Guitar Hero 3

[Bacardi151]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

I am hopeless at this game on difficulties above easy.

I have no timing whatsoever when I have to use my pinky to hit the blue notes.

you'll get better the more you play. I also play with the pinky on the blue fret; Terry has mentioned using the index finger to hit the green and red fret with the index finger...leaving your middle on yellow, ring on blue and pinky on orange.

seems this is the only way to do it with some of the songs on expert and their 3-chord notes...pretty insane.

Old habits are hard to break it seems; had the same problem with gh2 before i got the hang of it then stopped playing

[Blzer]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

I am hopeless at this game on difficulties above easy.

I have no timing whatsoever when I have to use my pinky to hit the blue notes.

Tip:

Improvise. Don't go the keyboard system and only put certain fingers on certain letters (which I hardly use my pinky in this case as well). I hardly use my pinky at all... even on fast songs that go from green to orange. I mean there will be some cases, but just don't be too textbook about it, because it won't help you later.

One thing that I strongly advise is, even if during main riffs you don't make any position transfers, at least don't ever try and use your middle finger and pinky during RB notes. It's just not worth it... transfer your index and ring fingers one fret over each and play it then.


Hope this helps.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

Tip:

Improvise. Don't go the keyboard system and only put certain fingers on certain letters (which I hardly use my pinky in this case as well). I hardly use my pinky at all... even on fast songs that go from green to orange. I mean there will be some cases, but just don't be too textbook about it, because it won't help you later.

One thing that I strongly advise is, even if during main riffs you don't make any position transfers, at least don't ever try and use your middle finger and pinky during RB notes. It's just not worth it... transfer your index and ring fingers one fret over each and play it then.


Hope this helps.

I don't think this is great advice, honestly. People have different levels of coordination, and have the choice to either improve that coordination, or work around it. For instance, I play with my pinky every time the opportunity arises because of my personal dexterity.

The method across the board should be to figure out what the pattern is, and look at it on practice mode on VERY SLOW. You have to pay attention to where your hand is before the part that comes up, and see what transfer is best for your personal abilities. For some people, it is to stretch a particular finger, for others, it is to shift the whole hand. Either way, there might be a little learning curve involved, but the stretch of that curve is up to your own problem solving ability.

The game is built in a way that you can either jump around the fretboard using only three fingers, or you can explore your entire hand's dexterity to accomplish the goal. It's all about whether you look at your own abilities and go to practice mode and improve them, or decide to play within your limitations and cease to up the difficulty.

To get better at SHIFTING: Play more with your forefinger, even when you don't have to. You can do this on SLOW or on EASY, but move your hand between green, red and yellow. It'll liberate you from that locked position that you may be relying on.

To get better with your PINKY: Find one song that you need to use the pinky on, and play it on SLOW. Put your pinky on the note ahead of time and leave it there. Strum when the note passes through and leave the pinky on there until the next note comes. By holding the pinky on the button, muscle memory will kick in and make your pinky "active" enough for success. The same as with any weakness, you're good at what you do most often. Increase the activity of the pinky and it'll improve.

[Blzer]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

Well, I think what I meant to say is sort of what you said when you talked about shifting your forefinger. See, I look far ahead what notes are coming next, and I think my brain just processes well what combination I have to do next, so I pre-plan what fingers I want to use without knowing it.

For instance, take the beginning riff of Sweet Child of Mine:

G B R G O R B R


I would go:

I R M I R/P I R I

(I = Index, M = Middle, R = Ring, P = Pinky)


Only when hitting that orange note would I even consider using my pinky. Note that I'm not stretching at all... I'm merely just sliding over a little more if I want to use my ring finger for that, and I shift back quick enough. I think this becomes easier when you play real guitar, because when you work with at least 12 or so frets and six strings without looking for quite some time, five frets and one button per fret becomes a cinch.

[Miles_Yuhas]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

You guys think about it to much, I just rock.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

You guys think about it to much, I just rock.

Ditto. I just hit the note with whichever finger I can at the time I'm going to hit it.

