When I heard about a contest where I would be challenged to learn the guitar in 60 days using a video game and an Xbox I was intrigued, to say the least. I did a little more research, and turns out that the contest in question involves a video game called Rocksmith 2014, which is sold as “the fastest way to learn guitar.” They had me at “fastest.”

As someone who has had a long and deep love for rock and roll (thanks to my parents who introduced me to The Beatles and Pink Floyd at an early age) I’ve always appreciated the guitar, and guitar riffs in songs. When The Strokes came out I was in high school and my appreciation for the instrument grew stronger still, yet I never thought, EVER, that I’d be able to play the guitar. It seems like one of those things that if you don’t make time to get lessons, it’ll never happen.

But then this contest came along. After a nation-wide search, I was one of four Canadians chosen to compete to learn the guitar in 60 days. We’ve been documenting our adventure using the hashtag #Rocksmith60 and through the rocksmith60.tumblr.com blog. Jeff Stinco from Simple Plan is our mentor, so we’ve been tweeting questions at him and he gives us really helpful tips.

We were asked to master one song, and although there are oodles of awesome songs on Rocksmith 2014, I chose Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones for nostalgia purposes. When I was in high school I went through that phase (I’m sure we all have at some point) where I thought I was super punk rock because I listened to the Ramones and wore a bright pink Ramones tee-shirt (not really punk rock at all!).

So far the contest is going amazingly. I’ve gone from not even being able to hold the guitar, to not thinking my fingers could physically handle the guitar, to playing some of Blitzkrieg Bop. I still have a ways to go, but I think I can do this. Practice is the name of the game for mastering ANYTHING and luckily Rocksmith 2014 makes it fun to do so. So I would honestly recommend this game to people who’ve thought they would only ever air guitar for the rest of their lives.

Check out Anna’s 15-day video!