Most Impulsive Expert Guide Ever

[zsjostrom35]

Longest Introduction Ever:

Those of you who read my Before I Forget guide will remember that it was written with a very specific purpose—getting five stars on one of the harder songs in the main setlist. Everything, from my advice on which sections to learn to the star power paths created, had only that goal in mind. This guide will not be like that. For starters, not that many people really care about getting five stars on Impulse. It doesn’t factor into El Jefe, and while many people go for Guitar God status, they usually don’t start on the bonus songs until after El Jefe is in the bag. At that point, Impulse is a piece of cake (generally speaking). It’s true that many people do have FC aspirations for this song, but as my current high score involves a 97%, I am hardly qualified to give advice on that.

So (I am sure you are wondering), why write this guide?

The answer is that Impulse has, in my opinion, one of the greatest charts in Guitar Hero history. Other than fast strumming and truly shredding solos, it has a little bit of just about everything you will see in Expert mode. As such, mastering this song will help the average Expert player greatly, and with many more songs than just this little gem. So while this guide will hopefully help you pass, five-star, or even FC Impulse, its loftier objective is to use the song as a tool to increase your overall skill at Guitar Hero.

Also, the better you get at this song, the more fun it is to play. And that’s the real goal.

Bluest Table of Contents Ever:

1. Longest Introduction Ever
   
2. Indescribably Boring Fingering Key
   1. Most Orderly Numbering Ever
   2. Handiest Positioning Reference Ever
   
   
3. Most Analyzed Sections Ever
   1. Intro
   2. Heaviest Riff Ever
   3. Sweetest Chords Ever
   4. Thickest Chugging Ever
   5. Proggiest Non-Prog Solo Ever
   6. Most Soulful Slide Ever
   7. Funkiest Riff in History
   8. Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever
      1. Section 1
         
      2. Section 2
         
      3. Section 3
         
      4. Section 4
         
      5. Section 5
         
      6. Section 6
         
   9. Fattest Double Kicks Ever
   10. Cheesiest Interlude Ever
   11. Post-Ci Rippingest Solo Ever
   12. Indescribably Beautiful Solo
   13. Heaviest Riff Ever Redux
   14. Scariest Outro Ever
   
   
4. Most Inconclusive Conclusion Ever
   1. (Formerly) Shortest Thanks in History

Indescribably Boring Fingering Key:

Most Orderly Numbering Ever:
1 = Index
2 = Middle
3 = Ring
4 = Pinky
Underlined Numbers = Anchored finger
Red Numbers = Tapping finger
X = Strum
h = Hammer-on
p = Pull-off (I will only use pull-offs in sections that involve anchoring. If a higher note is followed by a lower note that is not anchored, I will still refer to that as a hammer-on)
* = Point of interest. Explained in sections in which it is used.

Handiest Positioning Reference Ever:
First Position: 1 on G, 2 on R, 3 on Y, 4 covers B and O (will use 24 for chords ending in YO, however)
Second Position: 1 covers G and R, 2 on Y, 3 on B, 4 on O
Second Position, Green Anchored: 1 on G, 2 covers R and Y, 3 on B, 4 on O
Third/Fourth Position: Index finger on yellow/blue, respectively. If a lower note appears, index will slide to it, then slide back. Generally used only for fast zig-zags and trills higher on the fretboard.

Note: For ease of wording, I assume that the player is right-handed (right hand strumming, left hand fretting). Apologies if this inconveniences lefties.

Back to Bluest Table of Contents Ever
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Most Analyzed Sections Ever:

In case you skipped the introduction, the point of this guide is to improve general Guitar Hero skills by mastering the various sections of Impulse. As there is very little in this song that cannot be applied elsewhere in the series, I have tried to pick out specific sections in other (GHIII) songs for which certain parts of Impulse may be particularly relevant and helpful. Of course, I will also attempt to help you hit these sections (what good is a guide that doesn’t do that?), but I may present slightly more difficult ways to play at times if I feel it will be a helpful way to build skills.

Fingering Disclaimer:
I have little experience with first position. I will attempt to present first-position fingerings as best I can, but please point out any errors that you see.


Intro:

XX____X____X_____X____X__X____X___X___X___X___X___X___X

Right off the bat, we have a section that is fantastic for practicing two important intermediate-level skills. First of all, note that this section is mostly hammer-ons, but with a fair number of strums sprinkled in. This is typical of a lot of solos in Guitar Hero III. You could strum everything in this section, but one of my goals here now is to be able to hit it with minimal strumming. This is an excellent skill to develop given the how easy it is to overstrum HO/POs on this engine. The other main feature of this section is that it is very good practice for anchoring. Anchoring is one of the keys to being able to play many sections that would be too fast for you otherwise, since it can essentially cut your finger-work in half. Let’s see how all this works:

First Position:

1121311213112131223232232242422413313113244242243442422423434313
XXhphpXhphpXhphphXhphpXhpXhphpXhhhXphpXhhhXphpXhhhXphpXhhhhhhhhh

Second Position (Green Anchored where applicable):

1121211212112121112121121131311312212112133131132442422412423212
XXhphpXhphpXhphphXhphpXhpXhphpXhhhXphpXhhhXphpXhhhXphpXhhhhhhhhh

The idea here is that your hands should really feel like they’re each doing less than half of the work. Your left hand only frets 22 times before the hammer-on part at the end; your right hand only strums 13 times in that span, yet you hit 55 notes there. Trust me--the first time you do this correctly, it feels great.

Applications to other charts:
The skill of successfully hitting strums in the middle of hammer-on sections applies to a great many other songs. Some examples:
Paranoid (Solo Bloody Solo)
Black Magic Woman (almost entire song)
Pride and Joy (many places)
One (Fast Solo A)

…

Okay, actually the Pretty Bridges, but yellow strum FTL

Anchoring can also help in a great many songs. For example:
Paint it Black (main riffs)
Monsters (Bridge C (aka Weedley-Weedley))
My Curse (Delicate Riff, Meaty Riff)
Through the Fire and Flames (They’re Hammer-Ons)
Any song with trills

Heaviest Riff Ever:
--------------------------------
__________________________________________________________________________ *

Straightforward hammer-ons for the most part; good practice at those if you need that. There are basically two points of interest for our purposes here. The first is that quick found about three-quarters of the way through the section. This is a typical example of a sequence of hammer-ons that proceeds at a constant tempo except for a threesome of notes at twice that speed. Such rhythmic patterns are found all over the place in Guitar Hero; mastering them will help you hold combo in many places that you previously could not. If you feel the urge to shift up to third position for this mini-trill, don’t (unless you’re already a three-finger player). Anchor the blue and it’s great practice for your pinky.

The second part I wanted to point out is the star power activation found in this section. If you’ve collected the first two phrases and whammied properly on the second, this part provides a very good test of precision activation. Since you’re not strumming most of it, you can devote full attention to the select button (or tilting, if you’re so inclined). The activation point is on the red note I’ve marked with an asterisk above (this section repeats itself once; the activation will be on the second time through). If you activate correctly, the star power should run out just as you hit the last three-note chord in the Sweetest Chords Ever section. If you don't hit that chord under star power, you activated too early; if you hit the red note that follows said chord under star power, you activated too late.

