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Introduction
What started with Beatmania eventually evolved into a genreÏ
peripheral-based music gamingÏand we're here to talk about one
of its freshest additions. Activision's Guitar Hero: Aerosmith lets you
rock out with your plastic guitar out, and it's their first title in the
series which focuses on one group (three guesses as to which).
That's not to say you'll be smashing those colored fret buttons to
Joe Perry alone, since other artists like Cheap Trick, Joan Jett and
the BlackHearts, and Run DMC make their own appearances.
If you want to do them all justice, you'll need to play that miniature
Gibson Les Paul with style, and we're itching to help you learn how.
Beginners will receive advice on getting started, everyone can
benefit from tricks of the trade, and the most seasoned shredders
will enjoy to-the-point advice for each Expert song. Beyond what the
in-game tutorials provide, you'll be treated to alternative playing
styles, advanced techniques, and a few extra goodies on the side.
In this Guitar Hero: Aerosmith stratey guide, you'll find:
LEARNING to ROCK
//
Basic tips and strategies for
launching a successful rock career.
ADVANCED PLAYING METHODS
//
Keep up with Hard
and Expert with these advanced techniques.
CAREER WALKTHROUGH
//
Tips for completing each song on Expert difficulty.
Guide by:
Valerie Hilgenfeldt
¨ 2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. May not be sold, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, in whole or part, without IGNÓs express permission. You
may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. All rights reserved.
¨ 2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.
Page 1
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Learning to Rock
<<
Holding the Guitar
+ Hammer-Ons
Strumming Methods
+ Scoring Tips
Guitar Hero Glossary
>>
Holding the Guitar
Assuming that you're clear on how to insert that shiny
DVD and get your system started up, we're going to move
on to the pretty plastic guitar you finished unpacking. It
comes with a shoulder strap, and its use is recommended,
especially while you're trying to find out a comfortable way
to hold on. Different people play different ways, and here's
a few you can try out.
Fingering the Frets
The very top of your instrument is called the
"headstock," and the area right beneath it is where
you'll be tapping those colored fret buttons on its neck.
A good habit to get into is resting the butt of your palm
against the back of the fret area, and having your
fingers curl around underneath and to the front for
pressing the buttons. To paint a clearer mental picture,
this is akin to grabbing the neck from the underside
and trying to make a loose fist around it.
Pretending you're playing a real guitar while seated
is
one method, and you should have a stool or armless chair
to try it out on. When you sit down, make sure you're
comfortably upright. Your good hand (e.g., if you're right-
handed, it's your right) should be in the area of the strum
bar, while your other hand is supporting the neck (where
the fret buttons are located). As you're holding your
instrument, you'll notice that there's a curved indentation
on both sides, and you want to rest this curve on your leg.
Real guitarists normally rest their axe on the leg closest to
their strumming arm, but this is a miniature plastic
imitation, so you should put it on whatever leg you're most
comfortable with.
Many players start out with their index finger on
the top-most green fret, but this is strongly
discouraged.
You'll establish a habit that you'll have
to break when you get into Medium, Hard, and Expert
mode, so you should do things right from the start.
Settle your pointing finger on the red, your middle on
the yellow, your ring on the blue and your pinkie on
the orange. That's right, you're going to get your pinkie
into this whether you like it or not. Don't worry though,
as you won't really be using it that much till Medium at
least. Just be prepared.
If you want to stay seated but would rather go Ukulele
style,
you should take off the Les Paul and tighten up the
shoulder strap a bit. Your ultimate goal is to have the
guitar hanging from your neck, and resting either right
under or against the top of your chest. This might sound
painful, and it can be if you pull down on the guitar while
holding the neck, but some people love it. Your strumming
hand will usually be pressed against the body for
additional support (and neck relief), and you'll get to
pretend you're shredding Hawaiian style.
This might leave you wondering how you'll hit the
green, and that's simple. You'll slide your hand up the
fret board to move your pointer from the red to the
green. Once you've hit it, you'll move right back down
again to red. Practice this as much as you have to in
order to get used to it, and don't let yourself keep your
hand at the top all of the time.
