Master Dance Dance Revolution

Ever seen that crazy dance game in arcades? That's Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR, and with a little practice, you can be a master at it. Here's how to dance your heart out!

[edit] Beginners

Choose your song wisely. Look at the number of "feet" displayed on a scale of 1 to 10 at the bottom of the screen. The higher number of "feet", the harder the song will be.
Recognize that different songs can have a different tempo. This is rated in beats per minute, or BPM. The higher the number, the faster (and thus potentially harder) the song will be. Determine what speed you are comfortable with. Some songs change tempo during the course of play. All of these factors are displayed on the screen where you select songs.
Vary your selection. If you pick the same song every time, it usually annoys other players. Only do this if you are new to the game. To really improve once you start playing Light/Basic (yellow) and Standard/Difficult (Pink) difficulty, you should play a larger variety of songs to learn new patterns.
Use your knees to bounce with the character on the screen, or as the lights flash on the machine. Once you've gotten that down and you've moved to Light, you can begin to actually dance along with the beat before you finalize your song selection.
Don't return to the middle! This is very important. The tutorial shows the character standing on the middle (metal) platform, but to play any song harder than about 3 feet, your "ready" stance should stand mainly on the Left and Right arrows. The game does NOT penalize you for stepping on an arrow if there isn't one on the screen; with this posture you'll be much more prepared for the arrow patterns.
Use both feet! A lot of beginners will use one foot(usually their 'bad' one) only for one arrow. For example, a right-handed(or footed) beginner would use their left foot only for pressing the left arrow. Don't do this! I have seen this many times and it makes them look stupid! You must learn to use both feet on more than one arrow. It can save energy(when going Up,Down,Up,Down etc.) and WILL help a lot when you play on harder levels.
Learn to shift your weight as you step. For instance, suppose you are given the steps "Right Right Right." The best way to do this is to keep your weight on your left foot, while tapping the right button three times with your right foot. This avoids the common beginner mistake of shifting one's weight onto the right foot after the first step, causing one to have to hop to hit the right button again, and often being thrown off balance. Similarly, suppose one is given the steps "Right Left Right." This is best done by "walking" on the arrows, shifting your weight to each step as you hit it. This avoids the mistake of keeping your weight on the right arrow the whole time, which would make it easy to tap the left button but would force you to hop to hit the last right button. So if you were given "Right Right Left Left Right" and you started with your weight on your left foot, you should do the following: tap the right arrow, step on the right arrow (shift weight), tap the left arrow, step on the left arrow (shift weight), and step on the right arrow. Most of the beginner songs consist of steps that can be done by some combination of "walking" from arrow to arrow, and tapping an arrow if that step is repeated, and these are the techniques you need to learn before you can do harder songs.
When you first try it for the first time, try taping yourself. It's a great way to see how much you've improved! Then, after playing the game for a solid time, tape yourself again. When watching the beginning tape, don't criticize yourself. Watch the new tape and you'll see how far you really have come!
Do not learn to play just one song perfectly to show off! It may look good if you are playing a home game, but at an arcade, you get 3 tries. Playing the same song 3 times in a row will just show people you want to only show off! Step outside your comfort zone! If anybody teases you, ignore them. They were beginners once too, or they haven't ever played it! Never underestimate DDR. It's far from as easy as it looks!