Fingerings (for completeness, this is pretty basic):

First Position:
--------------------------------
2----1_2_2_3_4_4__4_3_2_1_3_2_3_4_3_4_4_4_2_3_2------1------2----1_2_2_3_4_4__4_3_2_1_3_2_3_4_3_4_4_343_3_2_1_3_4_2_4_4------
_----_________________________________________4------3

Second Position:
--------------------------------
1----1_1_1_2_3_4__3_2_1_1_2_1_2_3_2_3_4_3_1_2_1------1------1----1_1_1_2_3_4__3_2_1_1_2_1_2_3_2_3_4_343_2_1_1_2_3_1_3_4------
_----_________________________________________3------2

Applications to other charts:
Maybe it’s just me, but the first time I noticed the rhythmic pattern I described above (it was in Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll, by the way), it was a revelation to me. Previously, I would just flail a little faster when I noticed the notes getting closer together, but after that I understood how to hit it. It seems painfully obvious to me now (as it probably does to most of you), but as I can remember a time when it wasn’t, I hope this will be able to help some people. As I said, these patterns are all over the place. Off the top of my head:
Rock You Like a Hurricane (at least twice in the intro solos)
Pride and Joy (several times in Verse 3 come to mind)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (every at the end of the main hammer-on riff, many times elsewhere in the song)
Impulse (Yes, it appears many more times in this song; for example, in Sweetest Chords Ever and Indescribably Beautiful Solo)

Precision activation of star power is useful in almost every optimal path you will encounter, so I have no specific examples.

Sweetest Chords Ever:



There are three patterns of interest here. The first is the part, which gives you some practice with basic two- and three-note chord changes. The transitions aren’t very fast, so it’s good training for fingerings that come up at higher speeds in more difficult songs (the to can almost single-handedly give you the five-star on The Number of the Beast and the to transition comes up in Minus Celsius, though it’s not the one that gives everybody fits).
The second pattern is the “descending” lines (some refer to them as "stairs" or "ladders," but there's no real consensus among the community as to what they should be called). While these are relatively rare in songs (I can only think of one other instance in GHIII, and that one only matches the first half), learning how to do this is great for your finger independence and dexterity. When I first started playing Expert, my fingers used to trip up over each other all the time; a section like this would have absolutely destroyed me. If you reach the point where you can play this section almost without concentrating, I think you’ll find that strange fingering patterns at a medium-fast tempo don’t bother you much anymore. As I will point out later, that will help in a LOT of places.
The third section is the at the end. This is advanced anchoring practice (arguably one of the three toughest sections in the entire song). You’ll want to hold down green for the first part and red for the second. It’s very fast, so don’t worry if you can’t hit it just yet. On to fingerings:

First Position:

111_1_1_1_1_11_1_1_1_1_2_2_1_1_1_11_1_1_1_1_111_
222_2_2_2_2_22_4_4_4_4_3_3_3_3_2_22_2_2_2_2_22
444_4_4_4_4_44_________4_4_4_4_4_44_4_4_4_4_44


43423123_1424131234_4_23_4_4_432_1234_321233434332234_4_23_4_4_43243_42__32123431234121313131411

Second Position:

111_1_1_1_1_11_1_1_1_1_1_1_1_1_1_11_1_1_1_1_111_
222_2_2_2_2_22_3_3_3_3_2_2_3_3_2_22_2_2_2_2_22
444_4_4_4_4_44_________3_3_4_4_4_44_4_4_4_4_44


42312112_1413121123_4_12_3_4_321_1123_211123434321123_4_12_3_4_32132_31__21112321123121212131411

Applications to other charts:
The frequency with which Neversoft charted three-note chords in Guitar Hero III (whether you like it or not) means that learning how to do chord changes like this is a must for getting good scores. I’ve already mentioned The Number of the Beast and Minus Celsius; here are a few more examples (granted, most of these are more difficult than this section of Impulse):
The Metal (Bridge 1)
Stricken (those fills that occur all over the place)
3s and 7s (Verse)
Monsters (Chorus)

While the exact descending pattern found here may only appear in a couple other songs, sequences of hammer-ons with jumps back and forth in direction are quite common:
Hit Me with Your Best Shot (Solo A)
My Name Is Jonas (Acoustic Riff)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (almost every hammer-on fill)

Anchoring sections were covered earlier.

Thickest Chugging Ever:
---

This section is very simple from a fingering standpoint, so I’m not even going to address that. What I will address is the very important ability of strum monitoring. Clearly, these bursts have almost no pattern with respect to the number of notes in them, so they’re very hard to memorize. Instead, you will have to be able to strum at the right rhythm and stop at the right time without knowing in advance how many strums you will have to perform. There are several songs where this ability is a huge help in achieving a good score. Usually, however, those songs involve fingering changes in addition to the strumming, which is what makes this section such good practice. Examples of where this ability will help:
Stricken (Verses)
Sabotage (Why?!?!?!?!?)
Monsters (Chorus, last one especially)
Down ‘N Dirty (Chorus, last one especially)

Proggiest Non-Prog Solo Ever:
--------------------------------------------------
--- ---------------------------------
(The part from the beginning up to and including the sustain actually repeats itself with slight variations before going into the part that follows. Charting all of it takes up a lot of space and doesn't really add much value, however)
This section is a very straight forward collection of basic hammer-on sequences and simple chords. There’s nothing in particular I wanted to point out here, so I’ll content myself with fingerings:

First Position:
--------------------------------------------------
11123432344---34---344321--------1234_321--------2--------1--------1------------
11123432344---34---344321--------1234_323--------4--------4--------4------------
--- ---------------------------------
112---1_ 1_ 33----------------124_2321444_23_112---2--------------321234342
114---3_ 2_ 44----------------
114---3_ 4

Second Position:
--------------------------------------------------
11112321234---23---234211--------1123_211--------1--------1--------1------------
11123432344---34---344321--------1234_322--------3--------4--------3------------
--- ---------------------------------
111---1_ 1_ 23----------------113_1211334_12_111---1--------------211123241
113---2_ 2_ 34----------------
114---3_ 4

Most Soulful Slide Ever:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More basic practice with slower three-note chords. Other than that, there’s not much to do here besides practice your whammy technique on the star power phrase. The sustains should present no difficulty for you; here are some fingerings for the chords:

First Position:

1_1_ 1 1_1_1_ 1 2_1_1_ 2 1_1
2_2_ 3 3_2_2_ 2 3_2_2_ 4 2_2
3_3_ 4 4_4_4_ 4 4_4_4_ _ 4_3

Second Position:

1_1_ 1 1_1_1_ 1 1_1_1_ 2 1_1
2_2_ 2 2_2_2_ 2 2_2_2_ 4 2_2
3_3_ 3 3_4_4_ 4 3_4_4_ _ 4_3

Funkiest Riff in History:
-------------------------------------------------------
More easy sustains for a while, then a “yellow snake” of sorts that is one of the hardest sections of the song. Learning this thing will be enable you to hit zig-zag patterns in many songs, not least of all because it’s split across non-consecutive frets and is also very fast by the end. I’m certainly not an expert on this part, but here are some fingerings I’ve seen for it:

Second Position:

2_4_2_1_2_4_2_1_2 4 2 1 2 4 2 1 24212421242
This is what I use. It works some of the time, but you need pretty fast fingers to hit the whole thing that way.

Third Position:

1_3_1_1_1_3_1_1_1 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 13111311131
Slide and anchor. It can be a little tricky to get used to playing this way, but it’s possible to go much faster than you could if you didn’t anchor anything. You could use 2 for the oranges if you wish.

Tapping (Method 1):

2_4_2_1_2_1_2_1_2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 21212121212
Basic zig-zag tapping. I don’t know much more about it than that, because I myself don’t tap anything besides Through the Fire and Flames. However, CyRaX99 does and has written a guide on this method: Guide: Impulse - Funkiest Riff In History (video included)

Tapping (Method 2):

2_4_2_1_2_4_2_1_1 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 13111311131
From tormentedbyu.

