Ken Mitchell

Introduction

In light of the new tracks available for Rock Band, I thought I’d share some of the tips and tricks I have learned while playing “Rock Band”. For now, I have been concentrating on guitar only. Other instruments may follow soon.

Preparation

1. Calibrate lag: This can be done from the “Options” menu. Different types of TVs induce different amounts of lag (or time difference between when the Xbox thinks something happens and when the TV shows it happening). Some audio systems also induce lag, though maybe purposefully to compensate for the TV. You can try using a preset, or calibrate it manually. the instructions are pretty easy to follow.
2. Get comfortable: You never see Slash sitting in a pod chair playing “Welcome to the Jungle” do you? I realize that may be comfortable, but a couple of minutes and your wrist will feel like jello. Try standing during the song with the strap let out enough so that your arm is almost extended (I’d say about 10-15 degrees). Tilt the neck up towards you a little. Note: When “Guitar Picking Band” is released, then we may incorporate a stool or something.
3. Check Volume: You don’t want the neighbors to call the law on you (I presume), but you need to be able to hear the beat of the song above the button clicking.

Strumming

1. Strum in both directions: This may be hard to catch on to, but when it comes down to eighth notes or fast quarter notes, you need to strum in both directions. This is also useful for long drawn out patterns, as it is easier to keep beat.
2. Keep the whammy bar close: Using the whammy adds a nice points boost. It isn’t as hard as it looks, just keep it close so that when a sustained note comes by, you can hit it a couple of times.

Fret-ing

1. Hammer-on and Pull-off: These techniques are invaluable when it comes to playing on “hard” or “expert”. When you see the notes that are a little shorter, those can be played without strumming.
2. Slide: Similar to a Hammer-on and Pull-off, a slide can help you out too. Though it’s really not a slide because you still have to strum, it helps when you have to change hand positions. I tend to slide alot between the 1 and 2 fret (green and red).
3. Don’t flip-flop between buttons: If you are playing a sequence of notes like say 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2, try holding down the 1 fret the whole time. Like a real guitar, only the highest (closest to inside) fret counts. However, don’t expect this to work during power chords.

Practice

This of course speaks for itself. You don’t think “Mississippi Queen” was played the first time through do you? You have to develop habits to each song, and methods to move from one phrase to the next. This may not be a big deal on “easy” or maybe even “medium”, but there will come a time when you have to know what is coming before it comes across the TV. I recommend at least learning the major progressions of a song and how to transition in/out of the solo. Also, perfect the “Big Rock Ending” to cap off a nice score.

Conclusion

The most important thing of all is to have fun. It can get frustrating at times, but don’t let it get you down. Keep at it!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 9:10 am and is filed under HowTo.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.