Except maybe an introduction. But that's already on the top-right side of this blog anyway. So let's just dive right into it. Best to be less cerebral about it. Besides it's not like this is a formal document, eh?
Starter Skills
A new girl asked me this question when she requested apprenticeship:
"What skills should I start out with?"
Or something to that effect.
Much less to say, I drew a complete blank. It's been awhile since I've been a full-fledged newbie (though I've had newbie moments almost constantly since then ;p ), and most people who've asked for apprenticeship from me know exactly what they want to learn, so the question caught me completely by surprise.
There used to be a listing of some of the basic skills suggested for artists just starting out in the in-game Help Files, but it's gone through some edits, so I can't seem to find it at the moment (if it's still there).
Anyways, I'm rambling.
Newbie skills... Should they really be called newbie skills? They're more like 'foundation skills', 'cuz whether or not you're old or new, they're skills you need for your entire career. Once they're learned and improved, they're the backbone for other more advanced skills that improve your music and performances even further.
Um... I'm rambling. Wasn't I supposed to stop rambling?
Anyways, skills to start with...
(Note: Any links to skills in the following text lead to pages from the Popmundo Unofficial Skills Bible, which was created by the player behind Jörgen Thorstensson. Questions, comments and compliments regarding his handy site and his awesomeness should be directed his way.)
- • Basic Showmanship - Essentially the foundation of every single stage event you'll ever do. It's needed to perform any Generic stage event well, and is the pre-requisite for Professional Showmanship, which is needed to perform any Genre-specific stage event well.
So you can probably see why any new person should get this skill early... - • Music Genre Skill - Whether it's Punk or Pop, Rock or Reggae, whatever your music style of choice is, you need the skill for it. Songs need to be practised (also called jamming) up to 100% to be performed at their best in a show, but without the skill, you can only go up to 50% and can't reach 100% until you've got at least 4* in the skill (assuming you're the only musician in your band. If you've got bandmates, it'll take the average. So if you've got 5* and your bandmate doesn't, you'd be able to practise to over 50%, but the maximum you can reach on the Practice bar would still be under 100%. See the Help Page on Jamming under the heading Jamming and Music Genre Skills, and the one on Skills under the heading Genre Skills).
The Music Genre Skill is also needed for Genre-specific stage events, along with Professional Showmanship (as mentioned above) and whatever additional requirements each individual event may have.
Music Genre Skills are as follows: African Music, Blues, Classical, Country & Western, Electronica, Flamenco Music, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, Jazz, Latin Music, Modern Rock, Pop, Punk Rock, Reggae, Rhythm & Blues, Rock, World Music
So take your pick and study up. :) - • Instrument (or Band Role) Skills - Not as urgent as the above skills since you can perform your first few shows without setting your role(s) in the band right away. (See Help File page on Skills, under Instrument Skills.) But if you were anything like me when I started out that's probably the first thing you did after creating your first artist. ;p
That said this affects how well you do when you perform on stage, though I'm rather in the dark with the specific mechanics of it myself. (See the Performance Help Page under Band Members & Instruments for more details.)
Anyways, Instrument Skills actually 'come in pairs', for lack of a better term to describe it. To play any instrument well, you need the basic general skill with at least 3* and then the advanced specific instrument skill. (See the Help Pages on Skills under the heading Instrument Skills... I think I said that already... ) Like how Basic Showmanship is the pre-requisite for Professional Showmanship, Basic Instrument Skills are the pre-requisite for their instrument-specific counterparts.
I think the Help Files explain it better than I do on that one.
There are seven Basic Instrument Skills: Basic Brass Instruments, Basic Electronic Instruments, Basic Keyboard Instruments, Basic Percussions, Basic Singing, Basic String Instruments, Basic Woodwind Instruments.
And no, I am not listing and linking to all the Advanced Instrument Skills here. There's too many. ;p
To find out what Basic skill you need for the instrument you want, it might be best to browse through the Musical Instrument skills listed over at the Popmundo Unofficial Skills Bible, to see which skill is the pre-requisite for what.
Oh, and if anyone's wondering, the Dancer band role needs two skills too: Basic Dancing and Professional Dancing.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only role that doesn't need two skills is Keyboard Player, 'cuz I can't seem to find the second skill for that.
That's all the skills I can think of that are a must-have for any aspiring artist in Popmundo. There are more plenty more skills out there (185, according to the Skills Bible), but they're not all necessarily essential for every person to know. It'll be up to the individual if they want to learn Stagediving or Ritual Summoning... or both! ;p
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