- "Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass/Tutorial" also redirects here.
Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass as a life-business simulation video game can be confusing for new players and it has a long tutorial that could take days or weeks to complete. This is a complete walkthrough for the tutorial of Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass's Career whenever you are stuck during the tutorial. After that, your training wheels are off.
If you need additional help, see Instructions for anything in general, Minigames for minigame tutorials, and Districts to see what each building has.
Tutorial walkthrough[]
Starting a new career with a dream gig[]
Axel Steel and Judy Nails in the character select screen upon starting a New Career.
When starting a new game, you can choose between Axel Steel or Judy Nails as your avatar throughout your entire career mode. Once selected, you cannot change your character throughout the rest of your save file. Starting a New Career while you have a save file will override your only save file with a new save file.
Fret Frenzy minigame at the start of the game, playing a cover of "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath.
Starting off at the "Midnight at Woodstick", you start off playing a small [midi] cover of "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath in the the Fret Frenzy minigame (no score requirement first time), which is the usual 3-lane rhythm game that the Guitar Hero Mobile series is based on, with some changes. You use the 1, 2, and 3 keys to hit green notes, red notes, and yellow notes respectively as they come across the highway.
"It was just a dream. Today I do it for real."
After rocking out, your character then thinks to themselves, "It was just a dream. Today I do it for real." The screen then transitions to the main world hub where you are given a short small tutorial on how to navigate the hub and from there on, that is where the game begins.
District 7 walkthrough[]
The 7th District is the first district available at the start of the game where the player's character lives on. You'll be in this district for a while, learning the basic minigames and acquiring Cash for a Tour Bus to unlock new Districts.
Day 1: Rehearsing songs and playing at gigs[]
The world hub.
It is 12:00 and the first thing your character will be doing is rehearsing "War Pigs" at their home on 93 Slum Lane, playing Fret Frenzy once again and this time reaching for a high score. Landing a perfect hit gives 50 points. Getting at least 1 star in the results allows this rehearsed song to be played at Bars while getting at least 2 stars in the results allows this rehearsed songs to be at Clubs too.
Notice that you are playing with less notes in this real gig than in the dream? At lower-tier venues, you play the song at a lower difficulty level in Fret Frenzy. At higher-tier venues, songs will be played at a higher difficulty. You'll also occasionally see some notes that have stars on them which will be used during the Finale minigame afterward, which is button-mashing minigame to mash a single button to get the Rock Meter from Red to Green before time runs out. Star Power is used to give you a quick boost of Rock Meter energy when filling up your Rock Meter for less than a second for every Star Power unit you acquired in Fret Frenzy.
Starting a gig at The Dead Lion venue.
After rehearsing, it is 15:00 and the player heads to The Dead Lion venue, selecting Play Gig, to play their cover of "War Pigs" on stage in the Fret Frenzy minigame. Performing well earns Cash and Fame and you'll get a chance to increase its star rank. However, performing badly can Can and Fame.
End of Day 1.
End of Day 1. A lot of time has then passed since playing that gig and it is now 04:30 in the morning. When the day meter is completely red, that is when Axel or Judy is tired and must find a home or hotel to sleep for the night. Right now, they can only sleep at home to get some rest, dreaming about their fame and money, until it is 08:00 in the morning.
Day 2: Leafleting to earn Buzz at the cost of Cash[]
It is now Day 2, Tuesday. The Landlord phones about last night's performances. He advices the player [character] to publicise their career and perform again tonight.
The Leafleting minigame is now unlocked. Leafleting increases the player's Buzz stat which increases the audience at gigs. The player can either Leaflet outside The Dead Lion venue or wait to Play a Gig.
In the Leaflet minigame, the player throws leaflets at pedestrians who may be interested in participating in the player's gigs. However, avoid throwing leaflets at old ladies who are not interested in your gigs. This is not a legal activity meaning that you have a time limit until someone calls the cops on Axel/Judy and the player character must flee from the scene with the Left Soft Key before cops arrive (they can arrive at any time or not if you are lucky) or the player will be Fined and will have to pay it at the Police station or be jailed if no payments were made within 3 days.
- First time being caught, the Desk Sergeant only gives you a warning and a free pass, but don't make anymore mistakes.
- The more Fame you have, the higher the Fines will be. The more you are Fined, the longer the jail time will be if you don't pay it off in 3 days.
"Remember! More Fame + More Buzz = Bigger Audience!!"
After trying out your first Leafletting session and getting away from the cops, it is now 12:24 past noon and the player can do what that again to get more points to their Buzz stat, rehearse "War Pigs" at home, or wait to play another gig of it at The Dead Lion venue. But the more Buzz you obtained from Leafleting, the more people will show up at your gigs and the better star rating you'll receive at the end of the gig when you perform good in a big crowd. More Buzz = Higher Star Rating = More Cash. Spend Cash [leafleting] to earn more Cash at gigs.
Day 3: Busking to earn Cred and Cash[]
After playing your gig and sleeping at home till 8:00 a.m., it is now Day 3 (Wednesday), and congratulations! You will unlock your second song "I Love Rock N Roll" at the start of Day 3! To play this song in a venue or while busking, you first must rehearse this song at home and at least reach a rehearsed 1-Star Rating (to be played at 1-Star Bars) and up to a rehearsed 2-Star Rating is possible (to be played at 2-Star Clubs) on the first try.
