Don't Hold Back Expert Guide

[Yewb]

Disclaimer: I have NOT FCed this song. My best is a -4 with -3 between the phazers and a stupid miss elsewhere. However, I have hit each phazer multiple times in real runs and rarely miss outside them.

Anyway, I was looking through T3D's guide list earlier and noticed there was no guide listed for Don't Hold Back. As it's one of my best songs, I thought it might be worth writing one, so let's see how it turns out.

Contents:
Intro Riff
Pretty Parts
Solo (lol, wut)
Phazers

Intro Riff


12 12 1 212 12 12 1 212 12 34 3 1 12 34 3 1 12 12 1 212 12 12 1 212 23 23 2 323 34 4 3 2 1

This part, simple though it looks, can screw people over. A lot of people are unsure whether to anchor for the little trilly parts - I do, but it takes a little practice to get used to. Apart from that, the only real difficulty is getting used to where to shift up to 2nd position - my fingerings here are not set in stone, but should be helpful.

Pretty Parts

----
41141141421421432312312 ---- 411411414214214

If you see here, I stay in 1st position pretty much wherever possible (with some sliding for the ORG part) and then shift up to 2nd position when I hit that Y sustain. I don't even know why I do this - it just feels natural to do so. It took quite a while to work out my fingering for this part, but it sure is fun to play. If you're having trouble with this part, I guarantee slowing it down will help. It's a lot of shifting, but it's not too bad once you get it down.

Solo

This part is decidedly awkward, and a choke point for anyone who's made it past the phazers. It's not difficult as such, but there are 2 points where it's very easy to mess up:


1 1 1 1 23 3 3

That R is a 32nd note; that means the Y following it is near-instant. It also feels like the R is slightly off-beat, but according to debr's chart it's right on the beat. Not a difficult part per se, but it's stupidly easy to choke here. All I can really say is: the R is on-beat, and don't be afraid to hit the Y as early as you can.

...

The fingering for this part should be obvious, but the difficulty comes with the strumming. Most importantly, EVERYTHING IS ON-BEAT. I believe the fast strumming is about 11nps, but I'm not sure. The number of RBO chords in this part is 24. The hard part is that it feels like you should stop strumming after 24 notes, and so you miss the GYB (which is directly after the last RBO). Strum once more than you think you should, as you shift down.

Phazers

Yeah, this is the really hard part of the song. It's 17.7nps strumming, moving up and down the fretboard. Luckily, this is GH3 and there are hammer-ons, so strumming 17.7nps is unnecessary. I'm not going to give you fingerings for this, because it's all about co-ordination.

The GH3 engine is pretty lenient with things like this. It's all double-strummed scales at nearly 18nps, and there are hammer-ons all over the place. That means that the best way to hit them is to strum slightly lower than 17.7nps and let the GH3 engine fill in the blanks for you, if you get my drift; the engine will automatically make up for any notes missed by strumming too slowly, by using the hammer-ons.

So strumming speed isn't quite the issue it first appears. What is the issue, then? I believe it to be changing frets too slowly. This is two strums per fret change, at ~18nps. That means you should be changing frets, on average, nine times a second (apart from the longer streaks on G and O). In fact, because of the loose engine, you only have to strum once per fret change, allowing the hammer-ons to do the work for you. Obviously this isn't a totally foolproof method for hitting them - strum slower, change frets faster - but I hope it brings some success.

Another thing is that each phazer has a longer streak of nine notes in the middle; you have to pick up the strumming speed for these, because there are no hammer-ons. (Credit to DoubleDs for reminding me of this)

LemonMeringue gave me some helpful advice for the phazers:

[Yewb]

Disclaimer: I have NOT FCed this song. My best is a -4 with -3 between the phazers and a stupid miss elsewhere. However, I have hit each phazer multiple times in real runs and rarely miss outside them.

Anyway, I was looking through T3D's guide list earlier and noticed there was no guide listed for Don't Hold Back. As it's one of my best songs, I thought it might be worth writing one, so let's see how it turns out.

Contents:
Intro Riff
Pretty Parts
Solo (lol, wut)
Phazers

Intro Riff


12 12 1 212 12 12 1 212 12 34 3 1 12 34 3 1 12 12 1 212 12 12 1 212 23 23 2 323 34 4 3 2 1

This part, simple though it looks, can screw people over. A lot of people are unsure whether to anchor for the little trilly parts - I do, but it takes a little practice to get used to. Apart from that, the only real difficulty is getting used to where to shift up to 2nd position - my fingerings here are not set in stone, but should be helpful.

Pretty Parts

----
41141141421421432312312 ---- 411411414214214

If you see here, I stay in 1st position pretty much wherever possible (with some sliding for the ORG part) and then shift up to 2nd position when I hit that Y sustain. I don't even know why I do this - it just feels natural to do so. It took quite a while to work out my fingering for this part, but it sure is fun to play. If you're having trouble with this part, I guarantee slowing it down will help. It's a lot of shifting, but it's not too bad once you get it down.

