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Dream Theater => Dream Theater => Topic started by: Skeever on February 02, 2021, 07:57:39 AM

Title: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 02, 2021, 07:57:39 AM
Here's an idea I had recently, which came from me wanting to really try and get better at guitar player than I currently am...

Once a week, we'll set a challenge to learn some bit or piece of a Dream Theater or DT-related song. This can be any instrument, and my intent is that the challenge can be broad enough to accommodate multiple layers of player. For example, a challenge will always be something accommodating like "Play any riff or part of the Glass Prison", and never as focused as "Play the Arpeggios in the intro of The Glass Prison". The idea is, there is surely something you could learn or play from most DT songs, even if it is not the hardest thing.

For the first few weeks, I thought we could keep it broad, simply "Learn Any Part of Any DT Song" . Make submissions each Monday. If people decide to upload a video of themselves playing the part or song, that would make it extra fun. I look forward to seeing everyone's submissions, and please feel free to ask questions if anything about this sounds vague or doesn't make sense. :biggrin:

Week 1
Skeever - Surrounded Solo (https://youtu.be/rDV3vbaE23g)
JiM-Xtreme - As I Am bass intro and verse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy4zGyEbUUU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Vmadera00 - The Astonishing (A Savior in the Square, I think?) (https://youtu.be/tquedaIj5IA)
Fiery Winds - Finally Free Acoustic (https://youtu.be/6Bg_xh401q4)
nikatapi - At Wit's End riff (https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY)

Week 2
JiM-Xtreme - Pale Blue Dot intro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTvLAxu0CxM&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Fiery Winds - Erotomania Solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r4P3NaSkNU&feature=youtu.be)
Skeever - Learning to Live Solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRD5BnBtRw)
nikatapi - Overture 1928 solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0)
Vmadera00 - Panic Attack riff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7mJhsOSW5Y&feature=youtu.be)

Week 3
JiM-Xtreme - Ytse Jam (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-jxkMfEor8&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Skeever - Learning to Live Solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrX4ivU34k8)
Fiery Winds - Erotomania Solo 2 (https://youtu.be/RJFs4Jf5JTY)
nikatapi - Barstool Warrior (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Pl4TAmSmM)

Week 4
JiM-Xtreme - The Dance of Eternity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=295tQDW0fQU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Skeever - 6:00 Verse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bjxMkIZrjc)
Vmadera00 - In The Presence of Enemies (https://youtu.be/7fwQ6o9WF68)
Elite - The Count of Tuscany (https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ)

Week 5
JiM-Xtreme - Octavarium (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PHsKWXUEio&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Vmadera00 - Surrender To Reason (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDzEuDij7-E)
Fiery Winds - Bridges in the Sky (https://youtu.be/ZTklUM5UjD8)
nattmorker - Regression (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mwA-77MTWI)

Week 6
JiM-Xtreme - Pale Blue Dot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B18mm6hiIpA&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
wolfking - Constant Motion solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqcsvtkuTI)
wolfking - The Ministry of Lost Souls solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1V92or60gg)
Skeever - Erotomania Solo 2 (https://youtu.be/QyLrb_8JLVI)
Fiery Winds - Stream of Consciousness (https://youtu.be/OO3Pcsmjoyw)
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on February 02, 2021, 01:14:37 PM
I'll give this a go!  :tup

I've been playing bass since 2004 and for the vast majority of that time, JM's playing has been a huge influence on me. However, since I'm not in a band currently I am quite out of practice these days. This could be a great thing to motivate me and really get me back into it.

I appreciate you making the first week's challenge nice and open to ease us in! Confident I will have something to upload and share before your deadline  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 02, 2021, 01:20:40 PM
I'm down. This sounds fun  :tup

I already know some DT stuff, but I will try to challenge myself and learn something new.

Note: This might be a thread for the musician section.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 02, 2021, 01:26:03 PM
Glad to see some interest! I'll definitely upload something over the weekend - remember, don't feel pressure to learn a full song or anything particularly difficult, just go at your own speed and how much or little feels comfortable for you! I'm personally going to work on just short 8-bar lead part from a DT song.

Note: This might be a thread for the musician section.

I did think of that, but I decided against it because I would like it to be really focused on Dream Theater's music as sort of the thing that makes the weekly challenge work. This way it might also reach even very casual players who are fans of the band and want to try something new, even if they're the kind of people who don't usually visit Musicians.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nattmorker on February 03, 2021, 10:21:20 AM
This sounds fun and interesting, I will definitely give it a try!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: RaiseTheKnife on February 05, 2021, 09:46:04 PM
I demand Trial by Combat! And I select DT89 as my champion to represent me!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 06, 2021, 05:26:13 PM
My challenge for this week I kept it simple and easy(not a lot of time to practice). Learned something from TA. Recorded a video but came out sloppy. Will try to record again tomorrow.

 :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 07, 2021, 06:19:14 AM
My challenge for this week I kept it simple and easy(not a lot of time to practice). Learned something from TA. Recorded a video but came out sloppy. Will try to record again tomorrow.

 :metal

Don't get too hung up on the video part - I'm sure getting a decent video and whatnot will come more naturally as the weeks of posting progress...

About to record mine.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 07, 2021, 07:06:22 AM
OK, here goes.

