DDR Lesson One
The "Do's"
and "Don'ts" of DDR
Alright, let's start of with some of the basic ground
rules for playing Dance Dance Revolution not only for the first few times, but
for your benefit while you play up to level 9.
Preparation
- For both guys AND girls, make sure you're wearing
comfortable shoes. I STRONGLY discourage going in bare feet, not only for
sanitary reasons, but because you're going to need some sort of cushioning
between you and the hard metal platform. Your best bet is to wear running
shoes, because they provide good support, and your legs won't feel like
they've been trampled all over when you're finished.
Playing the Game for the first time!!!
- Okay! Looks like your ready to go! No matter what
mix you're playing, everything's pretty much the same for every mix in
regards to game play (except maybe DDR Max, but we'll get to that later). So
here are some things to keep in mind...
- One of the habitual things that ALL beginners do is
return to the middle of the platform whenever they aren't using a foot. This
can create SERIOUS problems later when you're playing harder, faster songs.
The way you should stand is placing your left foot on the left arrow and
your right foot on the right arrow. This keeps your feet in a convenient
position for almost ANY combination of moves, and it INSTANTLY gets rid of
the "beginners curse" of returning to the center of the dance
platform. Consider this your "ready position" when you start a
song or when there's a break in the steps.
- Another VITAL tip is when playing a song, make it a
habit of alternating the use of each foot for each step. What I mean is for
one step, use your left foot, regardless of the direction (unless it's
COMPLETELY awkward). Then for the next step, use your right foot to hit the
next directional button, and go back and forth with EACH STEP. The reason
for this is to get you in the habit of moving almost as if your were walking
(later running) and creating more of a fluid motion rather than a choppy
stomp-stomp motion.
- PLAY EASY SONGS!!!!! Songs are rated by
"steps" ranging from one (simple) to 9 (catastrophic). Usually,
"simple" songs contain slower music and BIG GAPS in between steps.
To tell you honestly, I'd start off with a two foot song, because they
usually have one step per beat (for those who are musically literate, every
quarter beat gets a step). And it's easier to keep time with a step every
beat.
- THE STEPS GO WITH THE MUSIC! Yeah! It's sounds
crazy, but it ACTUALLY WORKS! The arrows and timing go EXACTLY with the beat
of the music! So listen to the song! If you can tap your feet to the tune,
then you can definitely dance to it!
It seems that I went a little overboard with my first
basic lesson, and I haven't even started on the good stuff yet! But not to
worry, every few days there will be a new lesson here for you to observe and
learn from! Until then, keep dancin!
~Frost~
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