[edit] Standard/Difficult

Use speed multipliers. Hold down the main button when you select your song, and an options screen will be displayed. If you like your songs fast, do 2X. If you like your songs average/fast, do 1.5X. Some players frown on speed mods just as some players frown on using the bar for support. It is important to remember that speed mods and the bar are there for your assistance; try not to use them but don't make yourself suffer.
Learn the difference between the steps. 1/8 steps are twice as fast as the "normal" beat of the song (say to yourself, "one and two and three and four and..."). A common step pattern on Standard is three notes at double speed (think, "one and two, three and four."). You'll definitely need to be off the middle of the pad to get these steps (see #5 above). Try to listen to and use the rhythm of the song, and gradually you'll master it.
Work on mastering 1/16th notes. These are even faster than 1/8th notes and are usually packed tightly together on the screen. Using Speed Multipliers to spread them out will greatly help your ability to "read" their rhythm (a straight run of 1/16th notes is counted "ONE-ie and ah TWO-ie and ah THREE-ie and ah FOUR-ie and ah," although you'll rarely see this pattern on standard; usually, what appears are groups of three 1/16th notes in a row. Count this pattern as, "ONE-ie and, TWO-ie and," etc.).
Practice crossovers. Crossovers are steps where you either have to turn your body sideways or cross one leg over the other to successfully "walk" along the steps. For instance, if you must hit "Left Down Right Down Left Down Right Down Left ..." then you should switch feet, using your left foot to hit the left and right arrows and your right foot to hit the down arrow (or vice versa). This will require either crossing your legs or turning your whole body 90 degrees to the right (making the steps analogous to "Down Right Up Right Down Right Up Right Down..."). Crossovers are the first of the more sophisticated stances.
Galloping is where you, well... gallop. It's rather like skipping forward. These are technically 1/16th notes grouped 2 at a time. (Think, "ONE, ah TWO, ah THREE, ah FOUR." You only have to step on the beat and the "ah", like "RIGHT - - Right LEFT - - Left RIGHT ...") #*You jump in the air and once you land one foot, you land the other on the opposite arrow immediately afterward. TSUGARU APPLE MIX (DDR Extreme US, DDR MAX 2 and DDR EXTREME arcade) and also COWGIRL (DDR MAX, MAX2, Extreme arcade) are great songs to master this.
Sometimes it's hard to see gallops in the middle of a stream of arrows. Using speed mods will make them easier to read, as will changing the noteskin to solo. The home version also has an option to use different colored noteskins, called Type2. These different colors making picking out gallops trivial.

[edit] Experts

Progress to even harder songs. Once you are comfortable with a lot of Standard difficulty songs, start doing some 6-foot Heavy songs. As you master the new moves that are required, you'll be able to move your way up to 8 footers, to 9, and then 10.
On really hard songs, using the bar behind you to balance can help a lot. Although its necessity is debated and frowned upon by some players, it could be useful. For Beginner, Light, and Standard, the bar really isn't required.
For your final song, try a hard song that you might not normally be able to finish. If you keep doing that, you will eventually be able to finish a new song, and increase your repertoire!
Try to learn some of the most complicated step patterns that you can do while "walking" or always switching feet. The song Rhythm and Police (4th mix) is an excellent one to learn slowly and work up - it contains most of the complicated step patterns that require no more than crossovers. The song Afronova (3rd Mix) is good for teaching more complicated stances, such as having to turn 90 degrees to the left to be able to hit "Left Up Right Left Down Right Left Up Right Left Down Right..."
Learn to use your heel as well as the ball of your foot. This technique is sometimes called playing flat footed. For instance, have the ball of your right foot on up, and the heel of your right foot on right. Now, assume you have the step pattern Up-Left-Right. Hit up with the ball of your right foot, left with whatever part of your left foot is easiest, and right with the heel of your foot. Since you move your feet a shorter distance, you expend less energy and move more quickly.
Try not to think too hard while playing! This may sound counter-intuitive, but it may be much easier to play when you're not thinking about playing! Your body will go for the notes more naturally if you don't think too much! It may sound crazy, but it could work for you.
USE PRACTICE MODE! If you have DDR for a home console, slowing down a song by a few percent can really help you learn especially tricky sequences in songs.

