Just like getting the hang of a real-life instrument has a learning curve, so does rocking out on the plastic replicas used to play Rock Band, MTV Games' rock 'n' rhythm music simulation game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

This week, the game's development crew at Harmonix offered us a peek backstage at Rock Band's Tutorial Mode, which covers need-to-knows for the vocals, drums and guitar roles. Each section is narrated by Harmonix employees who work on games by day and rock out in real bands at night.

Like a rock 'n' roll high school for new players, the tutorials breaks down playing each instrument into a series of lessons, from 5 to 8 in each category: Vocals, Beginner Drums, Intermediate Drums, Basic Guitar and Intermediate Guitar. Start with the basics and then get to the good stuff, like learning how to score that all-important "Big Rock Ending," where -- at the end of a song -- players improvise for a few second -- with one caveat: Everyone in the band must hit the big end notes after the solo session for a big finish -- something that generally involves a big pyrotechnic explosion.

One of the game's developers said mock rockers (aka mockers) will probably lean heavier the vocal lessons and the drums tutorial, since those will be new instruments introduced to this genre (Harmonix also created the original Guitar Hero game, which consisted of just a guitar).

Other tidbits include the ability to slow down songs to so players can get the notes just right and put songs on an infinite loop so they can just practice the song over and over until its perfect. No one ever said it was easy being a rock star.

Here's a breakout of the Tutorial Mode:

Vocal Lesson
Lesson 1: Singing Basics
Lesson 2: Talky Parts
Lesson 3: Screen Stuff
Lesson 4: Percussion Notes
Lesson 5: Overdrive

Basic Drums
Lesson 1: Sound Check
Lesson 2: One Hand
Lesson 3: Two Hands
Lesson 4: The Kick Drum
Lesson 5: Screen Stuff
Lesson 6: Big Rock Ending

Intermediate Drums
Lesson 1: Basic Beat
Lesson 2: The Hi-Hat
Lesson 3: The Snare
Lesson 4: The Kick
Lesson 5: Energy Phrases
Lesson 6: Overdrive

Basic Guitar
Lesson 1: The Guitar
Lesson 2: Making Noise
Lesson 3: Making Music
Lesson 4: Playing Songs
Lesson 5: Sustained Notes
Lesson 6: Power Chords
Lesson 7: Screen Stuff

Intermediate Guitar
Lesson 1: Consecutive Notes
Lesson 2: Energy
Lesson 3: Whammy Bar
Lesson 4: Overdrive
Lesson 5: Solo Indicator