Anyway, at the start of Day 3, your Landlord suggests that you should head down to The Rock Inn and see what must be required to play a gig over there. The Doorman tells you that you will need 49 more Credibility (or "Cred" for short) before you can perform a gig there as The Rock Inn requires 50 Cred at minimum to perform there and the Doorman will give you an old amp from the skip behind the stage for free.
The Busking minigame is now unlocked. You can choose a rehearsed song with a Rehearse level (Star Rating) of 1 or higher to play in the background while you play a series of three minigames during a Busk: Axe Solo, Guitar Spin, and Catch the Money, in that order.
- Axe Solo is a memory game where you memorize three sequences of five directions/numbers to attract the crowd.
- The second minigame Guitar Spin is where you spin the guitar around your body to attract more crowd members until the timer runs out and earn Cred.
- And finally after drawing enough crowd, you Catch the Cash thrown at you. Collecting as many Cash as possible until the timer runs out.
From here on out, you can do whatever you want to earn Cash, Fame, Creds, and Buzz. You can also buy guitars from the Flamin' Frets guitar shop or earn Legendary guitars by completing secret achievements.
Day 4 onward: Earn $2,000 for a Tour Bus[]
Day 4, Thursday. Your next task will then be to acquire $2,000 to buy a Tour Bus, which could take several to many in-game days to achieve depending on how well you make Cash. Cash can be acquired by busking and performing good at gigs but be sure to also rehearse and improve your songs to use better venues. Some venues also have other requirements to do gigs at them.
Also a reminder: Be careful not to spend too much money Leafleting for Buzz and bail as soon as cops are called! But the more Buzz you got from Leafleting, the more Cash you'll receive get when performing well at gigs and the more Fame you'll receive, so the cost of Leafleting is worth doing.
Tour Bus purchased! New Districts available![]
Learn how to record Demo Tapes[]
Once you can buy a Tour Bus (it'll be bought automatically upon reaching $2,000), District #4 will be unlocked north of District #7 along with your third song "Cherub Rock" (be sure to rehearse that). Your current position's shoe icon will be replaced by a Tour Bus icon and the time taken to travel between buildings is reduced.
Now that you have a Tour Bus, it's time to get a meeting with a Record Label executive. You'll need a Demo Tape of quality at least as good as the Record Label's Star Rating to impress him. Recording Studios are used for recording Demo Tapes and Singles. The Record Executives work at Record Label Offices and you'll need to pass the entry criteria before you're allowed in.
So, first thing you'll be doing once you have a Tour Bus is visit the 1-Star Studio Shabby Road in District #4 and record a Demo Tape. No matter how well rehearsed your song, the Demo Tape Star Rating won't exceed the stars of the studio. Recording a Demo Tape here costs $1,000.
How to obtain a Contract[]
Once you acquire a Demo Tape for at least one of your songs, you can use it to convince Record Label executives to give you a record Contract. Attempt to get a contract at the 2-Star Record Label Islet with your 1-Star Demo Taped song. As expected, a 1-Star Demo Tape song (regardless of its Rehearsal level or Fan Reaction) cannot be accessed unless it is a 2-Star Demo Tape or greater. The Record Label will suggest that you may have more luck with a different Record Label.
Districts #5 and #8 east of Districts #4 and #7 respectively will then be unlocked along with the song "Evenflow" (be sure to rehearse that too, and yes, this game titled the Pearl Jam song as "Evenflow" instead of "Even Flow").
When you have a record Contract, you can record Singles of your songs and they can then be released in the Shops. You will earn money for each record that sells.
Creating and releasing a Single[]
!["Once you have a record Contract, you can return to the [Shabby Road] Studio [in District #4] + record a Single." Your Record Label Exec also gives you a Tour Van to celebrate your first Contract.](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/guitarhero/images/3/32/GH3_Backstage_Pass_-_Garage_Record_Label_Tutorial_09_-_New_bus.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/135?cb=20230115002324)
Since the 2-Star Record Label doesn't accept your 1-Star Demo Tape, you can take your 1-Star Demo Tape to the 1-Star Garage Record Label located in the 5th District. The Record Label would like to see the performance of your Demo Tape's song at a gig (any available venue will do). After performing well at a gig, the Garage Record Label will accept your demo tape and give you a Contract. The better the performance, the better the Contract will be.
Once you receive your Contract from the Garage Record Label, your Tour Bus will be replaced with a "hot" Tour Van (time taken further reduced when traveling) and your next task will be to record a Single for the Garage Recording Label to release. Return to the 1-Star Studio Shabby Road in District #4 in the west and record a Single of your song, then finally, return back to the Garage Record Label to release your single in stores.
Once your single is released, the tutorial is completed! The final song "Woman" by Wolfmother and every other district (Districts #1 will be unlocked and your Tour Van will be upgraded into a Helicopter (to further reduce time to travel between distances).
Goals after the tutorial[]
From here on out, you are on your own to improve/rehearse the rest of your songs, unlock every guitar, and make more Fame, Buzz, Cash, and Cred to reach the 5-star venues! Fame, Buzz, and Cred attributes maxes at 1,000 and maxing each stats awards a new Legendary guitars. Try to find the methods to unlock every Legendary guitar.
The ultimate goal of the game is to achieve a 5 Star Rating at the 5-star venue Woodstick, the final challenge of the game where your character dreamed being a star at.