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The art of the thumb.

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Total Posts
17
Timmehj
3 posts
Joined June 2012
Topic Starter
Timmehj
Hey!

I've been playing 6k for quite some time now, and recently made the decision to start 7k. Now my question is: How do you people use your thumb(s) when pressing the space bar?

Are you using it with one thumb exclusively? Do you use your thumb corresponding on which side the notes are dropping for (e.g. when the fifth and sixth notes are dropping, you use your right thumb) or do you alternate which thumb you use?

What are your opinions on using the mighty space bar?
Last edited by Timmehj , edited 1 time in total.
PlasticSmoothie
242 posts
Joined March 2010
PlasticSmoothie
I use my right thumb at all time. No real rational reason why except maybe the fact that I'm right-handed.

Spacebar is a must for me now. I miss it when I play 6k or 4k. =)
TouchFluffyTail
294 posts
Joined February 2012
TouchFluffyTail
I'm left-dominate in mania, which makes hitting some patterns in 7k really hard. Certain things in 8k are also pretty tough because of it. :(

Being able to dynamically use either hand gives you a huge advantage.
Yoeri
433 posts
Joined March 2012
Yoeri
I'm currently only using my left thumb, though I'd like to try and learn to use both thumbs. It seems more flexible.
Bobbias
1,447 posts
Joined March 2011
Bobbias
I use my right thumb exclusively. I'm right handed, so it just made sense to use my more dexterous hand for the extra key.

Like PlasticSmoothie, I have more difficulty with 6k compared to 5k or 7k due to the lack of spacebar. 4k isn't as big a problem for me just because I spent about 5 years playing stepmania before I switched to o2jam.
Hanyuu
2,223 posts
Joined February 2009
Hanyuu
Im weird? lol im also right handed but i allways used my left thumb to play. It allways felt more natural to me when starting playing and i never thought about which im using.

PlasticSmoothie wrote:

I use my right thumb at all time. No real rational reason why except maybe the fact that I'm right-handed.

Spacebar is a must for me now. I miss it when I play 6k or 4k. =)
Same here lol. Since playing 7k, 6k mode feels kinda empty and missing something. 4k Is still fine for me though :)
Timmehj
3 posts
Joined June 2012
Topic Starter
Timmehj
Hm, guess I should try learning to use either thumb dynamically :)
DuckRice_old
53 posts
Joined January 2011
DuckRice_old
I'm right handed, so I use my right thumb exclusively.

Personally, I don't think alternating thumbs really helps in any way. In games like osu!mania, pattern recognition plays a key role in improvement. As you play more, your fingers adapt to different key presses for, say, different chords. If you were to alternate thumbs, you would completely throw this muscle memory off, and improve at a slower rate.
Bobbias
1,447 posts
Joined March 2011
Bobbias

Louis wrote:

I'm right handed, so I use my right thumb exclusively.

Personally, I don't think alternating thumbs really helps in any way. In games like osu!mania, pattern recognition plays a key role in improvement. As you play more, your fingers adapt to different key presses for, say, different chords. If you were to alternate thumbs, you would completely throw this muscle memory off, and improve at a slower rate.
You're right that it would likely slow you earning down. But I do think that if someone kept up practicing both both thumbs they would have a higher potential skill level, provided they kept playing that way.
iantanye
33 posts
Joined March 2012
iantanye
I'm right handed but use the left thumb almost all the time. It might be a good idea to learn to use both because sometimes things are mapped in a way designed for a specific thumb. There are also spacebar jackhammers which are obviously much easier to play if you use both thumbs.
Bobbias
1,447 posts
Joined March 2011
Bobbias

iantanye wrote:

sometimes things are mapped in a way designed for a specific thumb.
It's actually difficult to create patterns that cater to one side over the other without unbalancing your whole chart in the first place.

There are patterns like this:


Which do favor 1 thumb over the other. But if you use only patterns that favor 1 side far more often, you end up with a map that feels unbalanced, and likely less fun overall in any case.

Something like this would be balanced using the same base pattern but extending it. Suddenly neither thumb is actually better. Ideally here you might alternate thumbs, but I wouldn't say it would be necessary.

iantanye
33 posts
Joined March 2012
iantanye
I don't mean that there are maps that favor one side as a whole, but specific parts that favor one side. Most parts of most maps don't favor any side at all.

For example:




All the notes that are not sliders would ideally be played by the same hand, so you'd have to switch thumbs.





Something like this would be a lot easier to play if you switch thumbs, and is designed with the intention of you switching.

I'm too used to using only one thumb, and sometimes fumble at spots that an ambidextrous thumb user probably wouldn't.
Bobbias
1,447 posts
Joined March 2011
Bobbias
The first one is relatively easy for the right thumb actually. All the center notes are on the same beat division. I'd have a much harder time hitting the holds there than I would the notes on the center column.

The second one though, I will give you that an ambidextrous player would have an advantage on. That second pattern is a real pain. Never liked patterns like that or this:

Or anything with consecutive chords using the spacebar and a note on either side are often a pain. I think that in general the difficulty of patterns using the center column like that is related to how fast the notes in the center column are, and the specifics of the pattern.

I would say that the only really difficult one out of these patterns, for example, is the top one:

But all of them would theoretically benefit from ambidextrous thumb use. And as the speed increases that benefit would also likely increase. But overall I wouldn't give ambidextrous thumb use a big advantage over single until you get to the REALLY high difficulty stuff.

EDIT: if you like these charts, check this post out: t/126614
iantanye
33 posts
Joined March 2012
iantanye
I can definitely agree that it doesn't matter for a beginner.
And thanks for that link.
[MY]Idiot
15 posts
Joined November 2012
[MY]Idiot
Those note patterns posted by Bobbias are pain-in-the-ass note patterns -_-
Still, I would use my tiny left thumb to spam and press them..

PS. I'm a right hander but using left thumb to play. I suit myself better in that way.
Doorknob_old
62 posts
Joined October 2012
Doorknob_old
Right handed, using left thumb for space.

I believe the key to high level playing involves being able to jack notes accurately without losing balance (of the hands) and timing. This includes using the thumb for space and if two keys are required to keep up the speed then that is by definition a good strategy.

Also about charts that seems to favor one thumb over the other, with practice the differences won't seem to matter as much.
Flight Zone
5 posts
Joined January 2013
Flight Zone
While I do agree that learning to play with both thumbs dynamically would make playing any song much easier in the future, the learning is much harder (you have to think about which thumb to use as opposed to assigning colours or rows to certain fingers).

I think you would have to associate doubles and triples patterns with either thumb, but that probably has a few exceptions where it doesn't work.

also I use right thumb only.
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