David Quarfoot passes out after over seven minutes of intense finger jamming. Contributed PHOTO

On Monday April 28th, 2008, history was made on campus. While most students were busy with homework or sleep, one man was on a mission, and he ultimately succeeded with great valor. David Quarfoot, a math and computer science teacher known to many as Q or DQ, accomplished what most guitar hero players can only dream of. The song “Through the Fire and Flames,” by the rather unknown band Dragonforce, is considered the most challenging song on this video game. Late Monday night DQ finished the song on expert difficulty, meaning that every note in the actual song is played. Unlike most songs in the Guitar Hero video game, which was released by Activision in late October, “Through the Fire and Flames” requires not only a sense of rhythm, but also great finger dexterity and the ability to recognize patterns that most are unable to see.

Guitar Hero 3 contains over 70 songs ranging from classic rock to recent metal, with some well known songs like “Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses, or “Slow Ride” by Foghat. The game is played on a plastic guitar, which has five colored notes that the player must hold down and strum as corresponding colored notes pass on the television screen. What makes “Through the Fire and Flames” unique is that it has not only an insanely fast tempo but also unfathomable solos in which a player might need to hit 50-100 notes in a few seconds, or else risk watching the meter—which drops as notes are missed—fall into the danger zone, thus triggering the failure of the song. “Through the Fire and Flames” is over seven minutes long, and during the course of those seven minutes one must strum nonstop in order to play the 3,730 notes in the song. When asked how the final run-through of the song went, DQ responded, “There were times that the notes were coming so fast that I wasn’t able to comprehend what was coming towards me, and my fingers seemed to move on their own.” With several weeks of practice, DQ was exhausted by the time he had finally finished the song. He said, “I want to retire, it’s like being a pro-athlete. I need to take a couple days off to heal the injuries.” The song requires perfect muscle memory, which takes a long time to build. DQ managed his time by taking turns playing with students in his dorm, Pratt. “The dorm had just gotten it, and they were obsessed. We balanced by taking turns, switching every half hour or forty minutes.”

While most Guitar Hero players cannot even make it through the intro to the song and assume it is impossible, DQ took a different approach. “The song was a science for me. I knew exactly what was going to happen next. I was also able to progress through the song rather quickly, practicing the hardest sections in order to keep the meter up.” DQ also knew precisely when to deploy star power, which is earned by hitting a series of star shaped notes that occur every so often in the song and allows the meter to rise faster when notes are hit correctly. “The dorm was shouting, ‘Use star power, use star power!’ but I simply shouted, ‘No!’ knowing full well I needed to save it for the Twin Solo.” DQ has fallen in love with the game Guitar Hero. “It’s one of the most addicting games ever created. It’s kind of fun because you learn about new songs. It also brings together two of my passions: video games and music.” DQ now has only one song left to beat, which is “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band. This, however, should prove to be little challenge compared to the Dragonforce song: it is not nearly as difficult.

As for DQ’s future, it will not be long before he achieves some other great feat. As he put it, “When I get this ultimate challenge in front of me, it’s all-consuming. If you don’t find new challenges, it’s like you’re not living any more. Challenges are what it’s all about.”