Spotlight Guitarcade: Return to Castle Chordead and Day 28

Return to Castle Chordead

Return to Castle Chordead is a game focusing on helping you transition from Chord to Chord, while learning the chords.  In it, you have a sort of lightning guitar that will shoot the enemies as you play the chord that appears above their heads.  If it takes a while, the chords will start showing up in a chart near the enemy.  You "fly" through the level in first person mode, stopping at scenic areas while the enemies, in this case they are the undead, come at you.  Play the right chord, shoot energy at the undead, destroy them.

This game is based on the old rail shooter by Sega, "House of the Dead".  It is said to be "on rails" because you do not really control how you move, it is more like a roller coaster that stops while you shoot zombies.  This type of game has already been used in learning, as there is a "Typing of the Dead" series where you typed words and phrases to attack the zombies.




Return to Castle Chordead was a wonderful surprise to me.  I played it first because I had a mission to, and it was way back in the beginning days of me playing.  I thought I would be horrible at it, since I was horrible at the space shooter game.  To my surprise, I did really really well in the first game.  The graphics are right up there with the House of the Dead when it first came out, so I think it matches the style very well.  Return To Castle Chordead is super campy though, but I think that is very much on purpose.  It is almost a parody of House of the Dead instead of an homage.

My main problem with it is that you are not in control of the chords used.  I really think it would be much more useful if the difficulty was based on the enemies, not the difficulty of the chords, and you get to choose the chords if you wished.  I guess it makes it much more of a "game" to make you progress through though, so maybe its incentive to keep playing.  Still, this is a sort of minor criticism that could fit in a few games in the Guitarcade.

Day 28

Something new and awesome happened today.  I was at my girlfriend's house and she had the TV on as background noise while she made me a wonderful dinner.  I glanced up from my tablet and saw a girl playing the guitar in some commercial for the Disney Channel.  The cool thing was, I was picking out the chords she was using.  I was doing it by sight, and I was recognizing the way she was holding her fingers.  This is really cool to me, and it makes me excited about my musical future.  One day I hope I could do that by the sound alone, but biology may have made that impossible, at least I could watch someone play a song and learn it by watching instead of having to look up notation or "how to" videos.

I am finding that saying the chord is really helping me while I do my stuff in Rocksmith.  I am used to video games, and there was a time I played some Guitar Hero.  The colors come and go and you're not worried really about remembering WHAT the color is, only that you pushed the button are are waiting for the next color.  Video games have conditioned my brain to a certain way of learning.  Some how, when I say "E minor" or "A minor" its getting stuck in my brain that I'm not playing a game, I'm learning guitar.  I also kind of equate this habit with being able to watch other people play and recognize their chords.  Instead of thinking "oh that's the part of the practice song here where I do this" its "that's an E minor".  I don't know if I'm really describing it correctly ir explaining why saying it helps, you'd think that's be like saying "looking at your fingers helps", that it would be something you'd want to eventually ween yourself off of doing.  I guess it is just making it feel like learning and less like performing the correct procedure in a game.

A few days ago I went and bought a few things for my musical stuff.  One of the things I picked up was a 1.14 mm gauge pick from Dunlop.  When I first started I got the "medium" gauge Fender picks.  A few years back I wanted to try picks on my bass, you know... cause sometimes you just wonder.  Anyway, I had several left over and I've ended up using a .88 dunlop since I've started the Rocksmith challenge.  Well, I have to try the extremes, I can't see myself ever liking anything flimsier than a Fender "medium", so now I need to find the top.  This 1.14 has basically no flex to it.  The attack this thing makes(the strike through on the string) is really intense.  I do not thing I do chords very well using it, but I really like the sound my blues playing sounds with it.  I like it, but I really think that .88 is what I'm going to stick with.  The .88 picks are still very stiff, but not so stiff they make chord strumming too distinct.  With the 1.14 I was almost sounding like I was quickly arppegiating the chords.

Self indulgence and Day 27

Warning: this is purely a post about gear.  It is a What If scenario of if I had all my money from my bass rig in my hand and went to buy guitar stuff instead, what would I have.  Some people are turned off about this sort of pie in the sky dreaming.  I won't be selling my bass gear, EVER.  Its just that its day 27 and I need topics to go in between my other topics.  So excuse me if I get self indulgent for a while, feel free to scroll down to the Day 27 memoir.

Well first I have to decide what to do about the money in my cabs.  Guitar cabs have the same advantage as sub-500 dollar guitars, they sell really well.  So the markup on them are less than bass cabs.  Also, they are smaller and lighter by their very nature compared to bass speakers.  Much of the money in my bass cabs are features that you just do not get in guitar cabs to amplify the price.  So, I am going to allocate my speaker costs 50% into the amp and 50% into the guitar.