Reverse Tapping:

2_4_2_1_1_3_1_1_1 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 13111311131
I’ve only heard of one person that does this, but it makes sense to me. Once the hammer-ons start, you simply anchor red with your right index finger. This leaves your dominant fretting hand free to play the difficult part. You could use 2 for the oranges once the anchoring starts if you wish.

Applications to other charts:
3-note zig-zags appear in many charts, perhaps faster than this one but generally on consecutive frets, which makes them easier:
Talk Dirty to Me (C.C.’s Done)
Rock You Like a Hurricane (Solo 3)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (Solo 1)
Through the Fire and Flames (Climactic Build-Up)

Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever:
This part is longish and probably the most difficult section of the song, so I’m going to break it up and deal with individual pieces.

Section 1:

This part is not very fast, but the fingering on the two-note chords can get awkward at times:

First Position:

111_33132122111111111_1_1_1_11
222_44243244244222222_2_2_2_22
222_44243244244444444_4_4_4_44

Second Position:

111_32121121111111111_1_1_1_11
222_43232243243222222_2_2_2_22
222_44243244244444444_4_4_4_44

Applications to other charts:
Awkward two-note chord changes are common in many charts, but they tend to be a bit faster than the ones found here. It’s still good practice, though. Here are some examples:
Lay Down (Solo-Chorus 3)
Black Sunshine (Outro)
Stricken (Intro, first three verses, Outro)
Can’t Be Saved (Verse 2.2, Outro)

Section 2:
--------------------
This is another sequence of (mostly) hammer-ons that is not terribly fast, but will force you to read notes as they come and hit them without tripping over your fingers, as there is no overall pattern to the part at the end. I covered such things in the Sweetest Chords Ever section, so refer to that for applications to other charts. As for fingerings:

First Position:
--------------------
1234412-------3---4---4---2----3142144321432131

Second Position:
--------------------
1123411-------2---3---4---1----2131134211321121

Section 3:

This part is rough, no doubt about it. Although my spacing may make it look easy, keep in mind that most of the two-note chords are twice as fast as the ones in Section 1, while the reds are three times that fast (the speed of the reds, incidentally, is why I had to space out the rest so much). This speed warrants a strumming section as well as a fingering one:

Fingering:

First Position:

2 1 1_ 1 1 2 3 1 2_ 2222 2_ 1 1
3 2 2_ 1 1 3 4 _ 3_ 2224 4_ 4 4

Second Position:

1 1 1_ 1 1 1 2 1 1_ 1112 1_ 1 1
2 2 2_ 1 1 2 3 _ 2_ 2224 3_ 4 3

More Sliding (Hfactor's Method):

1 1 1_ 1 1 1 1 1 1_ 1111 1_ 1 1
2 2 2_ 1 1 2 2 _ 2_ 2223 3_ 4 4

Strumming (if you can’t downstrum it all):

Mostly Downstrummer, Start on Downstrums:

d d d_ d d d d d d_ dudu d_ d d

Mostly Downstrummer, End on Downstrums:

d d d_ d d d d d d_ udud d_ d d

Alt-Strummer, Start on Downstrums:

d u d_ d u d u d u_ dudu d_ d u

Alt-Strummer, End on Downstrums:

d u d_ u d u d u d_ dudu d_ u d

If you’re primarily a downstrummer and you hate to start or end on an upstrum, the faster part can be strummed:

dudd d

Applications to other charts:
Although it’s faster, this part still has the same applications as Section 1 (consider it to be more advanced practice). I would also add Raining Blood (Chorus) to the list; I purposely left it off the first one because it’s just too fast and too difficult to be helped by Section 1. I believe it fits here, however.

Section 4:

X_____X_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX
The first part is just a basic hammer-on line; it’s the second part (the chords alternating with the greens) that I want to highlight. Note that you can’t anchor anything there; you will have to see-saw your fingers back and forth (as the fingers for the chords go down, the finger for the green lifts up and vice versa). As we will see, this is a very useful motion to learn. Try to utilize the hammer-ons here, as that will help you greatly given the GHIII engine’s tendency to register overstrums.

First Position:

24432441131331331333113
24432441141441441444114
X_____X_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX

Second Position:

14321331121221221222112
24422441131331331333113
X_____X_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX

Applications to other charts:
As I stated earlier, this see-saw finger movement is a very useful one. Here are some sections of songs where it is required in order to hold a combo:
Cherub Rock (Quiet Riff-Rockin’ Riff)
Pride and Joy (Solo 1A)
The Number of the Beast (Intro)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (Chorus 1 (very end), Solo 1)

Section 5:

This is a fairly fast section of hammer-ons that will give you a different kind of anchoring practice. You can hold down red for most of the first part, but there are green notes thrown in that will force you to release it temporarily:

First Position:

23232123242321231242242132344

Second Position:

12121112131211121131242121234

Applications to other charts:
Similar anchoring sections appear in only two other charts that I know of (and both of those are faster than the one here); if anybody can think of more, please let me know:
Stricken (Solo)
Through the Fire and Flames (Blackest Waves, Dreams of Freedom)

Section 6:

This section is great practice for switching chords while alt-strumming (okay, most of it is actually not too fast to downstrum, but unless you can downstrum the breakdown in Welcome to the Jungle, you should probably practice alt-strumming here). Since the strumming is fairly straightforward, I’ll post it and the fingering in the same section:

First Position:

2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1111
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 ___3
d u d u d u d u d u d u dudu

Second Position:

2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1111
4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 ___2
d u d u d u d u d u d u dudu

If you don't care about improving your overall skill right now and are only after a higher Impulse score, however, you can try Bravo's strumming method. This involves galloping the whole thing, which keeps all the chord switches on downstrums:


dud_ dud_ dud_ dud_ hdud

By the way, using that hammer-on near the end is a very viable strategy for the other strumming method as well.

Applications to other charts:
Being able to alt-strum at a slowish, constant rate while changing chords (often on off-beats) is a very valuable skill. Here are some sections where it will pay off:
Holiday in Cambodia (Verse 1B)
Welcome to the Jungle (Jungle Breakdown)
3s and 7s (Swing Part)
Prayer of the Refugee (Chorus)

Fattest Double Kicks Ever:

This is another section of straightforward hammer-ons (and a few strums), this time in very simple ascending and descending lines. If you can’t hit this section, I urge you to practice it until you can, because sequential notes like these are everywhere. Here’s how you should do it:

First position:

1234_1234__144324321234_1234__144324321234_1234__144324321234_1234__14432432

Second position:

1123_1123__143213211123_1123__143213211123_1123__143213211123_1123__14321321

Applications to other charts:
The following song sections will likely be a huge pain in the neck (and a huge break in the combo) if you can’t hit simple descending lines:
Story of My Life (Verse)
Kool Thing (Bridge 1, Bridge 2)
Black Sunshine (Verses 3 and 4)
Avalancha (Verses)

Cheesiest Interlude Ever:
Um…yeah.

