Day ? : Got the early signs of that flu going around...sigh. Discombobulated describes the feeling, and I'm not even properly sick yet. This might be the miracle Norio was hoping for!

NorioDS I think I've already said it before but this duel has been transformational for me to finally get into learning a whole song!

Yay! More to the point, you've had lots of rhythm practice! Got the same from playing bass - which rekindled my desire to play guitar again. ?

NorioDS ZOMG I NEED A LOOPER

Bwaahahaha - I must admit to enjoying this basic ditto clone. I've had similar loopers before, but since all the rhythm practice I've become a lot more competent at using such a infernal device. However, now I can see one with some kinda rhythm guide (tap tempo-able) being my preference. The onboard storage would be nice for ideas, but I'd definitely insist on tap tempo.

Day 10 — Yikes I missed yesterday entirely. Hoping I'll squeeze in some practice today coz, otherwise, I'm gonna get hurt real bad ?

There's no way I'm ready to record. But this weekend is chock-a-block full. Need to find / make time.

NorioDS There's no way I'm ready to record. But this weekend is chock-a-block full. Need to find / make time.

I'm easy - we can add a extra week, I did start a bit earlier with the riffage. Take it easy and bring your best ?

Day 10 ( i think?) - 140bpm is nice n comfortable. Getting up to 160 not so much.

I did crank the bpm up to 170 and then back down to 160 - it's weird but it helps makes 160 feel possible when you drop back down into that bpm from the faster one. The mind is a odd thing!

V8 I did crank the bpm up to 170 and then back down to 160 - it's weird but it helps makes 160 feel possible when you drop back down into that bpm from the faster one. The mind is a odd thing!

I also do this. Learned it from Petrucci's "rock discipline". It's maybe the only thing I tried from that MONSTER of a course ? In that particular section, Petrucci almost loses his sh#t before going down a few BPMs. Worth a watch ?

V8 I'm easy - we can add a extra week, I did start a bit earlier with the riffage. Take it easy and bring your best ?

Yeah, that extension would be great! These past few weeks and weekends have been full. Doesn't help when you're trying to get licks down at 160bpm!

NorioDS Yeah, that extension would be great!

Sweet, add a week and see how you go? Since we've got us playing regularly, I really don't mind pushing it out for a bit more of that.

NorioDS Yeah, that extension would be great!

Sweet, add a week and see how you go? Since we've got us playing regularly, I really don't mind pushing it out for a bit more of that.

NorioDS Yeah, that extension would be great!

Sweet, add a week and see how you go? Since we've got us playing regularly, I really don't mind pushing it out for a bit more of that.

NorioDS Yeah, that extension would be great!

Sweet, add a week and see how you go? Since we've got us playing regularly, I really don't mind pushing it out for a bit more of that.

NorioDS I also do this. Learned it from Petrucci's "rock discipline". It's maybe the only thing I tried from that MONSTER of a course ? In that particular section, Petrucci almost loses his sh#t before going down a few BPMs. Worth a watch ?

Found it quite easily, although I had to watch from the beginning of the section.

(Starts at 40:50 if the timestamp doesn't work)

.

So why don't you guys try Peace Sells... at 216 bpm? Looks like a fun tempo!

ChrisDanger So why don't you guys try Peace Sells... at 216 bpm? Looks like a fun tempo!

...you first! ?

Day 11 (ish) : Happy at 140 bpm and starting to feel a hint of groove bit at 160. Not spending all that much time on Peace sells, that looper has distracted me - jamming all sorts of silliness.

NorioDS Still also need to figure out how many bars of each riff I'm gonna play

Yeah, me too. Got the 140bpm section nicely together, but the 160bpm stuff is a bit trickier w/o leads. Upside, it'll be short n sweet!

NorioDS If I decide to do this again, I'm gonna want a much slower song

LOL, I did try and trick you into attempting Battery - that would have been payback for calling Metallica riffs...easy

Day 15 (ish?) : Havn't played any over the weekend, was cold and there's was plenty sport to distract me. That said, I did have a quick jam w/friends on sat and my fingers were flying around with a MUCH lighter touch - finally feeling/seeing some results from the regular playing ?

V8 LOL, I did try and trick you into attempting Battery - that would have been payback for calling Metallica riffs...easy

I was specifically avoiding "Enter Sandman" as that would've been way too easy for a duel. To clear things up, *I don't think Metallica is easy. I think they're fast as heck, especially if you're looking at their older thrash metal stuff. And especially if you're nuts enough to try it all with pure down-strokes. (I won't bother! Too painful!)

V8 my fingers were flying around with a MUCH lighter touch - finally feeling/seeing some results from the regular playing ?

Makes a huge difference huh? I just want a way to get the same results without such high stakes! ?

And now I finally get why people learn their favourite songs. It's a much more enjoyable way to improve your chops. Plus there's a lot of satisfaction that comes from finishing things! Those are my 2 favourite takeaways from this experience.

NorioDS , *I don't think Metallica is easy

I must mention, I don't think anything on guitar is easy! For me, piano and drums are far easier (mechanically) to get started on. I'd say violin is one of the harder ones to play, it's just soooo awkward.

My point was - even though Enter Sandman could be considered a 'easy' Metallica tune - I struggled for a while to get the rhythm flowing throughout the tune. There's a lot more technique going on there than one would think, even if the song seems straightforward. Don't get me started on Wherever I may Roam...I started learning that a while back (15yrs? more?) and only during this challenge did I get it sounding legit.

Daze ? : I think we're onto 16th day. Been getting back up to speed on Peace Sells after a few days off. I'm starting to nail the Mr Brownstone riff ? And I'm rather enjoying that simple looper still.

Day 17: 2x45m. Right-o, getting serious now that we're approaching the pointy end of the challenge. Happy with the 140bpm arrangement, but not the 160bpm one. It's tough to tweak it real time, when it's flying by at that tempo! Practice, practice, practice!

More learnings on the final day...

If you're learning songs on Rocksmith, start off with the song playing at 80%. But as you progress, bring that all the way down to 10% maximum!

I didn't do that and I noticed that I was "letting myself" make mistakes because they were being covered up by the song. When ALL you hear is your instrument, then you can pick up a lot of mistakes.

What's nice about doing it like this is that you STILL get the benefit of the notes flying by on the screen. So you don't miss any parts by mistake. (I tried practising this without Rocksmith and it often resulted in my missing entire parts of the song.)

So while you still need crutches (Rocksmith), keep using 'em. Just turn down the volume of the song as you improve so that you can focus on the feel of your playing and any notes you're regularly missing. Trust me, without the backing track so loud in your ears, those bum notes will stand out a lot more and you'll just WANT to fix it because it sounds so kak ?