The Guitar

Wait a minute, you may say, I thought you were into SG's?  Well I am, but fortunately SG Standards with the options I want are doable under $1000.  Plus, the last few years Gibson has been futzing with the pickguard, and I like the 70's "batwing" pickguards.  So used is where I'd go these days.  Also I have an SG already, so to get the most bang for my buck, I'm looking at Les Pauls.   I change which bursts I like all the time, currently I'm on a Caramel-burst or Tea Burst phase.  These Standard Premiums are being liquidated for a huge mark down as of this writing.  Flame top?  Check.  Binding? Check.  Pickup covers? check.  Trap inlays? Check.  No pre-installed pickguard, meaning I don't have "worm holes" in the top?  Check.  This is the picture of a Les paul that people have in their minds when they think Les Paul.

The amp

Blackstar HT20

For what I do, I think 20 all tube watts is what I need.  I would go with the 5 watt version, but I plan on using the clean channel for any heavy metal pedals I want to change the sound with.  I keep switching between wanting Egnator and Blackstar, but currently I hear so much good stuff about Blackstar.  Also, they were once employees of Marshall, so I'm not too far from my old fanboy self when I go for Blackstar.  An effects loop is a must, so the Marshalls of this price range are out.  I would get two of the 1x12 cabs they have for their HT5 series.  Each is rated at 50 watts, so I'm still safe.  I like having 2 1x12's for the same reason I did that with my bass, its just more versatile of a set up.  I enjoy being able to keep one at home, and keep one at a practice spot if I wanted, and use them both if playing outside.

And... I have a ton left over. There are more expensive Les Pauls, but what's the point?  That's my dream Les Paul right there.  There are 40, 50 and 100 watt version of that amp, but that means I'd go deaf before I have the natural tube overdrive I like.  Sticking with the premise, all being spent on music gear, I guess I'd go looking for my dream SG, which would be used and I'd still have money left over.  I'd have a "beater" SG and a fancy SG, I would have enough left over for a les paul studio.  Maybe a caramel burst Les Paul Studio pro so I'm not too scared to take a Les Paul to friend's homes for jam sessions.

And there's a lesson to be learned in that last sentence.  Well, that'll be another post for another day.



Day 27

I did lots of stuff today.

Aside from my warm up in Guitarcade, I'm adding the Chord 101 and Chord 102 practice tracks to the warm up.  I have a solid 45 minutes of "warm up" time in Rocksmith now.  I know as I type these up it might seem like I do less and less Rocksmith, but its not true, its just that its kind of routine at the moment while I work on chords.

I'm ending up with 2 separate journals. One is for theory notes, scale shapes, chord charts etc.  One journal is my song notation book.  Each song I put in here will have its chords, its key, and whatever information I need to memorize.  I will have different versions and strum patterns for them, and then set up my personal arrangement.  Why have a personal arrangement?  Well if someone asks you to play a song while they're just hanging out, they aren't looking for 5 minutes of lone guitar and no vocals.  They want the high points of the song that are recognizable, so this is the kind of "1 minute arrangement" that I want to come up with for requested songs.

I am practicing a very versatile song that I feel is going to help me with lots of my chord playing.  It is "Simple Kind of Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the lyrics just rub the the wrong way.  I've grew up hearing this song and I know a lot of people that know the song.  The song is 3 chords, and you can do a very simple version, a version with advanced strumming patterns, and even a power chord arrangement over it.  There's also the version that most resembles what you hear on the radio, with lots of embellishments.  I am very good at going from C Major to A Minor thanks to Rocksmith, both of those chords are taught by the Chord lesson tracks, and also used fairly early in Return to Castle Chordead.  I'm needing to work the most on the G chord, which is new to me.

The Teacher's Warning and Day 25

There is a warning that I hear a lot from videos on youtube and from teachers giving free advice to players in general.  The warning is "if you focus so much on learning 2 or 3 songs, then all you're learn is 2 or 3 songs".  This does speak to me.  I have a few songs I obsessed over on guitar as a teenager, thinking "if I learned to play this, I'd know I'm a guitarist".  It is dangerous because if you devote months of time to such a small set of skills, you will absolutely learn those 2 or 3 songs, but the risk is that you have left yourself with no new goals.

Well, I feel that I am past that point of danger, but my songs are still there.  I still have that list of "I want to break this out in case I'm playing in front of Cousin A" or "I want to play this one for my sister because she and I enjoyed listening to this song when I was little".  The warning still creeps in, and I'm worried I'm not advanced enough to do them without getting caught up in them.  But I think acknowledging the risk will help get over and past the risk.

So what's my list?  Here's a few.  I may add others to other posts later.