Applications to other charts:
If you can learn hit this absence of notes, I think you’ll find that other guitar-less sections will become MUCH easier:
Black Sunshine (Bass in Traffic)
3s and 7s (Solo Bass)
Closer (Intro Bass, Outro Bass)—who doesn’t need help with Closer?
She Bangs the Drums (Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh)

Post-Ci Rippingest Solo Ever:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section is very easy for the most part, consisting only of simple hammer-ons and sustains (I’m not even going to bother with fingerings here). The end trill, however, is very important for our purposes here. While you could probably shift up and hit this more easily from third or fourth position, it is great pinky practice if you hit it from second. Having a strong enough pinky to hit moderately fast trills high on the fretboard will help you in a lot of sections where it might be difficult to move your hand around a great deal:
Mississippi Queen (Solo 1. Trust me—it’s really annoying to miss that mini-trill right at the beginning)
Black Sunsine (Blown Gasser Madness (Part 1))
Raining Blood (Flood! (the slow blue-orange trill, not the ridiculous ones))
Nothing for Me Here (Killer Riff 1B and identical trills elsewhere)

Indescribably Beautiful Solo:
----------------------------------------------

Note that the spacing is not correct here (the trill is 32nd notes, and if I tried to space the rest accordingly this section would have been enormous). This is a bit more complicated than the last solo and faster in spots, but still fairly straightforward. Again, the part I want to focus on is the trill. If your ScoreHero username is not Lo7, chances are you’re not going to hit that from second position (and probably not even from third). This leaves you with two options: fourth position or tapping. I’ll deal with that trill separately; here are fingerings for the rest of the solo (note that there are more opportunities for anchoring practice with the part at the end):


First position:
----------------------------------------------
44----244------4_3_23212------2123434443343323_2143214324213---12----34------2_44-----4_3_23212--------1----242242131242242

Second position:
----------------------------------------------
34----134------3_2_12111------1112323432343212_1132114213112---11----23------1_34-----3_2_12111--------1----131242121131242

Trill:
Note that it’s probably not in your best interest to try to time this trill correctly. Guitar Hero III’s engine operates in such a way that as long as you’re spamming the orange fret faster than the trill, you’ll hit the entire thing.

Fourth Position:

1212121212121212121212121212121

Tapping:

3131313131313131313131313131313
(You can use any finger for the blue. I picked the ring finger because I play from second position)

An additional method for this section (due to Brockbfball1563) is to slide into third position at the end of the hammer-on part before the trill, then one-hand the trill for a few notes before you begin tapping it. With a fast ring finger, this method will eliminate the need for an elbow strum or a tough shift into fourth position:

131242121131131_2323232121212121212121212121212

If you're very quick with shifting into tapping, you can try Bravo's variation of the above method. This will enable you to tap it from second position without an elbow strum:

3431313131313131313131313131313

Note that you also have to have a fast enough pinky to get on and off the first orange fast enough. This shouldn't be too much of a problem given the large timing window, however.

Applications to other charts:
Here are some more very fast trills that you may have to move up to third/fourth position or tap to hit:
Barracuda (Solo B)
The Number of the Beast (Solo 1)
Raining Blood (Flood!)
Through the Fire and Flames (Synth Death)

Heaviest Riff Ever Redux:
Allow me to direct you to a helpful link on this topic.

Scariest Outro Ever:

XX_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX
This section will provide more practice with chords and single notes where nothing can be anchored. If you play from first position, it will require the same type of see-saw motion of the fingers required in the Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever; if you play from second, you will be sliding your hand back and forth very quickly. It will definitely help you to use the hammer-ons here:

First position:

221121221221222112
33__3_33_33_333__3
44__4_44_44_444__4
XX_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX

Second position:

111111111111111111
22__2_22_22_222__2
33__3_33_33_333__3
XX_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX

Applications to other charts
This section is very similar to Section 4 of the Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever and so has mostly the same applications (the only real difference between the two is that this outro has three-note chords).

Back to Bluest Table of Contents Ever
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Most Inconclusive Conclusion Ever:

Wow; that was long. If you can bear the thought of possibly making me add more to it, feel free to post any questions, comments, suggestions, or derisive remarks ridiculing any and all horrible mistakes that I probably made.

(Formerly) Shortest Thanks in History:

--If you think this guide would exist without eddyf’s freticon editor, you are sorely mistaken.
--Thanks to NovaXD for error correction
--Thanks to CyRaX99 and tormentedbyu for help on the Funkiest Riff in History
--Thanks to Hfactor for help on the Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever (Section 3)
--Thanks to Brockbfball1563 for help on the Indescribably Beautiful Solo
--Thanks to Bravo for help on the Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever (Section 6) and the Indescribably Beautiful Solo
_________________

Accomplishments Thread--GH80sX: Fifteen new FCs; OP updated with new 80s section and Best Of lists!
Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/zsjostrom35-s-GH-Show (will appear in green when online; red when offline)

Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series Quote of the Week wrote:

Téa: (Thinking) Look at him undressing me with his eyes! I wonder what he's thinking... Yami: (Thinking) MAN, I hate milkshakes! (Squeezes milkshake cup) Die, milkshake, die! That's right, milkshake: you have been defeated! Now you go to milkshake prison!

My guides: BIF 5* | Most Impulsive Expert Guide Ever | Guide to Writing Guides | NfMH 5* | Practice Mode | My Curse FC | GH3 Co-op Squeezing
Proud Christian

[zsjostrom35]

Longest Introduction Ever:

Those of you who read my Before I Forget guide will remember that it was written with a very specific purpose—getting five stars on one of the harder songs in the main setlist. Everything, from my advice on which sections to learn to the star power paths created, had only that goal in mind. This guide will not be like that. For starters, not that many people really care about getting five stars on Impulse. It doesn’t factor into El Jefe, and while many people go for Guitar God status, they usually don’t start on the bonus songs until after El Jefe is in the bag. At that point, Impulse is a piece of cake (generally speaking). It’s true that many people do have FC aspirations for this song, but as my current high score involves a 97%, I am hardly qualified to give advice on that.

So (I am sure you are wondering), why write this guide?

The answer is that Impulse has, in my opinion, one of the greatest charts in Guitar Hero history. Other than fast strumming and truly shredding solos, it has a little bit of just about everything you will see in Expert mode. As such, mastering this song will help the average Expert player greatly, and with many more songs than just this little gem. So while this guide will hopefully help you pass, five-star, or even FC Impulse, its loftier objective is to use the song as a tool to increase your overall skill at Guitar Hero.

Also, the better you get at this song, the more fun it is to play. And that’s the real goal.

Bluest Table of Contents Ever:

1. Longest Introduction Ever
   
2. Indescribably Boring Fingering Key
   1. Most Orderly Numbering Ever
   2. Handiest Positioning Reference Ever
   
   
3. Most Analyzed Sections Ever
   1. Intro
   2. Heaviest Riff Ever
   3. Sweetest Chords Ever
   4. Thickest Chugging Ever
   5. Proggiest Non-Prog Solo Ever
   6. Most Soulful Slide Ever
   7. Funkiest Riff in History
   8. Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever
      1. Section 1
         
      2. Section 2
         
      3. Section 3
         
      4. Section 4
         
      5. Section 5
         
      6. Section 6
         
   9. Fattest Double Kicks Ever
   10. Cheesiest Interlude Ever
   11. Post-Ci Rippingest Solo Ever
   12. Indescribably Beautiful Solo
   13. Heaviest Riff Ever Redux
   14. Scariest Outro Ever
   
   
4. Most Inconclusive Conclusion Ever
   1. (Formerly) Shortest Thanks in History

Indescribably Boring Fingering Key:

Most Orderly Numbering Ever:
1 = Index
2 = Middle
3 = Ring
4 = Pinky
Underlined Numbers = Anchored finger
Red Numbers = Tapping finger
X = Strum
h = Hammer-on
p = Pull-off (I will only use pull-offs in sections that involve anchoring. If a higher note is followed by a lower note that is not anchored, I will still refer to that as a hammer-on)
* = Point of interest. Explained in sections in which it is used.

Handiest Positioning Reference Ever:
First Position: 1 on G, 2 on R, 3 on Y, 4 covers B and O (will use 24 for chords ending in YO, however)
Second Position: 1 covers G and R, 2 on Y, 3 on B, 4 on O
Second Position, Green Anchored: 1 on G, 2 covers R and Y, 3 on B, 4 on O
Third/Fourth Position: Index finger on yellow/blue, respectively. If a lower note appears, index will slide to it, then slide back. Generally used only for fast zig-zags and trills higher on the fretboard.

