# How many fingers on Guitar hero? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 1, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595 "2008-04-01T22:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DarbyV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@DarbyV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarbyV)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/1 "2008-04-01T22:54:25Z")
My daughter uses 3 fingers on GH and I use 4. She is better than me which could be causes she plays way more than me but I can get way longer note streaks then she can. We’ve been debating back and forth which one is better so I thought I would ask here. How many fingers do you use on GH? ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/2 "2008-04-01T23:10:09Z")
I use four. And I’ve beaten hard on GH2, and am working on hard on GH3. I really don’t have a hard time moving my hand up and down. My problem is with the stupid notes that go back and forth right next to each other for, like, twenty notes. I can barely manage three! ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/3 "2008-04-02T00:36:02Z")
I use one? [http://www.gamealmighty.com/story-individual/story/Rock\_Band\_How\_to\_Improve\_Your\_Guitar\_Skills/1/](http://www.gamealmighty.com/story-individual/story/Rock_Band_How_to_Improve_Your_Guitar_Skills/1/) ---
**Author:** ![Pithy\_Moniker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8dc957/32.png) [@Pithy\_Moniker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pithy_Moniker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/4 "2008-04-02T13:06:15Z")
I use four. Eventually you’ll get to songs that require you to press the green and the orange button at the same time. Very hard to do without the use of the pinky I’d imagine. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/5 "2008-04-02T14:04:45Z")
I use four. I don’t see how three could possibly be better than four fingers in that game. Play with whatever is comfortable for you, but you’d do better using as many fingers as possible. I could see if your pinky is absolutely useless, then you’d probably be more accurate with three, but train for awhile and eventually that pinky will become useful and you’ll be better off than playing with four. Then again, I play piano and some guitar, so I haven’t had any issues with the pinky, but that’s the only case in which it would make sense to me how 3-fingered GH might be better than 4-fingered GH for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/6 "2008-04-02T16:33:00Z")
I just yesterday beat my first two songs on hard. I’ve taken to using red to orange as my “default” position, and either reaching with my first finger for green, or shifting my whole hand over when that seems best. My technique is still in flux, but I don’t think I’d go back to three. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/7 "2008-04-02T16:50:04Z")
Four, can’t beat more than three or four songs on hard (GHIII). Took me ages to beat _Through the Fire_ on Medium, too. Might try that one finger deal. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/8 "2008-04-02T19:12:26Z")
I didn’t say I was _very good_ on one, but it… really, it makes things a bit simpler for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/9 "2008-04-02T21:55:21Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] I use one? > **[gamealmighty.com - This website is for sale! - gamealmighty Resources and...](http://www.gamealmighty.com/story-individual/story/Rock_Band_How_to_Improve_Your_Guitar_Skills/1/)** > > This website is for sale! gamealmighty.com is your first and best source for all of the information you’re looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, gamealmighty.com has it all. We hope you find what you are... [/QUOTE] Even if it did work better, why would you want to use it? It wouldn’t be as fun. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/10 "2008-04-02T22:45:21Z")
I use a variable amount, if I can get away with it I use about three, but on expert or the later tiers of hard you typically can’t do that too much. For long quick runs of sequential notes however, (see: Cult of Personality) I’ll end up using one (with a second finger on “standby” for unexpected notes or slipups). I find it’s easier to slide with one finger on those sections and I can, or at least come close to Full Comboing them most of the time. I’m pretty good at using odd finger combos (index for green ring for red has happened before) though, probably has something to do with the way my fingers work together because of the fact I play the flute, this allows me to use the oddest fingerings to hit notes in odd orders quite quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/11 "2008-04-03T04:21:00Z")
Just learn to use four fingers. When you get to expert, you’ll absolutely need to be able to do that. There are chords that will stretch your hand as it is. And lots of fast passages involving five buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/12 "2008-04-03T06:32:52Z")
When playing hard or expert I use four fingers positioned on red-orange, but on the occasion that I play on medium I use only three fingers positioned red-blue to make sure that I don’t get used to a different fingering which would end up really throwing me off when I switch back to hard/expert. I also found that when I first started playing on hard the best way to train for it was to go back and play songs on medium with only three fingers so I could get used to needing to shift my hand around. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-fingers-on-guitar-hero/443595/13 "2008-04-04T17:29:27Z")
I use four and so do my 2 kids who are both better than me. :mad: Using three is fine on easy but after that I don’t think it makes much sense. Disclaimer: I’ve only played on the wii.