ACDC Highway to Hell.  I've mentioned before that this song shaped my music tastes, forever putting me on the path of pure Rock and Roll.  Plus all my cousins will love the hell out of hearing it.  All my cousins come over on Easter, so I can tell anyone thinking its inappropriate, "Catholic dogma says that Jesus descended into hell to rescue the righteous of the past".  So there.  Highway to Hell is appropriate for Easter and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Sweet Child O' Mine is a song I used to ask my cousin to play all the time.  The beginning just seemed so amazing to me as a young kid.  I hear that it is not all that hard to play the whole song.  I do have to contend with the whole E flat tuning though.

Yellow Ledbetter is a song that got me back into wanting to play guitar after learning bass.  I've learned that this song is basically a love letter from Pearl Jam's guitarist to Jimi Hendrix.  This got me back to listening to Hendrix and several songs of his that I had never heard before.  After Angus Young's style of playing, Jimi's bluesy stuff is the 2nd style to have the most influence on me.



Day 25

It was a Sunday, so it was a late practice.  In Rocksmith I did the guitarcade, and for a second time went completely through Return to Castle Chordead.  This game really does help.  In fact, I was going through the chords I had in my memory today and wow, I have actually learned quite a few that I can name while changing between them.  They aren't the super useful ones, but they are chords and I am able to practice with them.

I practiced tuning to drop D without a tuner.  I'm making headway.  I know there is a way to make a harmonic of a note and tune correctly using that by using your ears, but I need an example of that with some lessons.  There is a "special" lesson section in Rocksmith, and one of them is "Tuning by Ear" so I need to mark that for watching tomorrow.  I'll let you know how the video is.  Its rather unfortunate that its at the bottom when you sort by "recommended".

Impulse Buy and Day 24

Impulse buying is practically what Internet retail is based on.

I would not have gotten Rocksmith 2014 if it did not have a lot of songs that I personally like.and would not mind learning.  I like that there is some basic rock like Sixteen Saltines by Jack White, but also some metal like Blood and Thunder by Mastodon.

The classic rock offerings of Rocksmith 2013, 2014 and DLC is actually really really great.  The staples of the classic rock station are there: Dream On by Aerosmith, American Woman by The Guess Who, Carry on my Wayward Son by Kansas.  Drift Away by Dobie Grey.  All of that is DLC.

Pretty much any genre of Rock has some great DLC support.  I got Rocksmith with a PSN card and almost immediately went to buying songs I want to learn to play.  At $3 a pop, I was only going to be able to get a handful.  I easily got $60 in my cart and decided I should probably wait and see.  I think this is the best of advice, because I would have doubled my investment in the game, and I don't think I'd be playing most of those songs yet.

You might end up being like me.  I know there are people that are "learn the songs, and you'll learn the skills as you do the songs".  I've met them in real life, they exist.  I am just not one of them.  I am more academic.  It is not enough to know something is a chord, I want to know why its a chord.  I don't want to just know that these notes are played in a song, I want to know why these same notes are used in other songs too.  If I had a huge curriculum style book with quizzes and lesson reading, I'd have all the theory done in a heartbeat, I've always been very successful with "book learning".  I've got a mind for it.

So, so far, I do not rely on learning songs so much.

I'd do this: pick your 5 favorite songs from the original list and wait till you get them to 75% or so.  All five of them.  When you do that, then DLC may be a smart purchase.  Oh and for the record.... I'm 2 of 5 so far.


Day 24

I skipped ahead a few "recommended" lessons and went into some more chord lessons.  I do not think they emphasize the fact that your fingers will eventually stretch and learn to play these chords with time.  At least, that's what I've always been told and even people with small hands like me will be able to do them...

I realized I had not beat the first level of Return to Castle Chordead, so I devoted time to doing that.  I had to do a couple of "continues" during it, but less than I thought I would.  This game actually is pretty good at helping me memorize shapes and names of the chords they use, but I can't help but feel like they should let me customize what chords are used in stages.  I would like a sort of customized setting.  I am memorizing a handful of chords from the practice tracks and Chordead, but I do not think all but Em are recommended as frequently used in songs.  I guess time will tell.

I did some more session work with the Pent Major shape.  I really like the sound this scale is, it is very different than my blues and rock playing I've been doing since day 1.  It feels "pop" styled, and I'm pretty sure I've heard it as the basis of a lot of alternative acoustic songs.

Outside of Rocksmith... I almost broke down and ordered a 2nd guitar today.  I think I"ve said before that I would like a 2nd guitar I can take to places and practice with when I'm away from my PS3.  Today though, I found out that several of my most "want to learn" bands use Eb tuning.  I have put effort(and sucked at) tuning back and forth from Drop D without a tuner(I'm making progress though).  I accepted Drop D, I don't mind it.  The Eb tuning is every string being tuned down a half step.  This includes Jimi Hendrix, Guns N Roses, and Alice in Chains.  What a colossal pain in the ass.  Its like my Lead practice wants me to be in Eb, but all the chord songs I want to practice is in E standard.  I guess I'll need to come up with a list instead of just practicing what I feel like playing.