunes they had, and having Alex Lifeson run through the songs (he's a funny fella, to boot!) was excellent. At $5 per lesson, it adds up, but worth it, methinks.

2) iPad apps: AmpKit. I tried pretty much every other one out there, and this one has the most bang-for-buck. They actually licensed the names/sounds, so there isn't a lot of "try to guess the amp/effect" that you are looking for. You can even take a dry input (i.e something you recorded, or even a regular MP3) and run it through all the effects/presets to see what it would sound like (without having to play the song/riff each time.... like I was doing originally: d'oh!!!). The in-app purchases can be costly: wait for bundles if you can. There are also artist pre-sets you can download (plus user presets).


3) Another iPad app: GuitarLickOfTheDay. This is a freebie, but I tried out one months worth to get more content. Depending on your style, this can be a boon, or a bust. I like classic rock, blues, etc, so I would say only about a third of the licks were to my liking and/or skill level. YMMV.

4) I purchase 50 Blues Licks from TrueFire. A little advanced for me, but it is a complete package. I had to upload the videos to my iPad separately from the package (it is Flash driven), but you get tabs, backing tracks, and a nice little (Flash) interface to use on your computer (tuner, slowdown track, loops, etc). I got some form of introductory pricing (I forget exactly how... Maybe because I signed up, I was given free credits towards the packages, bringing the price down by about 25%).

I also bought a book (how last century!!!) called Rock Guitar: Complete Edition, which had MP3's included. Pretty good book, but nothing beats watching well produced videos from the comfort of my computer (or iPad).

My daughter was sick one day, and I didn't have time to cancel her guitar lesson, so I went in and basically shot the sh!t with the instructor, and had a list of questions on various techniques I had concerns about (hammer-ons, slides, pull off's, harmonics, bends, barre chords, etc). I am not willing to pay $25 for a half-hour to have someone watch me practice skills, but I think it is worthwhile to pay someone a few bucks once in a while to make sure my techniques are correct, and to offer advice on trouble areas. I am an adult learner (hence all my above "toys for learning") but I definitely see the merit for my daughters (my youngest is taking piano lessons). Once they have more discipline, I will make them learn on their own.

Anyway, thanks for the advice on what you guys are using. I have heard a lot of talk about JustinGuitar.com, so I will have to finally check it out.

Allan

P.S I forgot to mention what interfaces I have used (with iMac and iPad): I had bought the Peavey AmpKit Link (around $40) and it was OK. I found it had too much noise, and the noise-gate stomps (in software apps) was cutting out any decent sustains). I had then read about the Apogee Jam ($100!!!!, but it comes with 2 adapters: one for iPad/iPhone and USB). Way better!!!! The Peavey (and many other similar products) went in through the headphone jack, whereas the ApogeeJam goes through the iPad connector (dock??). Much better results, both on the iPad and the iMac. Had I known about the TrueTone cable being able to be plugged into a PC/Mac (I haven't had time to try it out for myself to determine quality) I would have held off on the the Jam.

[Mistermann.db]

Originally posted by ALuomala:
I have heard a lot of talk about JustinGuitar.com, so I will have to finally check it out.


Allan - I have been at this for a couple of years and like you, started post 40 http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/16x16_smiley-wink.gif

I have loved every minute of this journey and wish I would have discovered this back in my teenage years ... alas, maybe something for my next life http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/16x16_smiley-very-happy.gif

Anyway, I want to jump in and highly recommend Justin's site. He is the best I've seen (GuitarJamz.Com and Marty are a close second), and has quite a knowledgebase on his website. I encourage anyone that's able to support Justin so he keeps the site going. I can highly recommend his beginner's songbook, I ordered it and was very impressed at the production value. Got here to the US in less than a week.

[pokezfan93]

I wish they would have had half of the instruction available 20 years ago that they have now. I probably would have really tried to learn when I got that guitar and amp at age 15, but instead I got a guy who wanted to teach theory and not even how to pluck a note, so the guitar was sold at a garage sale...

I check out justinguitar.com, Youtube ( Marty Schwartz (sp) and Mahalo on Youtube (specifically Jen Trani), ultimate-guitar.com for tabs, and I use another site that has chord fingerings (can't remember it off the top of my head)

[oldgeezer99]

i'm over 40 too... welcome to the "old geezer guitar players' club" lol. well hey better late than never. agree would've been great to see this years ago... course back then the consoles weren't advanced enough, so maybe not..

[Autin175]

www.justinguitar.com (http://www.justinguitar.com) It's an amazing site for everyone no matter what skill level.