Easiest Rocksmith Songs - Updated! With New DLC

[This post was written in March of 2013, prior to the release of Rocksmith 2014, so it only covers songs available up to that date. The songs ranked in this post are still available as DLC or can be downloaded from the original Rocksmith game.

I am working on an updated post on this subject now, but due to some changes in Rocksmith 2014 I'll have to update my "difficulty" calculations.]

About this time last year I posted a highly unscientific ranking of Rocksmith songs from easiest to hardest. Since then Ubisoft has put out a TON of new DLC and I've bought a lot (but not all) of it. My original list seemed to be very popular, so it's time for an update with new DLC included.

Where the original rankings changed since last year, I've noted the original ranking. Chord arrangements are still shown in italics. (** =  Songs that I've Mastered)

Easy: (Easiness Scores of 80 and up, starting with Easiest Songs and Going Up in Difficulty)

Satisfaction - Chords (195.2)
Between the Lines - SN (158.9)
Go with the Flow - Combo (139.2)
Where is my Mind - Chords (125.5)
**Roxanne - SN (120.8)
My Sharona - SN (120.1)
Smoke on the Water - SN (113.7)
Surf Hell - SN (111.8)
House of the Rising Sun - Chords (107.1)
Angela - SN (102.2)
Vaseline - Combo 1 (83.6)  (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Rebel Rebel - chords
Song 2 - combo
Satisfaction - chords

Medium: (Easiness Scores from 18 to 80)

Boys Don't Cry - Chords
Angela - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
The Best of You
Walk - Combo
Take Me Out - SN
**Next Girl (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
Freebird - Chords (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
Slow Hands - Combo 2
Panic Switch - Combo
Song 2 - Combo
House of the Rising Sun - Combo 1
Higher Ground - SN
**Use Somebody - Combo (30.4)
In Bloom - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Hard)
Satisfaction - SN (*Previously Ranked as Challenging)
Barracuda - Combo
Breed - SN
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - Combo 2
Run Back to Your Side - Chords
Roxanne - Combo
I Want Some More - Combo
Slither - Combo
Smoke on the Water - Combo
Surf Hell - Combo
High and Dry - Chords (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
I Can't Hear You - SN
Sugar We're Goin' Down - Combo 2
**Rockstar - Chords
Boys Don't Cry - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
Barracuda - SN
Breed - Combo
More than a Feeling - combo

Challenging: (Easiness Scores from 10 to 18)

America's Suitehearts - Combo
When I'm With You - Combo
Mean Bitch - Combo 2
Unnatural Selection - Combo
Carol of the Bells - SN
I Don't Care - Combo
My Sharona - Combo
In Bloom - SN
Where is My Mind - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Do You Remember - SN (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Between the Lines - Combo
How You Remind Me - Combo
Tom Sawyer
**Higher Ground - Combo 1 (*Previously Ranked as Hard)
Six AM Salvation
More than a Feeling - Combo 2
Icky Thump - Combo
A More Perfect Union - SN
**God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Hard)
Number Thirteen - Combo
Slither - SN
Limelight -
Me and the Bean - Combo
Step Out of the Car - SN
Sunshine of Your Love - Combo
Do You Remember - Chords (* Previously Ranked as Medium)
Outshined - Combo 2 (*Previously Ranked as Hard)
Use Somebody
Slow Hands - combo

Hard: (Easiness cores up to 11. Remember: ranking is from easy to hard, so the hardest song is at the bottom)

Number Thirteen - SN (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
I Got Mine - Combo
Run Back to Your Side - SN
High and Dry - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Plug in Baby - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Easy)
My Hero - Combo
Jessica
Subdivisions
I Miss You - Combo
Step Out of the Car - Combo
Sugar We're Goin' Down - Combo
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs - Combo
House of the Rising Sun - SN
Freebird - Combo
Are You Gonna Go My Way - SN
Born Under a Bad Sign - Combo
Keep Yourself Alive
Mean Bitch - Combo 1
Burnished - Combo
Kryptonite
Chimney - Combo
Carol of the Bells - Combo (previously ranked as Challenging)
We Three Kings
Synchronicity II
Unnatural Selection - SN (*Previously Ranked as Medium)
Message in a Bottle
California Brain - Combo
Spider and the Fly - Combo 2
Rebel Rebel - Combo (previously ranked as Challenging)
We Share the Same Skies - Combo
Play with Fire - Combo
Wheels - Combo
Born Under a Bad Sign - Combo 2
Fat Bottomed Girls
Dance Dance - Combo
Go with the Flow - SN (*Previously Ranked as Challenging) - Slides make this one tricky.
Under Cover of Darkness - Combo
Oye! Como Va?
Jules
Red Barchette
Welcome to the Black Parade
Higher Ground - Combo 2
Chimney - SN
Do You Remember - Combo (*Previously Ranked as Challenging)
When I'm Gone - Combo
Symphony of Destruction - Combo
Ricochet
Sweet Home Alabama - Combo
Bottoms Up
Space Ostrich - SN
Black Magic Woman
California Brain - SN
Killer Queen
Islands - Combo
Bohemian Rhapsody - Combo
Well OK Honey - Combo
Play with Fire - SN
Space Ostrich - Combo
Boss  - SN 2
Gobbledigook - Combo
Star Spangled Banner
Hit Me with Your Best Shot 


OK, obviously there's something missing from my calculation, but I admitted this from the start. There's no way Hit Me with Your Best Shot is the hardest song on RS. It's not even the hardest song for me on RS. The Star Spangled Banner isn't all that difficult (so far), either. I suspect one of the flaws in my calculation is that mastery levels affect a lot. Sometimes it's easier to play some songs when you level them up. Sometimes not. But, I still think as a general relative indicator, this sort of works. Just ignore obvious flukes in the ranking (like Hit Me with Your Best Shot).


How I Did It
Basically, I divided my highest score on each song by the number of times I've played the song. Then I multiplied that result by the my best accuracy percentage. Finally, I multiplied the whole mess by the amount of my longest note streak. To make the numbers more digestable, I divided by 100,000 and rounded to one decimal place. The higher the value, the easier the song.

Score = ((HS/PC) x %max x NSmax)/100,000

I have this formula loaded into a spreadsheet where all my high scores, high note streaks, and max accuracies are summarized from the individual spreadsheets I keep for each song.

Note: I had to restart my journey last Fall, so the Play Count used on this new ranking is not a true indicator. I have played many of these songs many more times than what is reflected in these calculations. You'd expect these songs to rank easier this time around, but they don't. A few songs "appear" easier, but note that five songs which were ranked "easy" last year are now ranked "medium."

Songs That Aren't Included
Like before, I've only ranked the songs I've actually played. (Duh.) There are several songs and alternate arrangements of songs in the original RS song list as well as a bunch of DLC which are not included here because I still haven't played every arrangement of every song. Also, there's a lot of DLC that I just don't like and have never bought.

I also omitted alternate arrangements of some songs when the arrangements are very similar. For example, on songs like Angela and Surf Hell once you learn the combo arrangement you pretty much know the single note arrangement and vice versa. No point ranking both.

Originally I left out a few songs that I have played a lot for fun. Surf Hell and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen fall into this category. Since I had to restart my whole journey last September, the high play counts on those songs aren't high anymore. The rating is still a little skewed because I obviously levelled these songs up easier than before, but I'm including them this time. (See above.)

Chord Arrangements
Chords are generally easy for me, but my equation doesn't take that into account. If you aren't comfortable with chords, just ignore the chord arrangements in this ranking and look at the rest of the list. Chord Arrangements are identified by italics.