Of course, real rockers do it standing up
, and you'll have to let out the shoulder strap all over again for this one. In
fact, it's good to let the strap out all the way, and then adjust it as necessary. In the end, you'll want the Les Paul to be
hanging around your stomach (or lower), with your fret hand supporting its weight. Your strumming hand will be hovering
around near the body of the guitar, but usually not pressing too hard against it. Some people will point the neck outward
while having the body pressing against their stomach, while others let it dangle. Play around and see what works best
for you.
There are countless variations and little changes you're bound to make in how you hold that Les Paul, and don't be
afraid to do so. There is no "right way" to play a guitar, particularly a plastic one, so you should do what's most
comfortable for you.
¨ 2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.
Page 2
Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs
Another method of fret-pushing is using hammer-ons and pull-offs, which are also referred to as HOs and POs. Their
use is detailed in one of the in-game tutorials, titled "Advanced Techniques," and it's recommended that you run through
it before starting to play. Though this isn't exactly an advanced player's method, you won't really see this in Easy mode,
so beginners may want to return to this section later on. Nonetheless, don't forget to try that tutorial!
Basically, hammer-ons refer to a low-to-high series of
note gems that are played from the left to the right,
and only require one strum at the beginning. Pull-offs
are the opposite, for they require strumming once on
a low note and then tapping the subsequent, higher
notes.
You can recognize both HOs and POs by looking at a
sequence of gems on your screen. First, we'll check
out HOs:
To start a hammer-on, you should hold down the fret
button for the very first, incoming note, and strum
once that note reaches the bottom. This is ordinary,
but what follows isn't. You won't strum for the
subsequent, halo-endowed gems, but you'll tap their
respective fret buttons instead. As in real life,
hammer-ons only require the guitarist to strum one
time for the sequence. Once the solid, non-highlighted notes reappear, you'll have to resume strumming.
Likewise, there's the PO:
This is the hammer-on's opposite. You'll hold down
and strum the first high note, and then simply tap the
brighter, lower notes that follow. Optionally, you can
hold down every fret leading to the first PO gem, and
then peel away (or "pull off") your fingers for the
subsequent ones. That's how things worked in the
first Guitar Hero, but it's too slow for the toughest
songs. Still, it's fun to do.
There's some in-depth info written about the crazier
HOPOs that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has to offer, and
you'll find it in the "Tapping That Fast" section. That'll
only apply to people who are really going all the way,
however; the average Joe won't need to sweat it.
¨ 2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.
Page 3
<<
Holding the Guitar
+ Hammer-Ons
Strumming Methods
+ Scoring Tips
Guitar Hero Glossary
>>
Strumming Methods
Now that you've got the frets down, we'll focus on the
strum bar, which is near the center of the Les Paul's body.
Every time you hit a note, you'll need to strum that bar like
a real guitar's strings, and there's more than one way to
do it.
Using Star Power
If you've ever played Guitar Hero before, you're
familiar with "Star Power" (AKA "SP"). Once you've hit
enough star-shaped gems, you'll be notified that your
Star Power's ready. Activate it and you'll increase your
score multiplier, plus your Rock Meter will get a boost.
The latter bonus can be especially useful if you're
about to fail out of a song, since it'll please the crowd
and save your butt.
A lot of people rest their thumb against the top of the
strum bar and press down whenever they need to
strike a chord,
and some get away with doing this
forever. On Easy and Medium, it's rather forgiving, but it
requires endurance and a lightning-quick yet feather-light
touch on higher difficulties. This lets you rest your palm
against the body, and enables using the Select button for
Star Power activation (which we'll get to later).
Outside of tapping those rows of stars (which are in
what we call "Star Phrases"), you can increase the
amount of Star Power you earn in another way:
whammying chords. When you see a SP gem followed
by a long line, that's a SP chord. Repeatedly tap the
whammy bar while sustaining that note to sap out
extra power.
Holding onto the slim area of the strum bar like a
guitar pick is another and more advanced method,
and
this is an excellent one to learn. It's also more challenging,
but it pays off in the long run. Specifically, you'll be holding
the thin plastic area of the bar in-between your pointer and
thumb fingers, and strumming up then down (or down then
up, if that's your thing) to hit the gems. This is as close to
real-life guitaring as hitting that clicky bar is going to get,
and will carry you through every difficulty in the game. You
won't need to up/down on every single note, but it's useful
for very repetitive sections.
