You can be heroes - Guitar Heroes, that is

By Josh Korr, Times Staff Writer
Published March 12, 2008

Are you ready to pretend to rock?

The Guitar Hero III tournament runs from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Apple Store at International Plaza in Tampa. You can win prizes including iTunes gift cards. Participation is first come, first served. (813) 354-3868.

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I used to think I was pretty good at Guitar Hero. Sure, I fell apart during the most wicked metal solos, but I had my share of 5-star performances.  

Then I saw a ridiculous YouTube video of someone finishing Through the Fire and Flames on expert level in Guitar Hero III, and was forever humbled. I'm truly not worthy. (Watch the insanity at tinyurl.com/3bbzrh .)

So I can't tell you how to be an expert Guitar Hero player or how to blow everyone away at Saturday's Guitar Hero III tournament at the Apple Store at International Plaza in Tampa. But I do have a few key tips that'll let you move up from easy to medium or hard level - and will have you impressing friends at parties in no time. (I can only assume that you, like me, have Guitar Hero parties).

Here are three tips to help you rack up higher scores and tackle the harder levels.

1. Strum up and down. Most Guitar Hero rookies start by flicking the strum bar down with their thumb or up with their index finger. That works fine when there are only a few "notes" on screen at a time, but on higher levels it'll leave you gasping to keep up. The trick is to pinch the strum bar lightly between your thumb and forefinger and alternate down and up strums - just like playing a real guitar. It's awkward at first, but will quickly become second nature.

2. Don't stretch to reach the orange button. Songs on the easy setting only cover the first three buttons (green, red and yellow), so you can keep your first three fingers in one place. But on the higher-difficulty levels, those pesky blue and orange buttons start popping up. It's okay to stretch your pinky here and there, but the real trick is to shift the position of your whole hand. When you see an orange note, instead of resting your index finger on the green button shift over so it's on the red button. Now your pinky will be resting on orange - no stretch needed.

3. Listen to the music. The better you know every beat and strum of the songs, the less you'll have to consciously track what's on screen. Download the songs and learn them inside out, and you'll be anticipating the next "note" in no time.

[Last modified March 12, 2008, 10:35:44]