Entering the Codes
All cheat codes for Guitar Hero 3 are entered in the Cheats section of the options menu. To get to the Cheat section, go to "Options" and select "Cheats" from the menu. New codes are entered by selecting "Enter New Cheat" from the Cheats menu. Each part of the code is entered by holding down the indicated fret buttons and pressing once on the strum bar. The letters indicate what color button is held down on the controller. In order to enter (G), you would hold down the green button and strum the controller. In order to enter (GB), you would hold down the green and blue fret buttons at the same time and strum the guitar. Entering (GRYO) would require holding down the green, red, yellow and orange buttons at the same time and strumming the guitar. A correctly entered cheat will cause the cheat to appear in the menu, which allows it to be turned on and off by selecting it.
Cheat Codes
Two of the codes in Guitar Hero 3 make the game easier for the player, allowing them to cheat. Neither code will work in career mode, but will work in all other game modes.
The Easy Expert code decreases how precise the player must be with their strums, making the timing aspect of the game easier. The code for Easy Expert is (GR), (GY), (YB), (RB), (BO), (YO), (RY), (RB).
The No Fail cheat prevents the player from losing at a song no matter how poorly he or she is playing. The code to activate No Fail is (GR), (B), (GR), (GY), (B), (GY), (RY), (O), (RY), (GY), (Y), (GY), (GR).
New Modes
There are two additional gameplay modes for Guitar Hero 3 that are activated by entering codes.
Performance Mode disables the heads-up display while playing songs. Players using this mode must have memorized the notes and timing to complete songs. The code to activate performance mode is (RY), (RB), (RO), (RB), (RY), (GB), (RY), (RB).
Precision Mode increases the timing precision the player must have for each note to be considered correctly played. This makes the game more difficult because there is noticeably less leeway for note timing. The code to activate Precision Mode is (GR), (GR), (GR), (RY), (RY), (RB), (RB), (YB), (YO), (YO), (GR), (GR), (GR), (RY), (RY), (RB), (RB), (YB), (YO), (YO).
Unlock Cheats
New songs, guitars and characters are normally unlocked by buying them from the store. This takes a substantial amount of time. Players can cheat using codes and bypass the need to earn money in order to unlock these items.
All of the songs in the game can be unlocked by entering (YO), (RB), (RO), (GB), (RY), (YO), (RY), (RB), (GY), (GY), (YB), (YB), (YO), (YO), (YB), (Y), (R), (RY), (R), (Y), (O). The code to unlock everything in the game is (GRBO), (GRYB), (GRYO), (GBYO), (GRYB), (RYBO), (GRYB), (GYBO), (GRYB), (GRYO), (GRYO), (GRYB), (GRYO).