[Blzer]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

Ditto. I just hit the note with whichever finger I can at the time I'm going to hit it.

Same here. That's the advice that I'm giving. Don't go textbook and match specific fingers with buttons all of the time. Do what's comfortable, and if one way obviously isn't working, then try the next. Free-hand (I guess that's what I'll call it) is the smartest way, IMO.

Speaking of which, do you guys strum up or down? I strum up, like how I fingerpick with a real guitar. But everybody that I know (there are no exceptions... none) strums downward with their thumb. I've tried it, and it just doesn't work. Granted, sometimes I clutch the strummer with both my index finger and my thumb and go up and down rapidly during fast songs like le ole 'Misirlou', but otherwise I will only strum up. What about you guys?

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

Ditto. I just hit the note with whichever finger I can at the time I'm going to hit it.

Weren't you the one talking about only getting 60% of certain songs on expert? If so, more technique, less "just rock" might be the answer to your problems.

It isn't about overthinking. I've played metal guitar for years now, so this thinking happens immediately whenever I get something wrong more than once. It's simple problem solving. What's the problem? Oh ok, I'll move my hand this way.

However when you're teaching that to someone, it's helpful to break it down a lil bit more than that :wink:

[nofearsp2007]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

Same here. That's the advice that I'm giving. Don't go textbook and match specific fingers with buttons all of the time. Do what's comfortable, and if one way obviously isn't working, then try the next. Free-hand (I guess that's what I'll call it) is the smartest way, IMO.

Speaking of which, do you guys strum up or down? I strum up, like how I fingerpick with a real guitar. But everybody that I know (there are no exceptions... none) strums downward with their thumb. I've tried it, and it just doesn't work. Granted, sometimes I clutch the strummer with both my index finger and my thumb and go up and down rapidly during fast songs like le ole 'Misirlou', but otherwise I will only strum up. What about you guys?

I alternate strum. I used to strum down the whole song but then I decided to try alternate strumming and havent gone back since. It really helps when it comes to long solos where your arm will get tired. Im on the last set of songs but I am having trouble with it.

[Dallasin2K3]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

I play on expert (I sucked once, too) and I found the best way for me to do it is to use my index finger for red and green. There are five buttons and you have four fingers to play with. That means one finger has to do two buttons unless you want to keep switching all the time, which can and will confuse you. So I always keep my pinky on orange, ring on blue, middle on yellow, and then use my index for red and green, since it is the most coordinated finger.

I think that once the songs get really fast and hard on late-level experts you need to have a system. "Free hand" or "just hit it with whatever finger seems right" won't work on those songs. You need to have some sort of strategy if you want to have any chance, IMO.

[Gibbz]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

I cannot beat Raining Blood. Mosh 1 fails me every time.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

Weren't you the one talking about only getting 60% of certain songs on expert? If so, more technique, less "just rock" might be the answer to your problems.

It isn't about overthinking. I've played metal guitar for years now, so this thinking happens immediately whenever I get something wrong more than once. It's simple problem solving. What's the problem? Oh ok, I'll move my hand this way.

However when you're teaching that to someone, it's helpful to break it down a lil bit more than that :wink:

No, I wasn't the one talking about getting 60% of a certain songs on expert... I'm the one who has only failed one song on expert and am 1 song away from beating it.

And if I recall, the lowest % I've gotten on a song yet is 88%. Usually I'm between 92-95%.

[Bakes]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

Did most of you guys pre-order the bundle? I cannot find it anywhere in my area (360).

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

When I played GH2 at work and I shifted from medium to hard I had my pinky playing blue and orange. I didn't even thinking about shifting my hand down and letting my index finger play green and red. Damn. I'll have to try that whenever I get the game.

[WazzuRC]

Re: Guitar Hero 3

When I played GH2 at work and I shifted from medium to hard I had my pinky playing blue and orange. I didn't even thinking about shifting my hand down and letting my index finger play green and red.

I play with my index as both green/red. Works a lot better for me at least.