Barracuda Solo1 and Interlude Maxed! More Riff Repeating in Rocksmith

Barracuda - I'm Biting Back Now
At last! I started off last night with the first solo phrase from Barracuda.

First I ran through it in Free Speed at 78% mastery. I got 100% speed in 10 tries. So, I bumped up the mastery level to 100% and ran it 30 more times reaching 97.5% speed. Not 100% but close enough to try Leveler.

I started Leveler out at 85% mastery (forced up from 71% which is apparently the level where I've been playing this phrase when I play through the whole song). I leveled up twice in Leveler and Maxed it out! Finally.

Inspired by that success, I moved on to the Interlude. I thought I'd already mastered this phrase, but when I went into Riff Repeater last night it was not fully levelled out. It's possible that I maxed it out recently but then leveled down when playing through the song. . . Anyway, it only took 8 tries in Free Speed to reach 100% speed at 100% mastery (forced up). Then I Maxed it out in Leveler in 2 tries.

After this progress, I played through the song twice.

106,625 (92/102)
111,385 (94/155)

The first time I did alright but was well below my previous high score of 110k. I just wasn't quite prepared to work in the solo and the interlude, so when they came up I really just sort of blew both of those phrases. The second time through, though, I actually played the phrases I'd been working on and got a new high score. Barely. Accuracy was slightly below my best of 95% and the streak was well short of my best (182), but I was in the ballpark on both.

That just leaves Solo 2, which I can actually play. I worked on that some last night but my guitar is really buzzy up at the 15th fret which is where most of Solo 2 takes place. RS was having a tough time scoring me with all the fret noise. I hate to raise my action, but I need to make some adjustments before I pursue that phrase.

Damn Volume Knob!
I also had another volume knob malfunction last night. Was playing along and suddenly I was getting nothing - even though I know I was playing the notes. Check that damn volume knob and - sure enough - I had inadvertently pulled it around to 0 with my pinky. I'm seriously considering ripping that knob off of the pot.

Carol of the Bells
Just to keep from totally forgetting this one, I ran through Carol of the Bells twice. No Riff Repeater work or anything - just two straight-through plays.

80725 (88/59)
82137 (90/108)

Again, accuracy and streak were slightly below my all-time highs, but I got a new high score (by a mere 135 points). Still, it's progress.

I Still Want Some More
It was getting close to 1:30 AM when I pulled this up. Just planned to run through it once and then knock off for the night. But, I jacked it up - 94,846 (93/158). My streak was actually double my previous best, but my score was down by 4k and I wasn't happy with that. So, back to Riff Repeater to refresh my memory of the damn pre-choruses. I got the first one back up to 100% in Free Speed in 13 tries. Then I got the second pre-chorus up to 100% speed in 17 tries. Played the whole song through again - and my score dropped again.

93,892 (94/192).

I was pissed. WTF? But, now that I look at the numbers, I realize that I actually increased by accuracy by a percentage point AND I totally blew away my next highest streak. So, not that bad, I guess. Still, even though I had just worked the pre-chorus (both versions), I really dropped the ball on those phrases when I played through the whole song.

No problem. I'll get it. And, when I do, I'll master the song. I'm close and sneaking up on it.