What helped me make the jump to Expert...

[muskett32]

Well, I finally was able to complete one song on Expert last night and I am almost getting through Hard on Solo Tour. I was one of those who fumbled with finger positioning and certainly did not think I would ever play any song on Expert.

What helped me was 1) Practice and 2) I find it easier to have my fingers resting on R-Y-B-O and a BIG key was to play G-Y chords with my index and middle finger, rather than the standard index and ring finger. I would say that is what made songs on Hard a lot easier and helped me muster up the courage to try a song on Expert.

Hope this helps anyone in my situation.

[SSPWOLF]

Great advice all the way around.

I just wanted to offer some different advice in case that doesn't work for everyone. I've seen people play like you are talking about and do great on expert, I've also seen a few other tactics too... so it's all about preference.

How I made the jump to expert (which now I can get 90s on about half the songs in the game on expert) was to stop trying to find new ways to stretch my fingers and just stick with the same chords I did on medium.... but I learned to move my hand up and down without getting lost. It took a lot of practice...

but by keeping my fingers always spread the same way I can play anything except a G/O chord... which doesn't come up often and only requires minor movement when it does.

I can play a Y/O chord and then go straight to a R/B chord in a flash just by moving my hand, and the G/R/Y/B/O - O/B /Y/R/G HoPos get easier when you start doing finger slides instead of finger taps, (at least for me)

Whichever way works best, but just for me pesonally stretching my fingers all around never worked with me. I had to basically learn how to be able to move my hand all over and still be able to go right back to my "home" buttons without thinking about it. Probably takes more practice.. but now I can play any chord or note combination I've seen without having to think about it.

Still doesn't mean I can play on expert past the first half, but I'm getting better ;)

[Parodygm]

Nice. Yeah, resting on that "second position" fingering is a big part of playing the upper levels and being able to slide back down to G-R-Y-B when necessary.

I would urge anyone looking to move up to Hard (possibly) and Expert (definitely) get used to both hand positions and having those fingerings become second nature. It can take some time to get used to them playing in the R-Y-B-O position.

I'm not going to buy into G-Y with index and middle though. :p I do sometimes get a lot of benefit out of playing alternating R-B and R-O sections with index and ring finger (rather than pinky for the Oranges).

[daneish7]

Slide your hand to handle orange notes. Tilt your wrist slightly to handle G/O chords. Perfect alt-strumming. Play H/Os and P/Os as H/Os and P/Os.

[SSPWOLF]

Slide your hand to handle orange notes. Tilt your wrist slightly to handle G/O chords. Perfect alt-strumming. Play H/Os and P/Os as H/Os and P/Os.

Alt strumming is what's keeping me from being able to do the harder songs.

I do better playing Impossible songs on Hard than I do on "Celebrity Skin" on expert... just because I can't alt strum worth a damn.

Any song on expert that doesn't require alt strumming.. I do excellent at.

Bleh, my work's cut out for me.

[erickOnasis412]

^^ i was just about to mention, make sure you guys practice down and up strumming for the fast parts.. it'll save you a lot of pain and sore arms as well!

it is quite tricky to get the hang of but practicing a little bit will definitely make alot of sections easier.. and hammer ons and pull offs are a definite for the Expert difficulty.. the two trickiest things with that is moving your fingers quick enough and timing it all right.. with some practice though it's definitely achievable

[SORAL4life]

I also suggest to anyone on Medium still wanting to move to hard... try playing medium without your pinky finger... if you can learn to slide your hand on 4 frets, it will be easy to add in the orange once you get used to not using your pinky on blue

[will0220]

I don't have a set fingering, my hand just goes to wherever buttons need to be hit. I only use my pointer/middle/ring fingers to play unless there's a green/orange jump or chord, and I can get 95% and higher on every song except for the Timmy one because of that spilled bag of skittles guitar riff.

[Arinoch]

Sorry if this takes away from the thread, but as I've yet to play, how hard is Expert compared to, say, GH1 or 2? That there's a big jump to expert sounds rough.

[teh_roc]

I find its best to make the jump to another difficulty is to take a shot at bass. It gets you used to the speed without all the heinous chord work.

[Parodygm]

Sorry if this takes away from the thread, but as I've yet to play, how hard is Expert compared to, say, GH1 or 2? That there's a big jump to expert sounds rough.

I'd say it's probably generally less difficult although it has a difficult last tier. I just don't think there are anywhere near as many potential trip up songs along the way to the end.

[chupa]

Sorry if this takes away from the thread, but as I've yet to play, how hard is Expert compared to, say, GH1 or 2? That there's a big jump to expert sounds rough.

When I first got the game I was pretty sad to see how easy 'expert' mode was overall. But, then it occurred to me that after years of GH1-3 practice, it would be silly to expect it any other way.

Overall, I would say it ramps up slower than GH1-2 did on expert, but the last set of songs is definitely as hard as anything in GH1-2.

The one thing though, is I find playing on expert mode in Rock Band to actually be enjoyable whereas I find expert mode in Guitar Hero (especially 3) to be tedious.