Note: For ease of wording, I assume that the player is right-handed (right hand strumming, left hand fretting). Apologies if this inconveniences lefties.

Back to Bluest Table of Contents Ever
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Most Analyzed Sections Ever:

In case you skipped the introduction, the point of this guide is to improve general Guitar Hero skills by mastering the various sections of Impulse. As there is very little in this song that cannot be applied elsewhere in the series, I have tried to pick out specific sections in other (GHIII) songs for which certain parts of Impulse may be particularly relevant and helpful. Of course, I will also attempt to help you hit these sections (what good is a guide that doesn’t do that?), but I may present slightly more difficult ways to play at times if I feel it will be a helpful way to build skills.

Fingering Disclaimer:
I have little experience with first position. I will attempt to present first-position fingerings as best I can, but please point out any errors that you see.


Intro:

XX____X____X_____X____X__X____X___X___X___X___X___X___X

Right off the bat, we have a section that is fantastic for practicing two important intermediate-level skills. First of all, note that this section is mostly hammer-ons, but with a fair number of strums sprinkled in. This is typical of a lot of solos in Guitar Hero III. You could strum everything in this section, but one of my goals here now is to be able to hit it with minimal strumming. This is an excellent skill to develop given the how easy it is to overstrum HO/POs on this engine. The other main feature of this section is that it is very good practice for anchoring. Anchoring is one of the keys to being able to play many sections that would be too fast for you otherwise, since it can essentially cut your finger-work in half. Let’s see how all this works:

First Position:

1121311213112131223232232242422413313113244242243442422423434313
XXhphpXhphpXhphphXhphpXhpXhphpXhhhXphpXhhhXphpXhhhXphpXhhhhhhhhh

Second Position (Green Anchored where applicable):

1121211212112121112121121131311312212112133131132442422412423212
XXhphpXhphpXhphphXhphpXhpXhphpXhhhXphpXhhhXphpXhhhXphpXhhhhhhhhh

The idea here is that your hands should really feel like they’re each doing less than half of the work. Your left hand only frets 22 times before the hammer-on part at the end; your right hand only strums 13 times in that span, yet you hit 55 notes there. Trust me--the first time you do this correctly, it feels great.

Applications to other charts:
The skill of successfully hitting strums in the middle of hammer-on sections applies to a great many other songs. Some examples:
Paranoid (Solo Bloody Solo)
Black Magic Woman (almost entire song)
Pride and Joy (many places)
One (Fast Solo A)

…

Okay, actually the Pretty Bridges, but yellow strum FTL

Anchoring can also help in a great many songs. For example:
Paint it Black (main riffs)
Monsters (Bridge C (aka Weedley-Weedley))
My Curse (Delicate Riff, Meaty Riff)
Through the Fire and Flames (They’re Hammer-Ons)
Any song with trills

Heaviest Riff Ever:
--------------------------------
__________________________________________________________________________ *

Straightforward hammer-ons for the most part; good practice at those if you need that. There are basically two points of interest for our purposes here. The first is that quick found about three-quarters of the way through the section. This is a typical example of a sequence of hammer-ons that proceeds at a constant tempo except for a threesome of notes at twice that speed. Such rhythmic patterns are found all over the place in Guitar Hero; mastering them will help you hold combo in many places that you previously could not. If you feel the urge to shift up to third position for this mini-trill, don’t (unless you’re already a three-finger player). Anchor the blue and it’s great practice for your pinky.

The second part I wanted to point out is the star power activation found in this section. If you’ve collected the first two phrases and whammied properly on the second, this part provides a very good test of precision activation. Since you’re not strumming most of it, you can devote full attention to the select button (or tilting, if you’re so inclined). The activation point is on the red note I’ve marked with an asterisk above (this section repeats itself once; the activation will be on the second time through). If you activate correctly, the star power should run out just as you hit the last three-note chord in the Sweetest Chords Ever section. If you don't hit that chord under star power, you activated too early; if you hit the red note that follows said chord under star power, you activated too late.

Fingerings (for completeness, this is pretty basic):

First Position:
--------------------------------
2----1_2_2_3_4_4__4_3_2_1_3_2_3_4_3_4_4_4_2_3_2------1------2----1_2_2_3_4_4__4_3_2_1_3_2_3_4_3_4_4_343_3_2_1_3_4_2_4_4------
_----_________________________________________4------3

Second Position:
--------------------------------
1----1_1_1_2_3_4__3_2_1_1_2_1_2_3_2_3_4_3_1_2_1------1------1----1_1_1_2_3_4__3_2_1_1_2_1_2_3_2_3_4_343_2_1_1_2_3_1_3_4------
_----_________________________________________3------2

Applications to other charts:
Maybe it’s just me, but the first time I noticed the rhythmic pattern I described above (it was in Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll, by the way), it was a revelation to me. Previously, I would just flail a little faster when I noticed the notes getting closer together, but after that I understood how to hit it. It seems painfully obvious to me now (as it probably does to most of you), but as I can remember a time when it wasn’t, I hope this will be able to help some people. As I said, these patterns are all over the place. Off the top of my head:
Rock You Like a Hurricane (at least twice in the intro solos)
Pride and Joy (several times in Verse 3 come to mind)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (every at the end of the main hammer-on riff, many times elsewhere in the song)
Impulse (Yes, it appears many more times in this song; for example, in Sweetest Chords Ever and Indescribably Beautiful Solo)

Precision activation of star power is useful in almost every optimal path you will encounter, so I have no specific examples.

Sweetest Chords Ever:



There are three patterns of interest here. The first is the part, which gives you some practice with basic two- and three-note chord changes. The transitions aren’t very fast, so it’s good training for fingerings that come up at higher speeds in more difficult songs (the to can almost single-handedly give you the five-star on The Number of the Beast and the to transition comes up in Minus Celsius, though it’s not the one that gives everybody fits).
The second pattern is the “descending” lines (some refer to them as "stairs" or "ladders," but there's no real consensus among the community as to what they should be called). While these are relatively rare in songs (I can only think of one other instance in GHIII, and that one only matches the first half), learning how to do this is great for your finger independence and dexterity. When I first started playing Expert, my fingers used to trip up over each other all the time; a section like this would have absolutely destroyed me. If you reach the point where you can play this section almost without concentrating, I think you’ll find that strange fingering patterns at a medium-fast tempo don’t bother you much anymore. As I will point out later, that will help in a LOT of places.
The third section is the at the end. This is advanced anchoring practice (arguably one of the three toughest sections in the entire song). You’ll want to hold down green for the first part and red for the second. It’s very fast, so don’t worry if you can’t hit it just yet. On to fingerings:

First Position:

111_1_1_1_1_11_1_1_1_1_2_2_1_1_1_11_1_1_1_1_111_
222_2_2_2_2_22_4_4_4_4_3_3_3_3_2_22_2_2_2_2_22
444_4_4_4_4_44_________4_4_4_4_4_44_4_4_4_4_44


43423123_1424131234_4_23_4_4_432_1234_321233434332234_4_23_4_4_43243_42__32123431234121313131411

Second Position:

111_1_1_1_1_11_1_1_1_1_1_1_1_1_1_11_1_1_1_1_111_
222_2_2_2_2_22_3_3_3_3_2_2_3_3_2_22_2_2_2_2_22
444_4_4_4_4_44_________3_3_4_4_4_44_4_4_4_4_44


42312112_1413121123_4_12_3_4_321_1123_211123434321123_4_12_3_4_32132_31__21112321123121212131411

Applications to other charts:
The frequency with which Neversoft charted three-note chords in Guitar Hero III (whether you like it or not) means that learning how to do chord changes like this is a must for getting good scores. I’ve already mentioned The Number of the Beast and Minus Celsius; here are a few more examples (granted, most of these are more difficult than this section of Impulse):
The Metal (Bridge 1)
Stricken (those fills that occur all over the place)
3s and 7s (Verse)
Monsters (Chorus)

While the exact descending pattern found here may only appear in a couple other songs, sequences of hammer-ons with jumps back and forth in direction are quite common:
Hit Me with Your Best Shot (Solo A)
My Name Is Jonas (Acoustic Riff)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (almost every hammer-on fill)

Anchoring sections were covered earlier.

