Whammy Bar Usage & Scoring

Whammy Bar Usage & Scoring

The Whammy Bar is a powerful, yet often underutilized, tool in your Guitar Hero II arsenal. Mastering its use can significantly boost your score, especially on sustained notes and during Star Power activations. Unlike simply holding a note, whammying adds extra points and extends the note's duration for a richer sound and higher score.

Basic Whammy Technique

The Whammy Bar is the black lever located on the body of your guitar controller, usually near the strum bar. To use it:

1. Hit a Sustained Note: The Whammy Bar only works on notes that have a long, glowing tail extending from them. These are called sustained notes.
2. Hold the Fret Button: Keep the corresponding fret button (Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, or Orange) pressed down after strumming the sustained note.
3. Manipulate the Whammy Bar: While holding the fret button, gently push and pull the Whammy Bar up and down. You'll hear the pitch of the note fluctuate, and see a visual effect on screen as the note's tail wiggles.

Each "wiggle" of the Whammy Bar on a sustained note generates additional points. The more you whammy, the more points you earn, up to the note's natural decay. Don't just hold it down or let it go; actively move it for maximum effect.

Advanced Whammy Strategies for High Scores

1. Maximizing Points on Sustained Notes

• Rapid Whammy: For shorter sustained notes, try to whammy as rapidly as possible to squeeze out every last point before the note fades.
• Controlled Whammy: On very long sustained notes, a more controlled, rhythmic whammy can still generate significant points without tiring your hand. Find a comfortable pace that keeps the note wiggling.
• Pre-Whammy Anticipation: Look ahead in the note highway for upcoming sustained notes. Position your hand to quickly engage the Whammy Bar as soon as you hit the note.

2. Whammy Bar and Star Power

This is where the Whammy Bar truly shines. Activating Star Power while whammying a sustained note offers a massive score multiplier.

• Star Power Generation: Collect Star Power phrases by hitting all notes within a glowing section. Once your Star Power meter is at least half full, you can activate it.
• Strategic Activation: The absolute best time to activate Star Power is immediately after hitting a long sustained note.
• The Whammy Bar Star Power Combo:
  1. Hit a long sustained note.
  2. Immediately begin whammying the note.
  3. While whammying, tilt your guitar controller upwards to activate Star Power.
  4. Continue whammying the sustained note for its entire duration.

By combining Star Power with Whammy Bar usage on a sustained note, you'll see your score skyrocket. The points generated by the whammy will be multiplied, leading to huge gains. This technique is crucial for achieving 5-star ratings and high scores on harder difficulties like Hard and Expert.

3. Avoiding Over-Whammying

While whammying is good, don't let it distract you from hitting subsequent notes. If a sustained note is followed immediately by a complex riff, prioritize hitting the riff accurately over squeezing every last point from the whammy. A missed note costs more than a few extra whammy points.

4. Practice Makes Perfect

Experiment with the Whammy Bar in different songs and on various sustained notes. Pay attention to the score feedback to understand how your whammy technique impacts your overall points. Songs with prominent sustained guitar solos or long held chords are excellent for practicing your whammy skills.