[Badosh]

plus, it helps when expert isnt all that hard, compared to the other guitar based games

[ManOwaR]

If you can't switch down to the 2nd hand placement, you need to "unlearn" playing with your fingers there.

I did this by playing easy with just 2 fingers. Middle on middle key, and the pointy finger dealing with the other two buttons. After a few songs you'll be ready.

[SSPWOLF]

I agree with an above poster about playing bass.

I play bass on expert when I play online. Even if I'm playing with someone who is playing medium on guitar. I do this because it helps with the "muscle memory" thing.

I also can't stress enough how much this game TRULY is one of those "it'll just come to you" games.

I remember when I moved to hard the orange note kicked my butt all the time. I could get it if the song wasn't complicated and I saw it coming.. but otherwise I would miss it 3 out of 4 times. It was frustrating. Then one day I was playing and realized I hit a bunch of orange notes without thinking about it and I went "Whoa! I can do it!'


Just last night I was realizing how much better I'm getting on expert when I played "Highway Star" and got 100% on the solo and didn't even realize it till after the solo was done. I was like "Whoa... I never got 100% before and I always "try" really hard. This time.. it just came out. I know that's not a UBER solo.. but at my skill level I was impressed to get a 98% overall on Highway Star on expert.


Keep rockin' the more fun you have the better you'll get.

[willplayrockbandforfun]

all i did was learn where i was witht he buttons, took a lil while and learn to be able to slide down to orane just prefectly when needed(of course satying there when multiple orange notes come) but yea the slide rules

(stuck on lou gh3.... he always gets lefty flip!

[moreebolaforyou]

Maybe I have bad style or something, but I almost never upstrum except for long strings of notes that are very fast. I can do the really fast 3 strum thing on songs like celebrity skin on expert with all downstrokes just fine. I'll admit my arm can get tired, especially on songs like suffragette city and the queens of the stoneage one, but i just stick to it. If I'm feeling especially lazy I'll just strum up and down, and while I can do ok doing it that way, I'm much more accurate with all downstrokes.

[Nekura20x6]

I agree with the finger positioning advice. For me, using my middle finger on Yellow as the "home position" was what finally unlocked things for me. (I got that advice on Xbox's GH2 forum and it was the first time I was able to break into the higher level.)

moreebolaforyou: I use the same method to play. Unless there is a really long string of fast notes, I also seem to downstrum only. If it works for you, keep doing it! (I've been 5 starring Expert songs and am about 3 of the hardest ones away from finishing them all.)

[Parodygm]

Maybe I have bad style or something, but I almost never upstrum except for long strings of notes that are very fast. I can do the really fast 3 strum thing on songs like celebrity skin on expert with all downstrokes just fine. I'll admit my arm can get tired, especially on songs like suffragette city and the queens of the stoneage one, but i just stick to it. If I'm feeling especially lazy I'll just strum up and down, and while I can do ok doing it that way, I'm much more accurate with all downstrokes.

I only ever downstrum the small tight sections like in Celebrity Skin. But I alt strum the vast majority of Seven and the rapid sections of Creep.

[DesiredFX]

I stepped up to Expert the other day and I'm surprised at how well I'm doing. In GH games, I typically would flatline at 3 stars on almost any song on Expert.

In RB, it depends more on the song--I've five-starred some, four-starred more, and three-starred a couple.

Some of it is the game's take on what expert means being a little easier than any of the GH games, but some of it--and I can tell this from experience--is that I do better with the Strat than I did with any of the various GH guitars. I'm just more comfortable with it.

One thing that I've learned is that while certain techniques will help you get through songs, every song has its own "walking pattern" for your fingers. I use the RYBO "home row" technique for most songs, but sometimes it makes sense to go GRYB for stretches. Finding the ideal place to change between the two positions can make or break your score.

[jarjarisgod]

I also suggest to anyone on Medium still wanting to move to hard... try playing medium without your pinky finger... if you can learn to slide your hand on 4 frets, it will be easy to add in the orange once you get used to not using your pinky on blue

This was excellent advice! I've been struggling with making the jump from Medium to Hard on the GH series and now with Rock Band. After using your technique for maybe 5 or 6 songs on Medium, I switched back over to Hard mode and played through a few songs. There was significant improvement already.

I went from 4 to 5 stars on In Bloom, 3 to a sliver away from 5 stars on Maps, and managed to beat Electric Version after managing to only make it about halfway through previously.

So thanks a bunch for the advice! It made a huge difference.

[Joatmon]

what is alt strum?

[Mickey Buns]

To Strum up and down

[jenovan]

I also suggest to anyone on Medium still wanting to move to hard... try playing medium without your pinky finger... if you can learn to slide your hand on 4 frets, it will be easy to add in the orange once you get used to not using your pinky on blue

I have to thank you for this advice. I can 99%+ pretty much everything on Medium (95%ish on Vasoline and Enter Sandman :rolleyes: ), but even Maps was wiping me out on Hard... I tried this, and went through the first tier of Hard pretty easily :D

I also agree with that "sudden epiphany" idea... In practice, I was having trouble with the alternating-orange part on Maps, but after trying the method above, I whipped through that section no problem in Solo Tour without even consciously thinking about it. Crazy ^^;