Well, I beat Medium. (Now I know that if somebody says, are you sure you want to play Freebird? you should go to the bathroom first.) I tried my first song on Hard and I just don’t have that many fingers! I made sure I moved my arm, not my hand - no dice. I guess I’ll go back to some easier ones and try to develop the technique of sharing keys on the index finger rather than the pinkie. I guess the controller is really made for men, because my hands just don’t go that far. 
I was doing so well until now.
Oh, god, I laughed like mad when I saw that first. I knew what I was in for.
Well, it’s weird how long normal songs seem when you’re really paying attention to them and playing the game, as opposed to hearing them in the car, you know?
I’d assume it was made for children
My wife gave me GH2 and a wireless guitar controller for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I’m still trying to figure out how they get the heroin from the disc into your veins because this game is addictive as hell.
I played about halfway through on easy, but that was too easy and made me feel like I was being a wuss, so I started over and completed the game on medium within a couple of days. Now I’m working through it on hard, but hard is…well…hard. I’ve tried a couple of songs on expert and realized I’ll have a lot of practicing to do.
The practice mode helps a lot.
Prior to getting the game, I’d heard that being able to really play guitar doesn’t help you but now I think I have to disagree. Already having a certain flexibility and nimbleness of fingers helps a lot, as does the ability to know where you are on the fretboard without looking and a developed sense of timing. I think I play this game as much on audio cues as visual. If you’re spot on with the rhythm you barely have to look at the little fret circles.
It’s actually fun to close your eyes and try to play the song without looking at the little circles at all.
I think playing ‘real’ guitar helps, and I also think Guitar Hero helps beginners play real guitar. It helps with timing, and it helps you learn to do different things with your hands.
But the most important thing it did for me was teach me that I can still learn. Guitar has frustrated me because I don’t seem to get better at it. Of course, it’s because I don’t play enough. I pick up my guitar a couple times a week and play some songs I already know, and put it away. Then I try to learn something harder, pick it up, and forget it. I’d been on a pretty low plateau for a long time, and had convinced myself that I probably wasn’t going to get much better because I started late in life and am a little too old to get really good from here.
But then I got Guitar Hero, and played it for a couple of hours every night. And at first it felt like I feel with the real guitar - I’d hit plateaus and not get better for a few days. There were songs I looked at and thought, “there’s no WAY that I’ll ever be able to play that. I’m not a 16 year old kid with 8 hours a day to spend playing the damned thing.”
But here it is several months later, and I’m flying through songs on expert. Stuff that looked impossible is now routine. And even better, I transitioned to the point where I no longer have to even think about where my fingers are or should be. I just read the notes and my fingers play them. That’s the feeling you get when you’re really proficient on any instrument. I play a sax that way. So it taught me that the only thing that holds me back from gettng as good as I want to be is practice and dedication. That’s it. I might not be able to be Joe Satriani or Eric Johnson, but I should be able to become a good solid guitarist if I just spend the time at it. That’s encouraged me enough that I’m practicing my real guitar again.
This is my general technique, as well. I keep four fingers on the last four frets and I’ll use the index finger for red and green. In red-green sequences, I will often just fret the red with my index, and slide it over to the green, rather than use an index-middle finger sequence.
In some situations, though, I will move my hand position up so that red-green is covered by my index and middle finger. One of my friends plays with three fingers only (!) and can beat the expert modes. I don’t know why anyone would do that, but it can be done.
For strumming, I will generally downstroke with my thumb (Guitar Hero 2, which I have, allows hammer ons and pull offs), but in repeated same-note sequences, I will just grab the black bar with my thumb and index finger and control it that way.
I’ve also played Guitar Hero 2 piano style (or lap guitar style, if you want to stick with the right instrument). I was able to beat “Heart Shaped Box” on expert the first time I tried it (and the first day I ever played any sort of Guitar Hero game), by laying it horizontally and playing with all my fingers like a piano. After playing the game a bit more, though, I actually found the proper orientation–as a guitar–to be easier.
Use practice mode on a song with lots of fast notes. Start slowly, and use alternate strumming on each note (holding the strum bar between your index finger and thumb is correct, and similar to the way a guitar pick is held). Once you can nail every note, speed it up. Continue until you can do it fast.
That said, I downstroke with my thumb 90% of the time, because I find I can be more precise that way. I only switch to alternate strumming when the notes are simply too fast for my thumb to hit - for example, when you get to ‘Miserlou’ on expert, those fast notes will just kill you unless you learn to alternate strum. But alternate strumming in that song is pretty easy, because it’s basically, “grab the strum bar and wiggle it back and forth as fast as you possibly can.” Doing that, you’ll hit enough notes to make it through the fast passages even if your timing isn’t perfect.
For getting around the 5-button fretboard, you really will need to learn to shift your hand. When you get to expert, there are lots of songs that absolutely require you to shift your entire hand. There are places where there will be a note run of 1-2-3-4, followed immediately by 2-3-4-5-4-5 then 4-3-2-1-2-1 . Etc. You need to shift your hand up for the 2345 stuff, and shift it back down when you’re working the bottom four notes.
At first, it will mess you up as your fingers will lose their relative positions. So learn to use your elbow to move your hand and leave your wrist and fingers locked in position. It will help a lot.
Now THAT would be an authentic simulation.
Guitar Hero is rated T for Teen by the ESRB for suggestive lyrics. So it ain’t intended for lil’ chillun.
I figured it was meant for us twentysomethings and thirtysomethings because I can’t see many eight year olds getting all excited about “are you SURE you want to play Freebird?” The music is definately not aimed at the very young.
Guitar Hero now has ME by the short and curlies. Great.
Based on some of the lyrics and some of the graphics, that’s a game I’d let my hypothetical kids play, but it’s not a kids’ game. I rock out on easy because my fricking tiny fingers can’t reach the blue key reliably, let alone the orange. Will have to work on that some time.
hope this isnt considered a resurection…
My daughter made the mistake of leaving this downstairs for me and the wife to find…once I get started I just can’t stop.
Always wanted to learn to play the guitar, but I always assumed I wouldnt be able to keep up… thanks to this, I actually think I can learn. (Played Violin in MS and HS for 5 years)…
Anyway… starting to transition to Hard mode, still helping the wife learn thru Easy (she’s had no musical training at all) and highly addictive… I’ve actually found on Medium I can hit 95-97% on just about anything, even the first time thru… But Hard, is, well, hard.
I hope to take the advice from upthread and get better…
anyone used any of the other guitars? all we have is the red one… wondering if any of the other ones that are out there are actually ‘better’… I honestly think that we’re starting to wear this one out.
Thanks!
The 80s version is out today. I’m not sure if I want to go pick it up or not. When Friday rolls around what am I supposed to do? I can’t play GH and read Harry Potter at the same time. or can I?