When it comes to using this coveted ability, there are
two ways: tilting the guitar's neck skyward, or pressing
the Select button. Using the tilt method is fun, but it
can be a little finicky sometimes. Although tapping
Select is considered an advanced method, you should
try to get used to that, too. Review the "Strumming
Methods" section, and try to come up with a style that
lets you use your pinkie or ring finger to slide onto that
button. This is a great thing to grow accustomed to,
and you'll be glad you can use it when you're playing
more difficult songs.
No matter which way you hit that bar, there are various
ways you can pour power into it. Relying entirely on your
fingers is natural, but can quickly lead to cramping and
fatigue. The moral of this story: don't forget to rely on the other parts of your arm, too. If it helps, watch someone play a
real guitar and notice how their lower arm and wrist moves, and come up with your own style of mimicry.
School of Rock (Training)
While practicing your guitar-holding, fret-shredding, and strum-slamming earlier, you may have already played through
the Tutorials. If not, it's the best place for beginners to start. You should run through all four of them, even though one is
about multiplayer mode. The reason is simple: They're all ways for you to practice, and you need as much of that as you
can get. You'll unlock an achievement for finishing them all, too!
When it comes to more focused training, there's the "Practice" mode. This lets you test your mettle against any of the
songs you've unlocked, and you will become very, very familiar with this. By enabling you to replay the songs section by
section, and at any speed you choose, it helps you develop "muscle memory." Eventually, you'll be able to play the
toughest songs in the game if you're dedicated enough to repeatedly practice them.
¨ 2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.
Page 4
You don't have to access this mode from the main menu, either. If you're playing a song in the normal game and it's too
tough for you, pause your game and select "Practice." This will immediately bring you into the training studio with the
same song already loaded, and you can try it again and again without worry. When you exit, you'll be back at the song
selection screen.
How to Score
You're already familiar with combos, the multiplier, and Star Power, right? (If you're not, you should do a little
backtracking.) All three of these things will help increase your score, but you need to know what drives it in the first
place.
Whenever you successfully hit a note, you'll score some points. The amount you gain per normal gem is always the
same, but when you have a combo going, you'll inevitably increase your multiplier, which goes up to x4 on its own.
As if that weren't enough, Star Power doubles its effectiveness, so you can earn up to x8 the points under the right
conditions!
Outside of bragging rights, high scores will also earn you virtual cash, and you can read more about this in the next
section.
Printing Money, the Easy Way
In single player career mode, you're out to impress the
masses and earn yourself cash. You would think that the
better you play, the more money you earn, and this is
trueÏto a point.
Easy
$9,300
Medium
$18,600
Every time you complete a song, you're awarded a star
rating that depends solely on your overall performance. If
you did poorly, you'll likely get three out of five stars, and a
so-so paycheck. Do very well, and you'll get five stars and
the biggest amount of moolah possible. In following the
trend, you might think that getting a perfect rating on a
song would earn you even more money, but it doesn't.
Hard
$37,200
Expert
$55,800
In knowing this, you're aware of the "easy way" to make money. The amount of cash you're rewarded is strictly related to
your star rating,
not
the specific percentage of notes hit nor the exact amount of points earned. If all you want is money,
don't worry about perfection. Despite that, if you're determined to fill your pocketbook to bursting, here's the maximum
amount of money you can earn in each career mode (by five starring every song):
<<
Holding the Guitar
+ Hammer-Ons
Strumming Methods
+ Scoring Tips
Guitar Hero Glossary
>>
Know the Terms (Glossary)
Here's some of the terminology that will be used throughout this guide. If you prefer pictures, you'll find a couple at the
bottom of this section.
Axe
Slang for guitar.
Body
The widest area (the bottom) of the guitar.
Chord
Any long notes (appearing as a colored circle followed by a line) which must be sustained.
Combo
When you're hitting many notes in a row without any misses, you have a "combo" going.
There's a meter beneath the multiplier which keeps track of how many sequential notes
you've hit.
¨ 2008 IGN Entertainment, Inc.
Page 5
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