 Rihanna first performed " Rockstar 101 " on American Idol on April 7 , 2010 . She wore a black PVC <unk> and was accompanied on stage by guitarist <unk> <unk> ; the set design included flame throwers and a video screen which showed guitars , lightning bolts and skulls . At one point , the singer picked and played up a black Gibson Flying V guitar . Larry Carroll for MTV wrote that the extent of Rihanna 's ability to play the guitar was limited to playing it with one finger on one of the strings . However , he complimented Rihanna 's overall performance , writing that her shoulder pads were " nearly as huge as her presence " . He went on to write that she " half @-@ sung , half @-@ spoke " the song . A reviewer for MTV UK agreed with Carroll , writing that " halfway through the performance [ Rihanna ] <unk> a ' black flying v guitar ' although we 're not sure you could say she ' played ' it ! " <unk> <unk> of Rolling Stone praised Rihanna 's performance , writing " if the introductory rules of rock stardom are ' teach <unk> to pick slide , ' ' tight clothes ' and ' <unk> ! ' then Rihanna has been paying attention in her ' Rockstar 101 ' classes after all " . 
