In tomorrow’s Rock Band 4 update, Brutal Mode will be announced allowing you to play expert songs without seeing at the track. From the horse’s mouth, here’s how it works:

As seen in the video above, the better a person plays, the fewer notes they’ll be able to see, eventually leading to a nearly naked note track. Brutal Mode can be accessed off the Main Menu and is included in the upcoming update - entirely free of charge. 

-Harmonix Blog on Rock Band 4 Brutal Mode

Brutal Mode Battle

As an incentive to play the all new Brutal Mode, Harmonix is hosting a nationwide Rock Band 4 “Brutal Mode Battle”.

Ten on-disc songs will be played by each participant as many times as they like during the preliminary round with the top five aggregate scores moving to the finals, hosted in Boston.

On Saturday, December 19th, the finalists will compete through a number of songs, though the exact number, difficulty, or song titles are unbeknownst to both the general public and to the finalists themselves.

Prizes

In addition to the round-trip airfare to and lodging in Boston (provided to all five finalists), the top three players will receive:

One limited edition PAX East Penny Arcade Rock Band 4 controller. The three DLC tracks releasing tomorrow, December 8th, 2016.

The player who takes first place will win all of the above AND:

A custom Rock Band skinned Xbox One or PlayStation 4 and controller. The entire year’s worth of FREE DLC for Rock Band 4. A $1,000 cash prize.

Rock Band 4 Update 12 8 introduces Brutal Mode   Rock Band 4 - 57