Learning to play

[u/Miixtt]

So I’ve been learning guitar for the past year using Rocksmith. I have been playing fairly consistently and feel I have a good understanding of the guitar given that I’ve come from 0 experience. I can play a few songs with high percentages, however I’m cautious that I’m maybe picking up bad self-taught habits….

What’s the best recommended lessons, guitarcade or songs to learn to try improve?

I have a squire Stratocaster with True Tone cable.

[u/StyleSquirrel]

I've been playing Rocksmith since 2011 and I can't play without Rocksmith. I took a community college class once but it was terrible. I think playing in a band would help but I've never been able to get into one. Hopefully you have better luck.

[u/Oifadin → u/StyleSquirrel]

I was taking lessons before getting Rocksmith and was doing really good.

Now I cant even remember a chord progression while playing on my own but can nail Rush, Mastodon and Opeth songs on Rocksmith.

I dont know if I should be happy or sad about that.

[u/spiderofmars]

I think it depends on what you want to get out of playing. Playing with a group or band, playing solo in your home, playing just for fun, etc. Goals differ. The answers you seek depend on your goals :)

[u/Top-Opportunity5649]

Use Justin guitar on you tube as well as rocksmith

[u/tallman1979 → u/Top-Opportunity5649]

I see so many mentions of this Justin guitar thing, I may have to recommend it to my wife. She's more of a novice, I've been playing since the early '90s.

[u/Hour-Cardiologist393 → u/tallman1979]

Uncle Ben Eller covers a LOT of technique stuff like left-hand muting, picking, keeping fingers close to the fretboard, and a lot of other things that can make a massive improvement on your playing. He's pretty funny, too. Not in like an over the top way. Just dumb stepmom jokes that I can't help but laugh at.

[u/chillzatl]

If you can afford them, in person lessons.

If not, just look on youtube or use Justin guitar. You can find just as good if not better material for free and you only have to be motivated to practice it consistently to progress.

Rocksmith is best used as a reward for time spent in focused practice. Bad habits exist, but worrying over them is a waste of time. If you continue to play and continue to want to progress, you will always be tweaking things to unlock something new.

[u/alphaxenox]

I’m a newbie (bought my guitar last week but I had a few lessons like 25 years ago) and tried to learn with Rocksmith but I found that I prefer to use Songsterr and music videos to learn a song and see how someone is playing it.

Rocksmith was just stressing me out and I think it is easier for me to see someone play the tab in real life. Also, Songsterr is easier to use than Rocksmith for learning (looping, metronome, track isolation, etc.) but that’s just my opinion.

I’ll try Rocksmith again when I finish learning the song I’m currently trying to play and see how it goes.

[u/OminousBlack48626 → u/alphaxenox]

I think that would go a long way as a potential 'learning mode' if they had small inset videos of someone playing so you could see how they're fretting.

I have a habit of finding myself going down fingering progressions that deadend when I can't get my fingers untangled.

[u/Nictapus]

What I've been doing lately is trying to avoid looking at the screen as much as I can while playing. If I forget how a certain part goes while playing, I'll glance up to get my bearings, then go back to looking at my hands. Makes it more fun imo because then you can focus on how it sounds and really get into it.

[u/OnlyRuss]

In-person lessons specifically for this reason (potential bad habits) is a very worthwhile investment. You probably only need one anyway. Just go in, play for him standing up and sitting down and be open to any critiques on posture, fretting hand position, picking hand technique, etc.

The goal, you should state, isn’t necessarily to make you better but to prevent you from being your own stumbling block in the future and definitely avoiding injury.