Hey Rocksmith fans! April’s patch was as relatively small as March’s was relatively large, as the time between the two patches was surprisingly small, probably in part to roll out the helpful new queues of new authentic and community arrangements on the play page.

Still, small doesn’t mean bad – it’s a very focused patch, with six Billy Joel hits that were likely going to be a special content drop otherwise, as well as a plethora of Willie Nelson songs getting arrangements in celebration of his ninetieth birthday.

Best of Bass

Speaking on the patch’s focused points, Billy Joel songs tend to have great bass parts. Only the Good Die Young, a 2014 import, is as fun before, but new additions like new You May Be Right are fantastic and anticipated experiences as well. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) and Uptown Girl are also recommended for high variety and some non-traditional parts, but really the other two are also at their worst alright. Recognizable songs getting enjoyable bass arrangements, there’s little to complain about, but I’m sure some folks will find a way.

Willie Nelson songs aren’t quite as phenomenal on bass, as slower country songs often are not. Still, For the Good Times and You Decide are both surprisingly intricate and good at including variations even at their tempos.

Ready your jazz hands, there’s some great bass jazz arrangements as usual. You Don’t Know What Love Is by Pharoah Sanders starts and ends slow, but sandwiches between is some incredible bass, including a solo! Blue Skies by Charlie Byrd Trio and Dexterity by Yusef Lateef both offer jazz walk basslines that are on the more approachable side, and Norman Connors’ version of Steely Dan’s Black Cow is like, damn smooth.

Surprisingly, this update has some rock in it? Paul Gilbert’s Down to Mexico has a great bassline, as does the Ubisoft inhouse song Our Time is Now by New Gov’t X which includes some pop and slap parts. Bad as We Can Be by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is very Talk Dirty to Me, and It’s Love by King’s X has a heavier sound.

In funk/R&B/soul, we’ve got a 2014 import of Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry. RS+’s library has a few more Wild Cherry songs in it, and hopefully we’ll see more. The Manhattans’ Let Your Love Come Down has a great riff throughout with some enjoyable variations, including some pop and slap. And Roger’s Groove by DJ Quik has a nice slick, well, groove; but it’s among the trickier tracks to pin down in the library, I had to go to the Ukraine to play it. Ubisoft Connect also asked me about my cookie preferences in Ukranian, hopefully I handled that fine.

Moving onto blues, Nina Simone’s To Love Somebody has a great bass as most renditions do, and Cream’s version of Outside Woman Blues kills it, let’s hope for more. Wrapping up on some surprises on bass elsewhere, 90’s punk sees D.O.A.’s version of Eve of Destruction, and Luis Fonsi gets his first credit in RS+ on Christina Aguilera’s Si No Te Hubiera Conocido. Rocksmith mom play Despacito when.

Best of Lead

Billy Joel songs aren’t as strong on guitar as they are on most other instruments, but Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) has a great and unique progression for guitar, and We Didn’t Start the Fire has a really cool new wave chart too. The rest are all pretty alright, though it’s a bit disappointing they didn’t alt-chart the sax solo in It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me by Billy Joel while Uptown Girl might be the hardest, it’s simply because of how unusual the chord progression is and an ARCHI chart can probably teach you that just as well.

Most of the Willie Nelson songs, despite their tempos, have pretty good rambling country lead over them. I don’t think there’s a bad one among them, but I do feel like Grandma’s Hands and For the Good Times are two of the best examples of this.

Metal unsurprisingly has some great leads in April as it does most every month. Packaged Rebellion is the first of the Anthrax tracks in the library to get an authentic arrangement, and it’s a perfect exemplar of an Anthrax lead, hopefully more to come. Obituary by Bloodsoaked and Desire in Violent Overture by Cradle Of Filth bring what death metal bring to lead charts, and I mean, it for sure is fun. And finally, the last of the currently available Mercyful Fate songs, Curse of the Pharaohs, bring yet another banger chart from the band. Very hopeful we see more of them licensed in time.

Blues has some surprising giants in it this patch, and they came to play. Outside Woman Blues by Cream, Tin Pan Alley (AKA Roughest Place in Town) by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, and I Smell Trouble by Buddy Guy all show you the personality expected of their well-known guitarists.

Speaking of well-known guitarists, two of Paul Gilbert’s solo tracks got authentic arrangements this patch, Down to Mexico and Get It, and wouldn’t you know it, they absolutely kick ass. There’s more in the library I hope get authentic arrangements. Bad as We Can Be by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts has a Talk Dirty to Me quality to it, and Our Time is Now by New Gov’t X brings a lot of great lead too that might sound familiar from Rocksmith trailers.

Despite the size of this drop, lotta bangers in jazz. Heavy alt-charting this update, which I’m into: Dexterity by Yusef Lateef, All the Way and Eastside Jam by Kenny G, and You Don’t Know What Love Is by Pharoah Sanders all have great horns. Want some good, actual jazz guitar? No worries, Blues Skies by Charlie Byrd Trio, Mediterraneo by Marc Antoine, and The End of a Love Affair by Wes Montgomery(!) will show you a huge range of styles but some challenges each.

Honestly there were like six more songs I was gonna write up but this section’s already pretty chunky, I recommend using the new authentic arrangements queue if you wanna look for more after this yourself!

Wait wait just because you might miss themselves: Calmarme by Amanazzy was a pleasant surprise on its riffs and its solo and Moonflowers (Best Friend) by Tommy Ashby was simple fingerpicking practice. Okay that’s it go forth!

Other Notable Releases and Wildcards

A good chunk of Willie Nelson songs got arrangements on both bass and lead not mentioned here, and most of them are pretty good times! Poke your head in and find your favorites, they might be the same as above.

Mmm, what’cha say. Well you wanted a cover of Hide and Seek? Well, Amber Run did, mmm, got lead and bass. MMM, WHAT YOU DID SAYYYYYY

I Found Out and Take Her Back by The Pigeon Detectives got bass and lead arrangements, recognizable indie rock songs that are pretty fun on lead (that section was just getting too long).

Pixies transcriptions continued with Head Carrier, another enjoyable lead.

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd has its lead disabled for some time, it’s back now.

The Cure got authentic arrangements for lead and bass for Friday I’m in Love. It’s live, but it’s also in standard tuning so it’s not true tuning like in 2014.

Bill Withers got a nice funky lead to Kissing My Love, and hopefully we’ll see more as more songs by him were added in May. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Destiny’s Child version of Emotion finally got a bass arrangement, it’s slow but just engaging enough to get by.

Crazy Country Hop by Eric Clapton got a lead following its bass last month.

Cirque du Soleil also got its full authentic arrangements on both lead and bass this patch, I think, with A La Lune and Miracula Aeternitatis. The latter’s worth checking on lead, for sure, I feel.

And finally, Unskinny Bop by Brett Michaels plays well and not too far off the original on its lead, but uh, had Pauly Shore on lead vocals, telling a Pauly Shore story for the lyrics, and uh, yeah.

Honestly a lot of killer stuff for a smaller patch, but they still haven’t included my favorite bands yet, so it’s garbage (this is a joke). And hey, maybe next month, we’ll see! (we’ve already seen, but maybe in June!)