Solo

This part is decidedly awkward, and a choke point for anyone who's made it past the phazers. It's not difficult as such, but there are 2 points where it's very easy to mess up:


1 1 1 1 23 3 3

That R is a 32nd note; that means the Y following it is near-instant. It also feels like the R is slightly off-beat, but according to debr's chart it's right on the beat. Not a difficult part per se, but it's stupidly easy to choke here. All I can really say is: the R is on-beat, and don't be afraid to hit the Y as early as you can.

...

The fingering for this part should be obvious, but the difficulty comes with the strumming. Most importantly, EVERYTHING IS ON-BEAT. I believe the fast strumming is about 11nps, but I'm not sure. The number of RBO chords in this part is 24. The hard part is that it feels like you should stop strumming after 24 notes, and so you miss the GYB (which is directly after the last RBO). Strum once more than you think you should, as you shift down.

Phazers

Yeah, this is the really hard part of the song. It's 17.7nps strumming, moving up and down the fretboard. Luckily, this is GH3 and there are hammer-ons, so strumming 17.7nps is unnecessary. I'm not going to give you fingerings for this, because it's all about co-ordination.

The GH3 engine is pretty lenient with things like this. It's all double-strummed scales at nearly 18nps, and there are hammer-ons all over the place. That means that the best way to hit them is to strum slightly lower than 17.7nps and let the GH3 engine fill in the blanks for you, if you get my drift; the engine will automatically make up for any notes missed by strumming too slowly, by using the hammer-ons.

So strumming speed isn't quite the issue it first appears. What is the issue, then? I believe it to be changing frets too slowly. This is two strums per fret change, at ~18nps. That means you should be changing frets, on average, nine times a second (apart from the longer streaks on G and O). In fact, because of the loose engine, you only have to strum once per fret change, allowing the hammer-ons to do the work for you. Obviously this isn't a totally foolproof method for hitting them - strum slower, change frets faster - but I hope it brings some success.

Another thing is that each phazer has a longer streak of nine notes in the middle; you have to pick up the strumming speed for these, because there are no hammer-ons. (Credit to DoubleDs for reminding me of this)

LemonMeringue gave me some helpful advice for the phazers:

[AdamHero]

Nice guide I might use this for my re-fc because the first one was unexspected and I had terrible starpower.
_________________

4th ever DWDTG FC on November 27, 2010.
[2:32:10 PM] Alex (MoosieHD): Honestly spamming adds difficulty
[2:32:10 PM] Alex (MoosieHD): Methods are way easier

[AdamHero]

Nice guide I might use this for my re-fc because the first one was unexspected and I had terrible starpower.
_________________

4th ever DWDTG FC on November 27, 2010.
[2:32:10 PM] Alex (MoosieHD): Honestly spamming adds difficulty
[2:32:10 PM] Alex (MoosieHD): Methods are way easier

[DoubleDs]

I agree that the strumming speed isn't that important at the beginning of the phazers. However, each phazer has a section of nine strum notes in a row(the 1st has green, the 2nd has orange).

My friend was having trouble with just this part under the assumption he didn't need to strum as fast, but he kept missing. My point is, if you want to strum slow you can for the beginning of the phazers, but you must pick up the speed a little bit for the nine note sections in order to get the FC.

[DoubleDs]

I agree that the strumming speed isn't that important at the beginning of the phazers. However, each phazer has a section of nine strum notes in a row(the 1st has green, the 2nd has orange).

My friend was having trouble with just this part under the assumption he didn't need to strum as fast, but he kept missing. My point is, if you want to strum slow you can for the beginning of the phazers, but you must pick up the speed a little bit for the nine note sections in order to get the FC.

[Yewb]

Yeah, that's what I found too, I just forgot to put it in. Thanks.
_________________

expertwin wrote:

ShadoWolf wrote: expertwin wrote: I just want to, you know, get my name out there. BTW, it updates every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Was just the first two, decided to do Saturdays as well. Serious advice now: No-one likes indecision in their work, so find what you like that you're even remotely good at, and stick with it. Don't flit from one thing to another, because that just smacks of a large lack of determination and drive. And people don't like you for that, and won't remember you for it. I mean, I get that you have a plucky spirit and a willingness to try new things, but there's a limit, man. I might knock it down to just Thursday and Friday.

JOE2210 wrote:

Leave me alone, I have been drinking and your made up words mean nothing to me.

[Yewb]

Yeah, that's what I found too, I just forgot to put it in. Thanks.
_________________

expertwin wrote:

ShadoWolf wrote: expertwin wrote: I just want to, you know, get my name out there. BTW, it updates every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Was just the first two, decided to do Saturdays as well. Serious advice now: No-one likes indecision in their work, so find what you like that you're even remotely good at, and stick with it. Don't flit from one thing to another, because that just smacks of a large lack of determination and drive. And people don't like you for that, and won't remember you for it. I mean, I get that you have a plucky spirit and a willingness to try new things, but there's a limit, man. I might knock it down to just Thursday and Friday.

JOE2210 wrote:

Leave me alone, I have been drinking and your made up words mean nothing to me.