Tips for an aspiring Expert?

**Platinum.Skillz** · Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 123 Location: 707 - California

How long did it take some of you guys to start getting very good at the expert level?

I've hit a brick wall, in both GH:LoR and GH:WT. On Expert I can only make it about halfway through the setlist before I start failing everything. Alot of the songs I can't even make it halfway.

My main problems are triple-chords, backwards pull-offs (O,B,Y,R,G), and zig-zags (for obvious reasons, since I can't do reverse pull-offs.)

Triple-Chords: For some reason I can't train my fingers to hit these with reliable consistency. I've caught myself many times, thinking I'm holding a held triple-chord, only to notice that I'm only hold two of the three notes. It just doesn't register in my brain for some reason

So, a triple chord like this

ends up just being:

Pull-offs: i.e. Mosh 1, Raining Blood. I CANNOT get this. It's rather aggrevating, lol. I can do hammer-ons quite well, but when it comes to going back the other way I tend to always mess it up. What I usually end up doing on this is:

4321

I'll end up with all four of my fingers held down. Well, that causes a problem because I'm not pulling-off, lol. When I try to concentrate on actually removing my fingers from the buttons in sucession, I end up going way too slow.

Any ideas?

Staff edit: Edited the title to make it less poll-ish.

**inkjt510** · Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 1213

Firstly, welcome to SH. Secondly, since you have WT I'd suggest making custom songs in the Music Editor to help you with your problems. You could try making a huge, slow zigzag and eventually speeding it up or slow chord changes which you can make faster as you practice.
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**Master-Tesuch** · Joined: 13 Jun 2008 Posts: 2331 Location: ScoreHeroLand

I've been playing for about a year and eight months now, and it took me about two months to get to expert (i.e. beat Heart Shaped Box on Expert) and another four to beat the Expert Career.

All the advice that I have for you on your chord problem is to try and play them like Hammerons. If you see a GYB chord, you might try it like hammerons, just hit them quickly one at a time and hold all of them down. Strum after the last note. That might help to make sure you hold down every note, though it might not work for faster chord changes.

For your pull off trouble, have you tried anchoring ahead of time? I know that you said you just hold all four frets down, in the OBYR scenario, but if you hold all of them down before hand, it might be easier for you just to take off one finger at a time, instead of thinking "take off pinkie, put on ring finger, take off ring finger, put on middle finger", and so on. You might have already tried this, and I might be of no help at all, sorry if that is the case.

You might also try WT, as it has a slower difficulty progression, and can teach you many of the techniques you need to know at a slower gradient, much less harsh than the arguably "overcharted" state of some of GH3's songs.
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**Platinum.Skillz** · Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 123 Location: 707 - California

Well, I do have WT already, Master-Tesuch. I kinda like inkjt's idea about creating my own song with the editor to give me some hard(er) stuff to practice. I never even thought of that before.

And I have tried the anchoring this as well. Problem is on fast songs like Raining Blood, anchoring before every one would be terribly hard.

Speaking of the editor, is it possible to make the notes exact like they are in the original games songs? When I've tried it, everything is always off before of the timing of my fingers.

Also, thanks for the advice so far.

**1PARTYBOY1** · Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 322 Location: Florida

**directshot999** · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 3838 Location: Birmingham, AL

Triple chords and stuff like that comes with practice. I really suggest investing into Guitar Hero 2 and giving that a shot. The learning curve on that game is the best.
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**Deak2112** · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:55 am Post subject:

I was doing good on expert in about a month of consistent playing. I think its unusual that Pull-offs are your weakness. I was always good at those.

EDIT: What the hell is GH:LoR??
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**sedron** · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:28 am Post subject:

**NintendoFan64** · Joined: 03 Feb 2009 Posts: 7

I havnt been playing long, but I play hours a day. Gh and Rb is really all I like to do.

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**A-Dubz** · Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 272

I've been playing Guitar Hero for a little over a year now. I think I had passed the expert career within a month of starting, but it was mostly three stars on everything. There were a couple songs in the beginning that halted me, but with a little practice and enough tries I was able to pass them. It was probably six months (its been a while, I can't remember) before I got the Logs in GH2 and 80s, and the El Gefe in GH3. When you get stuck on a song, and you've tried it 50 times just come back to it later. Go work on five starring every else first, if that doesn't work then head to practice mode. Now I'm at the point where I do not fail any songs anymore, and have five starred every expert song I have played. I have also hit 100% notes on at least half the songs in every game, and on all most all of the other songs I get 99%. It just took time to get to this level, but I'm still improving a lot. The only real thing holding me back right now are some of the brutal solos, which will of course come in time. All the time I play a song and can hit something I never thought I would be able to do. That happens to everybody you just have to be patient and not give up on expert, it will come.

Triple chords: I never had the problem of thinking it was held when I only had two fingers there. You just need to get your fingers a little smarter which just comes from playing the game more. Rock The 80s did wonders for my chord changing ability. I suggest picking it up if you have a PS2.

Descending scales and zig-zags: I had trouble with both too when I first got to expert. Now hit them both every time, except for the first insanely fast zig-zag in Free Bird. One song will train you for both of these, that's right Free Bird if you can get GH2. Just ignore the first zig-zag and work on learning the second one. I forget which solo it is but it is purely four button descending scales. Just practice, it's all muscle memory.

A couple general game tips I can offer are:

1) Stay in position two (index on red, pinky on orange) unless you have to move up for

or

. For everything else you can just stretch to green, still leaving your middle finger on yellow.

2) Learn to alt strum, it is a very good skill to have.

3) Stop tilting for star power, hit the select button with your palm or pinky (depending on which controller you use). I used to mess up sometimes when activating in tough sections solely because of having to tilt.

Other then that, good luck and don't give up on expert. The more Guitar Hero games you have, the better too from playing all the different charts.
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**AgreenPastel** · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 915

If you're not specifically looking for tips [I'm assuming you are, but everyone has already given some really good ones], you could try going back to hard and five-starring the setlist on hard, and then move back up to Expert and play. Or you could go back to some of the songs you've already beaten and five star those.
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**nole** · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 175 Location: c-springs

**Erik98765432** · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:38 am Post subject:

Hi. i got the game two years ago and i i´ve only got misirlou standing between me and the log, still i don´t play very much

Now concerning the pulloffs, i´m not the guy you should ask for how to play the game (I upstrum all the time) But when i learned ho\po i never held the notes in before pulloffs OR after hammerons, i just press on and then press the other just like regular notes.

Hope it helped (probably didn´t).
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