GHShredders

NOTE: I've since decided that different games have different timing windows.  My references to 1/2 a beat should be used as an example only.  Actual windows for specific squeezes will need to be determined on the fly.  I have been unable to locate specific timing information for any specific games.  If anyone can provide specific windows, that would be good to know

"Oh my god!  He can squeeze!  I'll never be able to beat him!"

Sound familiar?  Squeezing is one of those arcane magics that people seem to think makes the Earth turn and the sun shine.  In actuality, squeezing is a very straightforward concept that anyone can understand.  It does take practice, though.

Before I get into it, you need to realize that squeeze techniques will not change your score from 100,000 points to 130,000.  If you're lucky, it will change it to 102,000.  Squeezing is the final technique you learn to absolutely maximize your points after you've already exhausted all the other methods. 

You will get far more bang for your time making sure that you (in order) hit every note, activate at the proper time, and whammy every available tick of extra star power.  Those are the things that give you 10, 20, 30% improvements on your score.

So, what is squeezing?  It's a technique that takes advantage of the game mechanics to hit one or more additional notes while under star power.  That's right.  It's an abuse of the way the game operates.  To make like easier for those of us with little or no skill, the game doesn't require pinpoint accuracy on when you strum a note.  You can be a little late or a little early and the note will still count.  This (and ONLY this) is the reason that squeezing is possible.  You are intentionally utilizing this timing window to effectively increase your star power range.

Let's take a look at some very simple examples.  Note that I am not an expert and I don't squeeze in practice.  I may have some terms wrong.  Feel free to correct me.

Below is a typical 'path' picture of what an activation might look like:

Note that this particular activation can cover exactly six notes.  (I made this up, so don't bug me about SP times, etc.)  This also shows how critical proper activation is.  If you activate too early, you'll be out of the activation before the last note occurs.  Even so, it will, in  practice, be difficult to hit all the notes under star power.  But, let's assume you can do it.  So, this SP gives you 6 notes at 8x.  No squeeze is available.

Next:

Bummer.  We almost have enough star power to get all six notes.  Oh, well.  That last 3/4 beat of SP is just wasted, right? Nope.  Here is where you can squeeze an extra note in.  There are two ways to do it.  You'll need to learn both to be able to handle all the different squeeze combinations.

The first is very simple: Hit the last note early.  Yes!  It's as simple as that.  As I understand it, the note timing window is 1/2 a beat.  In my example, there's a note per beat you're missing 1/4 beat of SP.  So, simply hit the note early to get the points while you're still under star power. 

The second way is tougher.  You activate late and then strum the first note even later.  The path diagram looks like this:

You hold off on activating long enough for the SP activation to last to the last note.  But, you still want the first note to count, so you need to hit it even later, after you've activated.  The red color indicates the squeeze and how you're delaying the activation.

The last example combines both techniques:

The activation ends too early to do either one of the previous squeezes.  But, how about both?  Yes!  You're 3/4 of a beat short, but you have a full beat of timing window to play with.  You have 1/2 beat at each end.  The path would look like this:

The red shows the front-end squeeze, and the yellow shows the back.  See how delaying the activation by about 1/3 beat pushes the activation past that all-important 1/2 beat line?  Now, you can strum the final note early to pick it up.

These are just the start of the squeezes that are possible.  I am hoping this gives a basic understanding of what people mean when they say "squeeze" and how it's not going to generate oodles of points for you.  It's just a note here and there.  Some squeezes give multiple notes, but we're not getting rich off of it.