Long notes

A red long note in Guitar Hero II.

Long notes (otherwise known as sustains) are notes or chords with a lengthy line/tail attached behind the note(s). These notes appear in every Guitar Hero video game.

The name of these lengthy notes differs per game but are also commonly referred to as sustain notes or sustained notes in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, Guitar Hero (iOS) (also hold lines), and later Guitar Hero Mobile titles. Other names include hold notes in the Nintendo DS titles, sustain notes, and longer notes in the Backstage Pass titles.

Gameplay mechanics

While playing long notes as normal, the player continues to hold the same fret button(s) on the line to accumulate more points to your score over time (which accumulates faster at a higher multiplier) until the end of the tail passes the target line. While a hold note is being sustained, pressing the whammy bar down will widen the line and lower the pitch of the instrumental track, but this does not accelerate the scoring meter, which is a common misconception of what whammy does gameplay-wise.

Starred long chord being whammied in Guitar Hero II.

During a Star Power phrase, whammying held notes multiple times will fill energy to the player's Star Power meter (this is always accumulate automatically in Guitar Hero Arcade due to lack of a whammy bar on its Enduro-AX Industrial Strength Guitar Controller). In Guitar Hero World Tour and onward, whammying held star notes while Star Power is active will fight the Star Power drain, allowing you to stay in Star Power longer.

Should the player strum again (excluding the Nintendo DS titles where strumming "whammies" held notes) or release one of the fret button(s) of the sustained note/chord before the end of the tail passes the target line, the colored lines will black out and the instrumental audio track will stop playing, preventing the player from accumulating additional points to their score but this does not break their note streak nor count as a miss in most Guitar Hero video games. Pressing any fret buttons to a lane right (or left in Lefty Flip) of a held single long note will also cut the sustained line but pressing any fret button to the left of a held single long note will not cut the note. However, pressing any fret left, middle, or right of a long chord will cut the sustain of a chord on all its frets.

During gigs in Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass and Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile: Backstage Pass on mobile devices, the player must release their key/touchscreen perfectly at the end of the tail to successfully register the longer note as a successful hit as well as the end of the sustain as another hit otherwise holding the key/touchscreen past the end of the tail or releasing the key/touchscreen too early would count as a mistake and all points gained from the longer note will be lost but Star Power units acquired on a longer note will be kept.

Extended sustains

A green extended sustain passing a red note, a yellow note, and a blue note in Guitar Hero: Metallica.

Extended sustained notes, or extended sustains for short, are a variation of long notes introduced in Guitar Hero World Tour alongside slider notes. Extended sustains are long notes with a lengthy line/tail that passes notes in other lanes. They appear on Hard and Expert difficulties.

A YB extended sustained chord passing an orange HOPO note in Guitar Hero: Metallica.

When playing an extended sustained note/chord, the player keeps those fret(s) held as well and pressing and holding the fret(s) of the incoming corresponding note/chord on their guitar (this will not break their combo as long as the incoming note/chord corresponds with their fret) and strum them (this will not cut the sustain unless if the player strums at the wrong time) or tap them if they are HOPO or slider/tap notes (optionally strummed).

Reverse extended sustains

Reverse extended sustained arpeggio from blue to red to green in Band Hero on Nintendo DS.

In Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero on console, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, extended sustains only appear on the left of incoming righter notes (or from right to left in Lefty Flip) but in Band Hero on Nintendo DS, Guitar Hero 5 Mobile in the song "Fame" by David Bowie, and Guitar Hero Live, extended sustains can also appear from right to left (left to right in Lefty Flip), commonly referred to as "reverse extended sustains" by fans.

The premise of playing a reverse extended sustain is similar as an extended sustain but from right to left (left to right in Lefty Flip). Even though the extended sustained note would be on the right, notes can to the left of the sustain can still be played without breaking the sustain of the extended sustained note breaking as long as the player is still in a combo. It's also possible to see notes left and right of the extended sustained note especially in Guitar Hero Live.

And as a tip, if the reverse extended sustain has a nearby HOPO note, if that fret was pre-held and is within the hit range after the reversed extended held note, the incoming nearby HOPO note will also be registered as a hit as it passes its target.

A B3 extended sustained note passing a B1 sustained note in Guitar Hero Live.

In Guitar Hero Live, while extended sustains can appear to the left or right of other notes (black or white regardless of its note color), extended sustains will never appear in the same lane of another note (e.g. a B1 sustained note will never pass a W1 sustained note or vice-versa). In B2 extended sustains for example (or W2 extended sustains), notes that can can appear next to B2 sustains are B1, W1, B3, and W3.

Footnotes

Games' manuals, tutorials, or instruction/help menus referring to these notes as:

^a "Long notes" in help menu's controls: Guitar Hero III Mobile, Guitar Hero III Mobile: Song Pack 1

^b "Long Notes (otherwise known as sustains)" in game manuals: Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, Band Hero on console, Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

^c "Sustained notes" in game manual or help menu: Guitar Hero 5 Mobile, Guitar Hero (iOS) (primarily "Hold Lines" in help menu but alternately "sustained notes" in its help description and challenges), Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Mobile, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Mobile.

^d "Hold notes" in Basic Guitar tutorials: Guitar Hero: On Tour, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, and Band Hero on Nintendo DS.

^e "Sustain notes" in Star Challenges: Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

^f "Sustain notes" in help menu: Guitar Hero 5 Mobile: More Music.

^g "Longer notes" in help menu: Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass and Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile: Backstage Pass.

Games with long notes but with no given name: Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile, Guitar Hero Live.

Other notes

^h Mentioned in Guitar Hero World Tour's new features guitar tutorial.