Thickest Chugging Ever:
---

This section is very simple from a fingering standpoint, so I’m not even going to address that. What I will address is the very important ability of strum monitoring. Clearly, these bursts have almost no pattern with respect to the number of notes in them, so they’re very hard to memorize. Instead, you will have to be able to strum at the right rhythm and stop at the right time without knowing in advance how many strums you will have to perform. There are several songs where this ability is a huge help in achieving a good score. Usually, however, those songs involve fingering changes in addition to the strumming, which is what makes this section such good practice. Examples of where this ability will help:
Stricken (Verses)
Sabotage (Why?!?!?!?!?)
Monsters (Chorus, last one especially)
Down ‘N Dirty (Chorus, last one especially)

Proggiest Non-Prog Solo Ever:
--------------------------------------------------
--- ---------------------------------
(The part from the beginning up to and including the sustain actually repeats itself with slight variations before going into the part that follows. Charting all of it takes up a lot of space and doesn't really add much value, however)
This section is a very straight forward collection of basic hammer-on sequences and simple chords. There’s nothing in particular I wanted to point out here, so I’ll content myself with fingerings:

First Position:
--------------------------------------------------
11123432344---34---344321--------1234_321--------2--------1--------1------------
11123432344---34---344321--------1234_323--------4--------4--------4------------
--- ---------------------------------
112---1_ 1_ 33----------------124_2321444_23_112---2--------------321234342
114---3_ 2_ 44----------------
114---3_ 4

Second Position:
--------------------------------------------------
11112321234---23---234211--------1123_211--------1--------1--------1------------
11123432344---34---344321--------1234_322--------3--------4--------3------------
--- ---------------------------------
111---1_ 1_ 23----------------113_1211334_12_111---1--------------211123241
113---2_ 2_ 34----------------
114---3_ 4

Most Soulful Slide Ever:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More basic practice with slower three-note chords. Other than that, there’s not much to do here besides practice your whammy technique on the star power phrase. The sustains should present no difficulty for you; here are some fingerings for the chords:

First Position:

1_1_ 1 1_1_1_ 1 2_1_1_ 2 1_1
2_2_ 3 3_2_2_ 2 3_2_2_ 4 2_2
3_3_ 4 4_4_4_ 4 4_4_4_ _ 4_3

Second Position:

1_1_ 1 1_1_1_ 1 1_1_1_ 2 1_1
2_2_ 2 2_2_2_ 2 2_2_2_ 4 2_2
3_3_ 3 3_4_4_ 4 3_4_4_ _ 4_3

Funkiest Riff in History:
-------------------------------------------------------
More easy sustains for a while, then a “yellow snake” of sorts that is one of the hardest sections of the song. Learning this thing will be enable you to hit zig-zag patterns in many songs, not least of all because it’s split across non-consecutive frets and is also very fast by the end. I’m certainly not an expert on this part, but here are some fingerings I’ve seen for it:

Second Position:

2_4_2_1_2_4_2_1_2 4 2 1 2 4 2 1 24212421242
This is what I use. It works some of the time, but you need pretty fast fingers to hit the whole thing that way.

Third Position:

1_3_1_1_1_3_1_1_1 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 13111311131
Slide and anchor. It can be a little tricky to get used to playing this way, but it’s possible to go much faster than you could if you didn’t anchor anything. You could use 2 for the oranges if you wish.

Tapping (Method 1):

2_4_2_1_2_1_2_1_2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 21212121212
Basic zig-zag tapping. I don’t know much more about it than that, because I myself don’t tap anything besides Through the Fire and Flames. However, CyRaX99 does and has written a guide on this method: Guide: Impulse - Funkiest Riff In History (video included)

Tapping (Method 2):

2_4_2_1_2_4_2_1_1 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 13111311131
From tormentedbyu.

Reverse Tapping:

2_4_2_1_1_3_1_1_1 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 13111311131
I’ve only heard of one person that does this, but it makes sense to me. Once the hammer-ons start, you simply anchor red with your right index finger. This leaves your dominant fretting hand free to play the difficult part. You could use 2 for the oranges once the anchoring starts if you wish.

Applications to other charts:
3-note zig-zags appear in many charts, perhaps faster than this one but generally on consecutive frets, which makes them easier:
Talk Dirty to Me (C.C.’s Done)
Rock You Like a Hurricane (Solo 3)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (Solo 1)
Through the Fire and Flames (Climactic Build-Up)

Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever:
This part is longish and probably the most difficult section of the song, so I’m going to break it up and deal with individual pieces.

Section 1:

This part is not very fast, but the fingering on the two-note chords can get awkward at times:

First Position:

111_33132122111111111_1_1_1_11
222_44243244244222222_2_2_2_22
222_44243244244444444_4_4_4_44

Second Position:

111_32121121111111111_1_1_1_11
222_43232243243222222_2_2_2_22
222_44243244244444444_4_4_4_44

Applications to other charts:
Awkward two-note chord changes are common in many charts, but they tend to be a bit faster than the ones found here. It’s still good practice, though. Here are some examples:
Lay Down (Solo-Chorus 3)
Black Sunshine (Outro)
Stricken (Intro, first three verses, Outro)
Can’t Be Saved (Verse 2.2, Outro)

Section 2:
--------------------
This is another sequence of (mostly) hammer-ons that is not terribly fast, but will force you to read notes as they come and hit them without tripping over your fingers, as there is no overall pattern to the part at the end. I covered such things in the Sweetest Chords Ever section, so refer to that for applications to other charts. As for fingerings:

First Position:
--------------------
1234412-------3---4---4---2----3142144321432131

Second Position:
--------------------
1123411-------2---3---4---1----2131134211321121

Section 3:

This part is rough, no doubt about it. Although my spacing may make it look easy, keep in mind that most of the two-note chords are twice as fast as the ones in Section 1, while the reds are three times that fast (the speed of the reds, incidentally, is why I had to space out the rest so much). This speed warrants a strumming section as well as a fingering one:

Fingering:

First Position:

2 1 1_ 1 1 2 3 1 2_ 2222 2_ 1 1
3 2 2_ 1 1 3 4 _ 3_ 2224 4_ 4 4

Second Position:

1 1 1_ 1 1 1 2 1 1_ 1112 1_ 1 1
2 2 2_ 1 1 2 3 _ 2_ 2224 3_ 4 3

More Sliding (Hfactor's Method):

1 1 1_ 1 1 1 1 1 1_ 1111 1_ 1 1
2 2 2_ 1 1 2 2 _ 2_ 2223 3_ 4 4

Strumming (if you can’t downstrum it all):

Mostly Downstrummer, Start on Downstrums:

d d d_ d d d d d d_ dudu d_ d d

Mostly Downstrummer, End on Downstrums:

d d d_ d d d d d d_ udud d_ d d

Alt-Strummer, Start on Downstrums:

d u d_ d u d u d u_ dudu d_ d u

Alt-Strummer, End on Downstrums:

d u d_ u d u d u d_ dudu d_ u d

If you’re primarily a downstrummer and you hate to start or end on an upstrum, the faster part can be strummed:

dudd d

Applications to other charts:
Although it’s faster, this part still has the same applications as Section 1 (consider it to be more advanced practice). I would also add Raining Blood (Chorus) to the list; I purposely left it off the first one because it’s just too fast and too difficult to be helped by Section 1. I believe it fits here, however.

