Quittersmith

I have been playing Rocksmith to the exclusion of all other Xbox games ever since I bought the title and my guitar nine months ago.  Sure, I still threw the occasional bird at a pig now and then but I didn't want to get side-tracked for days or weeks on end by pretending to be some hyper-violent "concierge to the world" in Saint's Row 3 or whatever.

I used to play pretty much every day for at least an hour and a half.  Sometimes there would be marathon sessions of three or four hours on the weekends.  I looked forward to getting my butt kicked every other Saturday or so over at Jimmydunes' house during multi-player sessions.  It wasn't about the score, though.  Well, it was in the rare instances I was winning, of course (I'm only human), but mostly it was about the playing.

The difficulty level ramped up quite a bit in a short period of time but I was holding my own just fine.  It felt awesome. But no sooner did I write my article borderline-bragging about my progress after I hit Level 8 that I hit a wall.

I Got Mine by the Black Keys is, technically, one of the easiest songs in the game.  The last time it was in my setlist months and months ago I needed a measly 45k or so to pass and it took me forever.  Once I got the opening barre chords, the main chord progression, and some of the solo down, I was able to barely eke out enough points after dozens and dozens of attempts to move on.

I was shocked to see it re-appear in my new setlist at a whopping 90k!  That was a tremendous (and seemingly unreasonable) jump but, surely, I had improved well enough to crush out this largely repetitive pentatonic-based ditty.  Heck, I'd probably be able to play this in Master Mode in short order. Right?

Since I only play the songs and arrangements that are in my current setlist, enough time passes where I forget most of the music by the time the tune re-appears at its new, higher level.  Even so, I usually score 20% higher on my first run-through than the level I struggled to reach during my last attempt.  

Evidence of progress right there!  Sweet!

Yeah.... Not this time.  I was barely able to hit the score I had before.  Well, no worries.  I'll just try again.  Huh.  A little better, but not much.  Dozens and dozens more playthroughs and hours and hours of riff practice only got me to about 70k or so, which is where I sit now.

This song has a "simple" pentatonic portion that, for some reason, has turned into the musical equivalent of a tongue twister for me. I am just too undisciplined (for now) to run it consistently.

The mathematical part of me understands the concept of "infinity".  I am perfectly comfortable with the idea that some things are immeasurably big or immeasurably small. It wasn't until I hit this wall, though, that I truly knew what "never" feels like.

I am not the only one whose joy is taking a hit here. During the opening chords of one of my offline practice sessions a couple of weeks ago, I saw my three-year-old son perform what can only be described as the most sarcastic, mocking dance in the whole wide world.  It's impossible to describe in text, so you are just going to have to take my word for it - it was hilarious.  

Fast-forward to late last week.  I was sitting on the couch yet again plinking out the "simple" pentatonic portion, waiting for my kid to get out of the bath and get changed for night-time.  He came into the room in his PJs, looked at me holding the guitar, and sighed "Don't you want to do something fun instead, dad?"

Yes.  Yes I do.  Anything but play this damn song anymore.

I went to Jimmydunes' place a couple of times this Memorial Day weekend.  He helped me change out my strings and we "jammed" for six or seven hours over a couple of days playing whatever songs and arrangements we felt like.  It was a blast.  It was fun again.

As I told you before, I am not musically inclined (I ain't got rhythm, yo).  I also told you before that I don't quit.  Only one of those things is still true. 

I am going to give up the Level 9 “New Guitar Challenge” I made with my wife.  I still think I won’t remove songs from the setlist, but I will jump at the chance to lower the qualifying score on songs that are killing me.  Outside of the gigs, I will play what I want in whatever arrangement I choose (there are still about 90 arrangements I have not touched).  I might even start getting some DLC.

As far as the song goes, eventually I will get it.  Eventually, I will become disciplined enough to run through this song at 90k with very little difficulty. Eventually, I will go back, read this article, and wonder what the hell was wrong with me.

In the meantime, I cheerfully present this apropos clip.  Enjoy!