Ok, finally got some time to spend in Hyrule and Skyloft last night.

I am now passed the first three dungeons, acquired the harp, and fixed the little heli-robot in search of the missing fan. I have 11.25 hearts, can hold 1100 rupees, have the heart and treasure medals, captured almost every type of upgrading item, and seriously loving this game.

I will probably throw a few more hours to it tonight, but I will focus on the night time extra events in skyloft and then go for the fan.

How did you get up to 1100? I capped out at 9, though i'll admit not seeing the point in giving gratitude crystals to the bat-man.

You get a max of 5000 rupees eventually - if you are kind. I would recommend helping Batreaux not just for the rewards, but because the sidequests are generally interesting and worthwhile in their own right.

On another note, I am playing through the game again at the moment. The second quest beautifully illustrates the value of skill in this Zelda; not because playing is difficult, but because it can be gracefull. The spin attack is the only move which is not directly mapped to the controller, the rest is merely a combination of simple moves. Yet issues such as timing, positioning, stamina, and enemy movements factor into things as well. As a result, combat is marvelously simple, yet rich, and it can be exploited to completely dominate foes. That is satisfying gameplay.

Now, i've acknowledged that i'm an utter failure at rhythm gaming. I never touched Guitar Hero or Rock Band in their heyday, knowing my embarrassing lack of rhtyhm, but this damn "Kina Duet" minigame is throwing me over a barrel

What exactly does the game want? Do i strum after the beat, or before? Even my Prima guide assumes the game is so basic as to give me no pointers...

Strum in time with the arm-waves. It's a bit tricky and requires memorization for some parts where she changes up the rhythm.

That's what i had assumed. Maybe I am just screwing up on the part near the end where she changes the rhythm

Perhaps the old standby i used in Punch-Out!!, where i just write the pattern down

Do the notes have to last until the next arm-movement?

No, just strum in time with their swinging. End when they end. There will be spaces of silence, a little.

The audience seem to keep the same rhythm for each section, so just strum back and forth in time with them (when they swing one way, you stum one way [doesn't matter which] and make sure to strum the opposite when they swing the opposite. There is no need to rush you strums as long as you are ready for the next arm swing.

At the end of each section I think I remember them doing a double time arm wave or two, but ignore it and just strum the same rhythm as you were.

After that bit i think they sit still for a bit while you get to do what you want, (I just strummed back and forth again, though swapped out some faster strums with slower, and tried doing half strums, it sounded ok-ish but I don't think it matters to the audience)

I think there were 2 sections of arm waving (each with a solo at the end) and the second one is a bit faster than the first, but just do the same as before.

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The controller seems to register strums based on the angle you are holding it... so it's possible to strum with it in the same position but just twisting (that position being on it's side with the back/b-button facing the TV screen is easiest to understand) i find it easier to keep my wrist straight, and bend my arm at the elbow through 90 degrees-ish so that the controller goes between b-button facing the screen, and IR camera facing the screen (always on it's side)

Oh, and if you found that bit hard, then the last bit where the game requires you to use the harp may get very annoying... it seems to take you back a step when you make a mistake, took me about 2 minutes to complete the tune.

All advice given seems to be making me do worse on that minigame. I need to teleport one of y'all here to do it for me, because i need that damn piece of heart...

Or has someone posted a video guide for what i should be doing somewhere?

It's exactly what I said. If you're having trouble truncating your notes, make your movements larger and more sweeping.

There is no heart piece for this minigame.