Section 4:

X_____X_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX
The first part is just a basic hammer-on line; it’s the second part (the chords alternating with the greens) that I want to highlight. Note that you can’t anchor anything there; you will have to see-saw your fingers back and forth (as the fingers for the chords go down, the finger for the green lifts up and vice versa). As we will see, this is a very useful motion to learn. Try to utilize the hammer-ons here, as that will help you greatly given the GHIII engine’s tendency to register overstrums.

First Position:

24432441131331331333113
24432441141441441444114
X_____X_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX

Second Position:

14321331121221221222112
24422441131331331333113
X_____X_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX

Applications to other charts:
As I stated earlier, this see-saw finger movement is a very useful one. Here are some sections of songs where it is required in order to hold a combo:
Cherub Rock (Quiet Riff-Rockin’ Riff)
Pride and Joy (Solo 1A)
The Number of the Beast (Intro)
Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll (Chorus 1 (very end), Solo 1)

Section 5:

This is a fairly fast section of hammer-ons that will give you a different kind of anchoring practice. You can hold down red for most of the first part, but there are green notes thrown in that will force you to release it temporarily:

First Position:

23232123242321231242242132344

Second Position:

12121112131211121131242121234

Applications to other charts:
Similar anchoring sections appear in only two other charts that I know of (and both of those are faster than the one here); if anybody can think of more, please let me know:
Stricken (Solo)
Through the Fire and Flames (Blackest Waves, Dreams of Freedom)

Section 6:

This section is great practice for switching chords while alt-strumming (okay, most of it is actually not too fast to downstrum, but unless you can downstrum the breakdown in Welcome to the Jungle, you should probably practice alt-strumming here). Since the strumming is fairly straightforward, I’ll post it and the fingering in the same section:

First Position:

2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1111
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 ___3
d u d u d u d u d u d u dudu

Second Position:

2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1111
4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 ___2
d u d u d u d u d u d u dudu

If you don't care about improving your overall skill right now and are only after a higher Impulse score, however, you can try Bravo's strumming method. This involves galloping the whole thing, which keeps all the chord switches on downstrums:


dud_ dud_ dud_ dud_ hdud

By the way, using that hammer-on near the end is a very viable strategy for the other strumming method as well.

Applications to other charts:
Being able to alt-strum at a slowish, constant rate while changing chords (often on off-beats) is a very valuable skill. Here are some sections where it will pay off:
Holiday in Cambodia (Verse 1B)
Welcome to the Jungle (Jungle Breakdown)
3s and 7s (Swing Part)
Prayer of the Refugee (Chorus)

Fattest Double Kicks Ever:

This is another section of straightforward hammer-ons (and a few strums), this time in very simple ascending and descending lines. If you can’t hit this section, I urge you to practice it until you can, because sequential notes like these are everywhere. Here’s how you should do it:

First position:

1234_1234__144324321234_1234__144324321234_1234__144324321234_1234__14432432

Second position:

1123_1123__143213211123_1123__143213211123_1123__143213211123_1123__14321321

Applications to other charts:
The following song sections will likely be a huge pain in the neck (and a huge break in the combo) if you can’t hit simple descending lines:
Story of My Life (Verse)
Kool Thing (Bridge 1, Bridge 2)
Black Sunshine (Verses 3 and 4)
Avalancha (Verses)

Cheesiest Interlude Ever:
Um…yeah.

Applications to other charts:
If you can learn hit this absence of notes, I think you’ll find that other guitar-less sections will become MUCH easier:
Black Sunshine (Bass in Traffic)
3s and 7s (Solo Bass)
Closer (Intro Bass, Outro Bass)—who doesn’t need help with Closer?
She Bangs the Drums (Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh)

Post-Ci Rippingest Solo Ever:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section is very easy for the most part, consisting only of simple hammer-ons and sustains (I’m not even going to bother with fingerings here). The end trill, however, is very important for our purposes here. While you could probably shift up and hit this more easily from third or fourth position, it is great pinky practice if you hit it from second. Having a strong enough pinky to hit moderately fast trills high on the fretboard will help you in a lot of sections where it might be difficult to move your hand around a great deal:
Mississippi Queen (Solo 1. Trust me—it’s really annoying to miss that mini-trill right at the beginning)
Black Sunsine (Blown Gasser Madness (Part 1))
Raining Blood (Flood! (the slow blue-orange trill, not the ridiculous ones))
Nothing for Me Here (Killer Riff 1B and identical trills elsewhere)

Indescribably Beautiful Solo:
----------------------------------------------

Note that the spacing is not correct here (the trill is 32nd notes, and if I tried to space the rest accordingly this section would have been enormous). This is a bit more complicated than the last solo and faster in spots, but still fairly straightforward. Again, the part I want to focus on is the trill. If your ScoreHero username is not Lo7, chances are you’re not going to hit that from second position (and probably not even from third). This leaves you with two options: fourth position or tapping. I’ll deal with that trill separately; here are fingerings for the rest of the solo (note that there are more opportunities for anchoring practice with the part at the end):


First position:
----------------------------------------------
44----244------4_3_23212------2123434443343323_2143214324213---12----34------2_44-----4_3_23212--------1----242242131242242

Second position:
----------------------------------------------
34----134------3_2_12111------1112323432343212_1132114213112---11----23------1_34-----3_2_12111--------1----131242121131242

Trill:
Note that it’s probably not in your best interest to try to time this trill correctly. Guitar Hero III’s engine operates in such a way that as long as you’re spamming the orange fret faster than the trill, you’ll hit the entire thing.

Fourth Position:

1212121212121212121212121212121

Tapping:

3131313131313131313131313131313
(You can use any finger for the blue. I picked the ring finger because I play from second position)

An additional method for this section (due to Brockbfball1563) is to slide into third position at the end of the hammer-on part before the trill, then one-hand the trill for a few notes before you begin tapping it. With a fast ring finger, this method will eliminate the need for an elbow strum or a tough shift into fourth position:

131242121131131_2323232121212121212121212121212

If you're very quick with shifting into tapping, you can try Bravo's variation of the above method. This will enable you to tap it from second position without an elbow strum:

3431313131313131313131313131313

Note that you also have to have a fast enough pinky to get on and off the first orange fast enough. This shouldn't be too much of a problem given the large timing window, however.

Applications to other charts:
Here are some more very fast trills that you may have to move up to third/fourth position or tap to hit:
Barracuda (Solo B)
The Number of the Beast (Solo 1)
Raining Blood (Flood!)
Through the Fire and Flames (Synth Death)

Heaviest Riff Ever Redux:
Allow me to direct you to a helpful link on this topic.

Scariest Outro Ever:

XX_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX
This section will provide more practice with chords and single notes where nothing can be anchored. If you play from first position, it will require the same type of see-saw motion of the fingers required in the Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever; if you play from second, you will be sliding your hand back and forth very quickly. It will definitely help you to use the hammer-ons here:

First position:

221121221221222112
33__3_33_33_333__3
44__4_44_44_444__4
XX_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX

Second position:

111111111111111111
22__2_22_22_222__2
33__3_33_33_333__3
XX_XX_XX_XX_XXX_XX

Applications to other charts
This section is very similar to Section 4 of the Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever and so has mostly the same applications (the only real difference between the two is that this outro has three-note chords).

