Guitar Charts: Dos & Don'ts

Apologies guys; it's another video game post!
Fans of Guitar Hero & Rock Band will know that the guitar chart for a song can make or break your experience. Casual players probably won't care but fans playing on Expert would spend afternoons on forums bitching about overcharts, undercharts and instruments that aren't guitar charted to guitar. Granted that those heated debates died out with the popularity of the rhythm music game genre but ever since Clone Hero took off (a free Guitar Hero mod that contains all the music from GH/RB and a seemingly infinite supply of customs), the importance of good guitar charts is back.
So what makes a "good" chart? Well, it frequently comes down to opinion but I like to think there are some rules that players generally accept when defining a good or bad chart. These are the rules I tend to follow when making the call:

DO put fun over realism
This is one that some players will probably disagree with but for me, I would much rather play a chart that's fun albeit slightly inaccurate than one that's closer to the way you actually play it on guitar that isn't as fun as it could've been. Sure, realism is somewhat necessary in these charts as a guideline but here's the thing: Guitar Hero and other music game variants are video games, they are not real and will never be real. Trying to make them realistic is a futile exercise that only serves to please the pedantic and frustrate everyone else. If the chart would be more fun with HOPOs throughout the solo when the reality is there would be frequent strums or if the chords used have four notes in them instead of two or three, you best believe that 99% of the time fun trumps realism.

DO some research
OK, you've listened to the song a hundred times and you can already picture how it should be charted in your head...but is that REALLY how the song is played? Is that REALLY how it sounds or have you mentally filled in gaps that didn't exist? Does the riff go G-R-Y OY, G-R-Y GY or should it go R-G-Y BO, R-G-Y YB (if you can guess the song I just charted there from the notes alone, we should hang out more)? Trust me, you might have a great idea for how it's played in your head but if you have no knowledge about how to play the entire song, you're almost certainly going to make a mistake somewhere. Fortunately, it's easy to correct yourself. If it's a real song by an actual band instead of some meme remix then you can probably find a decent tab on Ultimate-Guitar.com and if it's a well known song, riff and/or solo then chances are there's a detailed video tutorial on YouTube. Hit the web and do some learning before charting your favourite song for the benefit of the fans who'll be playing your work. NOTE: This is mostly referring to mapping the notes to the correct pitch and whilst it does sound like it contradicts my previous point, there's no fun in playing a chart made by someone who clearly couldn't tell a chord from a trill.

DO know when to use instruments other than guitar
Sometimes, a song may have a section on a completely different instrument pop up in a guitar chart. It'll commonly be keys of some sort but could also be harmonica, strings or even percussion in some rare cases ("We Will Rock You" - Queen on Lego Rock Band). Some players will draw a firm line in the sand and say no instruments other than guitar in a guitar chart. Personally, I feel that there are examples where keys or strings can enhance a chart but there is no strict rule for when to use them, hence the wording of this Do. If the song has plenty of guitar and there's an introduction on a different instrument (e.g. the piano in "Hold The Line" - Toto or the strings in "Afterlife" - Avenged Sevenfold), you can probably just leave those out. However, if there's a killer organ solo later on and the guitar is just gonna be sustains or chord strumming (e.g. "Roll With The Changes" - REO Speedwagon or "Burn" - Deep Purple), you can go ahead and spice your chart up with those tap notes. Ultimately though, no guitar chart is ever ruined by NOT putting different instruments in whereas plenty have been soiled by including other instruments where they're not welcome.

DON'T take the piss when over/undercharting
This is not the same as "Don't over/underchart". Whilst it doesn't happen often, I accept that there are a few occasions where the occasional over/underchart makes a song a bit more fun, e.g. putting in a couple of extra HOPOs where there'd normally be a pause to make a section of a solo flow better or making 3-note chords into 2-note ones to avoid giving players a severe case of wanker's cramp in their fretting arm. HOWEVER, there's an incredibly fine line to tread here. If possible, stick to charting sensibly but if you do feel the urge to over/underchart, don't be a tool. Don't fill a song with ridiculous sweeping note streams where there are none just to make it a Clone Hero meme (a.k.a. the rhythm music game equivalent of YouTube Poop, a.k.a. Art Cancer) and don't be a coward who only charts every other note because they can't play very well.

DON'T focus on just lead or rhythm guitar
Variety is key when making a fun chart. Sometimes you can only play the cards you're dealt but if there are songs with lead and rhythm guitar from start to finish, you can take a mediocre chart and make it exceptional. A good example would be "Sultans Of Swing" - Dire Straits in Guitar Hero 5. Neversoft knew that the rhythm on its own up until the guitar solo(s) probably would've got dull quickly if not for the brief sections with a small riff or melody now and then to keep players on their toes. Likewise, if you compare it to some of the charts in Rock Band 3 (and Clone Hero) that focus on just lead instead of rhythm, you'll find that there are moments where you could be playing a good riff but instead have to wait. Variety spices up standard charts whilst still using the materials provided by the song and yes, whilst it might not be "realistic" to play both lead and rhythm, you can always reread the first rule for clarity on my thoughts about that. Save lead OR rhythm for the Guitar Co-Op bullshit, not the regular charts.

DON'T cut corners
Well, you've done it. You've just placed the last note on your chart and it's ready to play, right? WRONG! There's a little thing called QA (quality assurance) that professional charts in GH/RB games had to go through so that fans didn't end up purchasing songs with inconsistent riffs, calibration glitches, strums instead of HOPOs, poor audio mixes, visual bugs, broken notes, missing notes, extra notes or one of the many other problems faced with creating something for a video game. Don't be that asshole who puts out a chart for an amazing, underrated song that nobody else thought to make that's absolutely full of technical problems. I know you're excited to get your finished product out there but if you haven't at the very least quintuple checked it to make sure everything runs smoothly then buddy, you ain't finished shit. At the same time, DON'T spend so long polishing it and tweaking things that don't need changing that by the time you release it, several identical (if not superior) charts for the same song have already been released. Again, fine line to tread; such is the joy of being a charter!

DON'T use open notes
Don't use open notes in a guitar chart. Don't do it. Not now, not ever. Open notes are ugly and always pointless in guitar charts; most of the time, you can just use the green fret and the other times where a 6th pitch is needed can often by avoided with creative charting. Open notes in bass charts are fine due to how they differentiate guitar/bass charts and the visual of the open note paired with the lower pitch of bass feels more appropriate. However, unless you plan on doing two different guitar charts (with/without open notes) then under no circumstances should your guitar chart include open notes. No guitar chart has even been improved with open notes: Fact.


Bonus "Don't" to express my hatred of open notes in Clone Hero charts!
If you want more tips or opinions on what makes a good Guitar Hero/Clone Hero/Rock Band guitar chart, feel free to follow me on Twitch where I frequently stream Clone Hero and discuss the quality of charts as I play. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go take a shower as that shameless self promotion has left me feeling mucky.