Soul Man, Combo 2, and The Learning of Shapes | Forums

[dm_gsxr]

I'm certainly learning a lot about chord shapes with Rocksmith.

On Soul Man, the lower percentages have just the bottom two strings (B and E) being played. So it's an easy run.

-12-----|-9------|-8----|-7----
-12-----|-9------|-9----|-7----
--------|--------|------|------
--------|--------|------|------
--------|--------|------|------

I started Riff Repeater to try and improve my playing and got that section up to 100% but the chord shapes changed:

-12-----|-9------|-8----|-7----
-12-----|-9------|-9----|-7----
-13-----|-10-----|-8----|-8----
--------|--------|------|------
--------|--------|------|------

With my initial run (the lower percentage), I was doing this:

-1----|-1----|-1----|-1----
-2----|-2----|--2---|-2----
------|------|------|------

But when I got to 100%, I was a little flummoxed, in part because I was trying to just add a finger to the initial 1/2 shapes I was playing. Then I tried to shift between the 'A chord' and 'D chord' shapes, like this:

-1----|-1----|-2----|-1----
-2----|-2----|--3---|-2----
--3---|--3---|-1----|--3---

I can do the first two shapes by just squeezing the 1 and 2 in a row, but shifting between the 'A' and 'D' shapes isn't easy. I finished the 30 plays in Riff Repeater and am in the "play your guitar" stage while it loads up the next module and I get the *ping* of enlightenment, the "I'm doing it wrong" moment.

-1----|-1----|-1----|-1----
-1----|-1----|-1-2--|-1----
-1-2--|-1-2--|-1----|-1-2--

It's a stupid barre chord. Just drop my index finger down and move my middle finger up and down one string for the two different shapes. I brought up Riff Repeater again and tried it and Mastered it the first time through.

I figured it out.

I played the song again and zipped through with a 92k (see sig ). Just a few more practice sessions and I'll have it "Mastered".

Those *ping* moments by the way is when your brain is exercised, keeping your brain young

Carl

[dm_gsxr]

I updated my original post for clarity

Carl

[Jack-Vance]

That's awesome man. Love it when something clicks.

How does your strat compare to your Les Paul? I have a MIM Strat HSS and eventually want to try a Les Paul.

[rcole_sooner]

Awesome!

This is why some sections are easier to master, if you set the mastery to 100%. Then the chord shapes become more obvious.

[dm_gsxr]

That's awesome man. Love it when something clicks.

How does your strat compare to your Les Paul? I have a MIM Strat HSS and eventually want to try a Les Paul.

Honestly I haven't played the Les Paul all that much since I got it. Partly because there's so much going on in the house right now, when I take a break, I don't want to shift between guitars so I'm pretty locked in on the Strat. It's comfortable and there are times when I really feel in the groove (in spite of what Rocksmith says ). Give it about a month or so when everything slows back down and I'll be able to really play the two.

Carl

[dm_gsxr]

Awesome!

This is why some sections are easier to master, if you set the mastery to 100%. Then the chord shapes become more obvious.

Absolutely. Over the past few months I've been mainly getting all my songs level-set. There were several I really liked and worked on to get to Master Mode. But now that I have a level-set, I've been going back to some of the harder ones and just going right to Riff Repeater to really Master these songs (so I'm level-set at about 14.5mil RSP ). And I've found other places where the incremental portion of a chord is harder than when it finally is the entire chord shape. But I like these *ping* moments. I had one when I understood just what a barre chord was (as in, the finger across the top was just the nut moving down the fretboard and the other fingers were the chord shape; like a barre'd E chord or Am chord).

Carl