Back to Bluest Table of Contents Ever
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Most Inconclusive Conclusion Ever:

Wow; that was long. If you can bear the thought of possibly making me add more to it, feel free to post any questions, comments, suggestions, or derisive remarks ridiculing any and all horrible mistakes that I probably made.

(Formerly) Shortest Thanks in History:

--If you think this guide would exist without eddyf’s freticon editor, you are sorely mistaken.
--Thanks to NovaXD for error correction
--Thanks to CyRaX99 and tormentedbyu for help on the Funkiest Riff in History
--Thanks to Hfactor for help on the Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever (Section 3)
--Thanks to Brockbfball1563 for help on the Indescribably Beautiful Solo
--Thanks to Bravo for help on the Most Psychotic Breakdown Ever (Section 6) and the Indescribably Beautiful Solo
_________________

Accomplishments Thread--GH80sX: Fifteen new FCs; OP updated with new 80s section and Best Of lists!
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Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series Quote of the Week wrote:

Téa: (Thinking) Look at him undressing me with his eyes! I wonder what he's thinking... Yami: (Thinking) MAN, I hate milkshakes! (Squeezes milkshake cup) Die, milkshake, die! That's right, milkshake: you have been defeated! Now you go to milkshake prison!

My guides: BIF 5* | Most Impulsive Expert Guide Ever | Guide to Writing Guides | NfMH 5* | Practice Mode | My Curse FC | GH3 Co-op Squeezing
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[Beedlebub]

Great guide. Well written, Lengthy, thorough, detailed, and very helpful.

Also, I like the bit in 'Cheesiest Interlude Ever' about similar sections in other songs.
_________________

Torchy wrote:

Oh great, I've gone and turned it into another fucking "ROK BEND KUIK UR AZS LOSAR NEVORSAF SUX" board God damnit.

[Beedlebub]

Great guide. Well written, Lengthy, thorough, detailed, and very helpful.

Also, I like the bit in 'Cheesiest Interlude Ever' about similar sections in other songs.
_________________

Torchy wrote:

Oh great, I've gone and turned it into another fucking "ROK BEND KUIK UR AZS LOSAR NEVORSAF SUX" board God damnit.

[Yewb]

I have to say, this is just about the most epic guide ever. Well laid-out, useful information... must have taken awhile

Seriously, good job.
_________________

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]

I have to say, this is just about the most epic guide ever. Well laid-out, useful information... must have taken awhile

Seriously, good job.
_________________

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.

[ThunderAlex]

This is really a great guide. It is very in-depth, and took surely much time. Great job on making this. And I like the similar parts for cheesiest interlude ever too...... I could never FC Closer because I make mistakes in the bass intro/outro....
_________________

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[ThunderAlex]

This is really a great guide. It is very in-depth, and took surely much time. Great job on making this. And I like the similar parts for cheesiest interlude ever too...... I could never FC Closer because I make mistakes in the bass intro/outro....
_________________

Accomplishments | My banners | Proud atheist | My Youtube
Wii FC: 438237975587 | | GH:GH rocks!

[joerod]

I didn't read this whole thing, but it look very informative. One suggestion though it to removes the "Most .... ever" parts from each section/header; it gets a bit annoying after a while ;)
_________________

[joerod]

I didn't read this whole thing, but it look very informative. One suggestion though it to removes the "Most .... ever" parts from each section/header; it gets a bit annoying after a while ;)
_________________

[Graf]

Epic thread title

Good job on this guide, I am sure it will help a lot of people, much like your other guide
_________________

[Graf]

Epic thread title

Good job on this guide, I am sure it will help a lot of people, much like your other guide
_________________

[Schmole]

absolutely BRILLIANT guide.

titles, information, all the above!!!

MUCH credit to you; im sure it'll help many a person
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My Accs. Thread
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[Schmole]

absolutely BRILLIANT guide.

titles, information, all the above!!!

MUCH credit to you; im sure it'll help many a person
_________________

[X] 600k Black Widow of La Porte --> BROKE 650k!!!
My Accs. Thread
My Youtube Page

[Ad134]

Best guide ever.

Seriously, it shows off Impulse's amazing talent of being a practice song.
_________________

Ad134's GH Accomplishments
Ad134's RB Accomplishments
The reason why Fast Solo A isn't charted completely accurately
Comprehensive list of Dream Theater songs and the likeliness of each one being in RB due to tuning, etc.

[Ad134]

Best guide ever.

Seriously, it shows off Impulse's amazing talent of being a practice song.
_________________

Ad134's GH Accomplishments
Ad134's RB Accomplishments
The reason why Fast Solo A isn't charted completely accurately
Comprehensive list of Dream Theater songs and the likeliness of each one being in RB due to tuning, etc.

[NovaXD]

I checked the notechart for Impulse, and the last red note you charted in the intro pattern is actually a blue note. So, it's like this:



Also, as a tip, the second part of the intro pattern (starting on the eleventh green note) has strums that are in line with the drums, I believe.

My tidbits aside, this guide is truly an awesome one, and you clearly worked hard on making it. Everything in this guide is spot-on, congratulations. From this guide, I may actually go back to Guitar Hero III and FC Impulse.

EDIT: And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII helped.

[NovaXD]

I checked the notechart for Impulse, and the last red note you charted in the intro pattern is actually a blue note. So, it's like this:



Also, as a tip, the second part of the intro pattern (starting on the eleventh green note) has strums that are in line with the drums, I believe.

My tidbits aside, this guide is truly an awesome one, and you clearly worked hard on making it. Everything in this guide is spot-on, congratulations. From this guide, I may actually go back to Guitar Hero III and FC Impulse.

EDIT: And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII helped.

[sonicboom139]

[sonicboom139]

[sgspecial]

This is nuts I cannot believe anyone would take the time you did for your guides. This is amaing and will help so many people.

It is great to have you and your walls of text in this community lulz

[sgspecial]

This is nuts I cannot believe anyone would take the time you did for your guides. This is amaing and will help so many people.

It is great to have you and your walls of text in this community lulz

[zsjostrom35]

Thanks for the compliments everybody. This did take a while to write (almost a week if I remember correctly); I'm glad that you like it.

[zsjostrom35]

Thanks for the compliments everybody. This did take a while to write (almost a week if I remember correctly); I'm glad that you like it.

[iSlak]

I've always liked Impulse's chart, but you sir, have made me fall in love. =]
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[iSlak]

I've always liked Impulse's chart, but you sir, have made me fall in love. =]
_________________

My Accomplishment Blog

[zsjostrom35]

[zsjostrom35]

[demonicguitar]

how long did it take for you to write that guy, seriously very epic guide. that can help many people on many songs, great work
_________________

Ready to tear up the GHAX Wii Leaderboards.....
GHAX Wii Overall Ranked 36th
Monday 8/5/08 I fc'ed 5 songs in 1 day
Going for TKAR FC

Something funny dharokk said in Stephit's chat while he was ripping ass at H18:
07:09 dharokk : whoa.. its like watching hard core porn.. just.. gh3 porn..

[demonicguitar]

how long did it take for you to write that guy, seriously very epic guide. that can help many people on many songs, great work
_________________

Ready to tear up the GHAX Wii Leaderboards.....
GHAX Wii Overall Ranked 36th
Monday 8/5/08 I fc'ed 5 songs in 1 day
Going for TKAR FC

Something funny dharokk said in Stephit's chat while he was ripping ass at H18:
07:09 dharokk : whoa.. its like watching hard core porn.. just.. gh3 porn..