In addition to trying the new songs, we got to try out The Beatles: Rock Band's new vocal training mode. Many of the songs feature three different vocal tracks, one for each of the Beatles. Vocal harmonizing isn't the easiest thing in the world, so Harmonix has created a special mode in training that allows you to practice each line as a vocalist of your choosing. In practice mode, the notes will scroll normally, but you'll be able to dynamically switch what kind of information you'd like to see and hear. You can choose to see all three parts, or you can choose to see only the main melody. You can choose to see only a specific harmony, and that part will be highlighted on the track.

To help wannabe singers get the right tone, a MIDI overlay will give players auditory direction. Because the original audio samples had the band playing together, Harmonix was unable to simply remove the other singers from the audio mix. Singers will have to listen to the noticeably artificial tone and try to sing along. It's intuitive for the most part, but it can still be hard to notice the tone over the sound of the music. It also seems unlikely that three of your friends will spend the time necessary to go through practice mode in order to master the complex harmonies the Beatles have created.


Thankfully, Harmonix has created a rather forgiving system for the vocal harmonies mode. As long as one singer is able to get any part right, the vocalist streak doesn't end. That means all three singers can choose to sing the melody in unison. Bands that dare to master the harmonies, however, will earn Double or Triple Fab scores that will boost their position in leaderboards and undoubtedly unlock some achievements.

At 90% complete, Harmonix is well on its way to finishing the game in time for its September 9 release. Undoubtedly, we'll have much more to say about the game's other features soon. Perhaps some time in August?