Dream Theater: Awake

Rating:
Summary: Dream Theater Awake Guitar tab book
Review: It's a good book but there are some mistakes in the tabs to the brigde to Erotomania, the notation is good. The songs have a good setup and the whole thing is worth five stars!!

Rating:
Summary: A few printing errors, so no 5th star.
Review: The quality of this transcription is very good, although there are few errors in the TAB (the bridge in Erotomania right after the first guitar solo is the most obvious.) however, the notation is acurate. A very handy resource if you are trying to master Petrucci's style and technique.

Rating:
Summary: Meticulously transcribed songs but lots of typos.
Review: The transcriptions in this book are first-rate but there are many typos in the tablature (notes on wrong strings or wrong fret numbers indicated). Position changes are sometimes not consistent - you'll find the same riff played in different positions, sometimes from one measure to the next. But overall the level of transcribing (subtle phrasing such as accents indicated, for example) makes up for the errors. Many of the keyboard parts are arranged for guitar, as well. The harmonic analysis also seems to be well-done, including harmony derived from keyboard and bass parts. With Petrucci's style you'll get plenty of practice with chromatic runs; use of a metronome is pretty much compulsory for this book to get things up to speed. I use this book a lot for picking exercises and working on speed. There are some 7-string parts, of course, so not having a 7-string can be a drawback, but there's plenty of 6-string material (I got a lot of use out of this book even before I broke down and bought a 7-string). A book this advanced could benefit from position markings and fingering suggestions in places, though. The ability to read music is also a plus for finding the tablature errors. With a lot of the riffs I've found it's useful to try them the way Petrucci phrased them, then do it the way I would play it. In the end I try not to get hung up on the subtle aspects of phrasing as we all interpret things differently, and of course Petrucci won't play it exactly the same each time either.

As for the 128th notes a previous reviewer was talking about, they are actually a typo (page 115, bar 1, beat 1). They should be 64th notes, otherwise beat 1 is incomplete. The tempo here is also pretty slow, and being able to play certain types of notes has no real meaning without an indication of tempo. Anyone can play 128th notes at m.m. = 1 (about 1 note every 2 seconds). I don't think that anyone who's actually practiced this material would say that it's easy. It takes a lot of work to not only get to this level but more importantly to maintain it. Let me put it this way: after playing for almost 20 years, getting a degree from Berklee, and becoming a full-time instructor - there are still pages in this book I'll probably never be able to play!

Rating:
Summary: Meticulously transcribed songs but lots of typos.
Review: The transcriptions in this book are first-rate but there are many typos in the tablature (notes on wrong strings or wrong fret numbers indicated). Position changes are sometimes not consistent - you'll find the same riff played in different positions, sometimes from one measure to the next. But overall the level of transcribing (subtle phrasing such as accents indicated, for example) makes up for the errors. Many of the keyboard parts are arranged for guitar, as well. The harmonic analysis also seems to be well-done, including harmony derived from keyboard and bass parts. With Petrucci's style you'll get plenty of practice with chromatic runs; use of a metronome is pretty much compulsory for this book to get things up to speed. I use this book a lot for picking exercises and working on speed. There are some 7-string parts, of course, so not having a 7-string can be a drawback, but there's plenty of 6-string material (I got a lot of use out of this book even before I broke down and bought a 7-string). A book this advanced could benefit from position markings and fingering suggestions in places, though. The ability to read music is also a plus for finding the tablature errors. With a lot of the riffs I've found it's useful to try them the way Petrucci phrased them, then do it the way I would play it. In the end I try not to get hung up on the subtle aspects of phrasing as we all interpret things differently, and of course Petrucci won't play it exactly the same each time either.

As for the 128th notes a previous reviewer was talking about, they are actually a typo (page 115, bar 1, beat 1). They should be 64th notes, otherwise beat 1 is incomplete. The tempo here is also pretty slow, and being able to play certain types of notes has no real meaning without an indication of tempo. Anyone can play 128th notes at m.m. = 1 (about 1 note every 2 seconds). I don't think that anyone who's actually practiced this material would say that it's easy. It takes a lot of work to not only get to this level but more importantly to maintain it. Let me put it this way: after playing for almost 20 years, getting a degree from Berklee, and becoming a full-time instructor - there are still pages in this book I'll probably never be able to play!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book, Very Few Errors - Only For Advanced Students
Review: This book is perhaps my favourite guitar tab book I own (out of the 25 or so I have). It is great for expanding on your technique, speed + accuracy, and left/right hand stretching/coordination. There are some very fast parts (one bar in "Lie" contains 4 semihemidemisemiquavers grouped together, which are 1/128th notes) which are difficult to master, but once you have perused through the book, it is extremely easy to play and seems to flow from your fingers like pure ecstasy. Awake is my favourite Dream Theater album, and is certainly a must have for any guitarist's collection. There are very few errors - I can only think of two offhand - the first being the bridge in Erotomania, where fret numbers where simply placed one string out in a few places, but this was easily noticeable if you've heard the song before. The second error was simply a bar line which was missed out in Caught In A Web, where the extra string (Caught In A Web is one of 3 songs on Awake which are 7-string songs - lucky I have one :) ) was drawn a little out of whack on one bar (only one bar, so who cares?). This book is a great addition to anyone's collection, so go and get it!!! (and a 7-string as well).

Rating:
Summary: The music from DT's third release
Review: This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I would recomend this book to ANY guitar player out there. While it may be a bit discouraging at first, this album has the MOST inspiring/impressive guitar work I have ever seen. This album and it's complexity will leave you speachless.