[edit] Tips

Set Goals & Challenge yourself. Start out on the easiest song, then work your way up to the top! The only way you can get better is if you consistently attempt more challenging songs and levels. Always play songs that are hard (like 1 foot above your normal level) so you can get better at it and eventually jump up to the next foot.
For extra practice, buy the home version game for Wii, Xbox or PS2. This will also save your hard-earned money- if you fail a song, you didnt just waste a buck! It'll pay for itself over time.
Get into the rhythm of the song. If you bounce to the beat, hitting steps at the proper time is much easier than standing stock-still and only moving your feet. Have fun with it and don't be embarrassed to keep a bounce in your step!
Don't be afraid to ask other players for advice. Most DDR players love helping out others to show off their amazing prowess at the game! Make sure you DON'T ask them in the middle of a song. That's very distracting!
Use the arrows as a guide. Occasionally let your own intuition tell you when to step on the arrows according to the beat of the music. Stepping to the beat will be more accurate than trying to time when the arrows visually get to the top of the screen.
On faster songs, try to lead the arrows. Look about half-way between the bottom of the screen where the arrows originate and the top where the step arrows are. This will teach you to predict based on the BPM of the song rather than on visual cues. This is a key concept.
If you are uncomfortable playing by yourself, bring a friend.
90 degree turns vs. double steps: When there are LUR, LDR, RUL, or RDL combos, there are three ways to do them:
- Use the relative foot (i.e., left foot for left pad and right foot for right pad) for the first step and your other for the other two while your weight is on your first foot. This is used when you can move your legs fast enough to get the last two with one leg, but usually isn't used by experts. This turns out as L(L)-U(R)-R(R)
- Use the opposite foot for the first step (i.e., left foot to right pad or right foot to left pad) and alternate feet for the other two. This ends up as L(R)-U(L)-R(R).
- Use one foot for both the left and right pad with your other foot on the up or down pad.
If you need the support of the bar, but own the home version of the game with a soft dance mat, you can put a chair backwards behind the dance mat and use the headrest as the bar.
Here are the different options you will see when you first start playing the game:
- Speed: Choose from x1, x1.5, x2, x3, x5, and x8. x1 is the original speed, x2 is twice as fast as that.
- Boost: Arrow acceleration. Arrows will speed up as they scroll along the screen.
- Appearance: Arrow visibility. You can mix up your arrows if you want. The options here are Visible, Hidden, Sudden, and Stealth. Visible is a default action. It basically doesn't do anything. You just see arrows. Hidden is when the arrows come up on the screen, but they disappear before reaching the top. Sudden is when arrows suddenly appear near the top. Stealth is when arrows are not at any time visible.
- Turn: You can make your arrows go 180 degrees (mirror), rotate 90 degrees clockwise (right), 90 degrees counterclockwise (left), or where the arrows will be all messed up (shuffle)!
- Scroll: Control how you want your arrows to come; up or down. Your options for Scroll are Standard and Reverse. Standard is when the arrows go up (which is standard). Reverse is when the arrows do down.
- Freeze Arrows: Arrows that you have to step on and freeze.
- Step difficulty: How hard you want your song to be. They have Beginner, Light, Standard, Heavy, and sometimes Challenge.

- The rest of this guide won't help you become a true true master until you've read this: Lastly, people who are REALLY GOOD at these music games like DDR, Stepmania, Beatmania, or even those drum games are usually musicians who actually have a sense of beat or are really into japanese pop music, trance, or techno. I'm not saying you have to love anime. Sure, techno and jpop may be associated with anime but the music is an entirely different thing. You want to know if you're into this type of music? Download some breakcore by The Flashbulb, or listen to some chiptunes by Aphex Twin. If you're looking to master this game, you'd have to at least be fond of really upbeat music like techno. It's almost an acquired taste and many people think that music without singing is weird, but that's just ignorance talking. Have you seen the way the experts dance on those machines? The real gurus actually close their eyes and feel every movement they make, and ENJOY it. When you enjoy something, you stop being self-conscious, and suddenly you can do anything in the world. Those people end up memorizing the steps, no matter how complex or quick they get. All the wonderful little trills and triplets are in those steps and you can stamp them out to your heart's content. It's their high, and they love it all. Who wouldn't love being able to work out a 500 note combo in front of crowds of people? If you're worried about the crowds, well, they either play at home, ignore the crowds entirely, or let the masses of oohs and aahs stroke their egos. This game can get you to feel like you're rocking out incredibly hard, like playing a freaking guitar solo. You have to enjoy it as heck. Music short-circuits logic and goes straight to your heart, so take advantage of this fact. And don't worry. Weight won't be an issue anymore since you'll quickly lose it once you've made it to expert levels.

[edit] Warnings

Do not fall! As stupid as it sounds, people have fallen and it is very embarrassing
Make sure the socks you wear for the basic home-version pads won't cause you to slip. Sweat can also complicate the pad's surface. Some people prefer to play barefoot as well. Either way, always use common sense, and be careful not to disturb others around you!
A belt is often helpful; with all the movement in DDR even well fitting pants or shorts can droop or sag.
If you do buy a DDR for the X-Box or PS2 be sure to buy a name brand dance pad (Konami) because the off brand pads can have very slippery bottoms.
Just like swimming, don't play DDR for about an hour after you eat or drink, unless it's a light snack or hydrating liquid (see below).
Don't distract or talk to players while they are playing! This could throw them off and be considered as rude. (Except some players can actually talk about their lives or even feel philosophical while they're dancing, which makes them super multi-taskers. Don't attempt to try this yourself though, until you're absolutely sure you can handle the stress.)
If you're a girl, avoid wearing a tube-top. Also don't wear really baggy clothing as this can get in the way of your movement.