For week one, I decided to tackled to the solo of one of my favorite songs: Surrounded. The solo sounds faster than it is (because of the delay part) and is really more like a riff on the high strings, so it was the perfect place for me to start with the idea of playing lead guitar. The last part is still pretty hard, just because even after a week of practicing it every day I don't really have the stretches down perfect. But I'm glad to at least have things done at-speed, even if the solo was a bit sloppy:

https://youtu.be/rDV3vbaE23g

For next week's challenge - feel free to post some ideas if you have them. But while we're still getting started, I'm inclined to keep this open ended at least for the first few rounds.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Architeuthis on February 07, 2021, 09:43:30 AM
Nice job!  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on February 07, 2021, 10:52:25 AM
Great job Skeever, very tidy!  :tup

Here's my submission... The Intro and 1st Verse of As I Am: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy4zGyEbUUU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

I didn't want to get too crazy the first week as I'm a bit out of practice, but no doubt as the weeks go by my playing, mixing and video editing will steadily improve. But this round is just meant to be the warm-up, right?  ;)

Hope you guys enjoy, and I look forward to seeing what the rest of you can do!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 07, 2021, 11:29:57 AM
Great job Skeever, very tidy!  :tup

Here's my submission... The Intro and 1st Verse of As I Am: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy4zGyEbUUU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

I didn't want to get too crazy the first week as I'm a bit out of practice, but no doubt as the weeks go by my playing, mixing and video editing will steadily improve. But this round is just meant to be the warm-up, right?  ;)

Hope you guys enjoy, and I look forward to seeing what the rest of you can do!

Awesome dude! Those harmonics sound great. And yeah, what you did is perfect for this. If people want to get fancy with the videos, that's fine, but the goal is to practice our instruments, not our video editing skills, right?  ;D

Again, awesome job  :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on February 07, 2021, 12:31:41 PM

Awesome dude! Those harmonics sound great. And yeah, what you did is perfect for this. If people want to get fancy with the videos, that's fine, but the goal is to practice our instruments, not our video editing skills, right?  ;D

Again, awesome job  :metal

Thanks man! And I 100% agree, I don’t take the video editing side of things that seriously anyway. I just like messing around with captions and zooms :o
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Architeuthis on February 07, 2021, 01:48:05 PM
Great job on the bass Jim!  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 07, 2021, 03:58:32 PM
Great job guys! Surrounded is pretty awesome, and that bass on AIA sounds great.

Alright, here is my video. I went for some easy and melodic from TA. Didn't get a chance to rerecord so it's the sloppy video from yesterday.

https://youtu.be/tquedaIj5IA

On to next week  :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 07, 2021, 05:01:03 PM
Great job guys! Surrounded is pretty awesome, and that bass on AIA sounds great.

Alright, here is my video. I went for some easy and melodic from TA. Didn't get a chance to rerecord so it's the sloppy video from yesterday.

https://youtu.be/tquedaIj5IA

On to next week  :metal

Excellent job! I thought I would be the only one to show up with single coils heh.

That also remind me of a nice part that would be good level for me to try too, maybe I'll take a crack at it in a future challenge.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 07, 2021, 05:51:50 PM
It's the only single coil guitar I have, but you'll see more of my strat. Though for next week I have something else in mind  :angel:

It's an 89' strat, I couldn't believe I found it for the price I did and in such good condition.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on February 08, 2021, 07:01:30 PM
Great job everyone, I look forward to hearing more of your playing in the coming weeks!

I had meant to record a fresh take before the deadline tonight, but I'll go ahead and toss up a slightly older clip (next week my hair will be considerably longer :lol ).

It's a little sloppy at times and only phone audio, but I didn't want to miss out on the first week.

Finally Free (Acoustic intro) (https://youtu.be/6Bg_xh401q4)
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: fischermasamune on February 08, 2021, 08:20:06 PM
Cool idea, I enjoyed the partial covers.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 09, 2021, 06:13:27 AM
Great job everyone, I look forward to hearing more of your playing in the coming weeks!

I had meant to record a fresh take before the deadline tonight, but I'll go ahead and toss up a slightly older clip (next week my hair will be considerably longer :lol ).

It's a little sloppy at times and only phone audio, but I didn't want to miss out on the first week.

Finally Free (Acoustic intro) (https://youtu.be/6Bg_xh401q4)

Really cool!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nikatapi on February 09, 2021, 07:01:21 AM
Awesome stuff people, keep it coming.

Here's my attempt at one of the (in my opinion) most difficult riffs to get up to speed, from At Wit's End, along with a few mistakes and awkward face expressions included  :lol

https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY (https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY)
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 09, 2021, 10:29:19 AM
@Fiery Winds and @nikatapi - great stuff! FW's Finally Free intro had me thinking I might tackle the same thing eventually. As for At Wit's End, is that in standard?

I've added everyone's clips to the first post, and will continue to do so as the weeks progress.

For now, hearing no other advice, let's just keep it open-ended. As a bonus challenge, the only thing I will say is, consider tackling a part that might just be a wee bit too fast for you, and posting a little bit about what you did to get the part up to speed (or not).

Week Two Commences... NOW!

Please submit by 2/15.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nikatapi on February 09, 2021, 03:34:46 PM
As for At Wit's End, is that in standard?

That's in D standard tuning. I've not played it as it's on the album as i can't keep up with the alternate picking, but i've noticed that live JP also plays this part a little differently.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nobloodyname on February 09, 2021, 11:37:44 PM
What a lovely idea this is! Enjoyed all those videos.

Skeever, at the time of writing, the links for the Vmadera00's and Fiery Winds' videos are both the same in the main post.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: RaiseTheKnife on February 10, 2021, 05:19:37 PM
Killer job, Nikatabi!  Are you actually left-handed, or was the camera reversing the picture?
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on February 11, 2021, 12:02:08 AM
Ooh, this is fun! I'll join in later, but I missed this thread.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nikatapi on February 11, 2021, 12:42:06 AM
Killer job, Nikatapi!  Are you actually left-handed, or was the camera reversing the picture?

Wow thanks so much!
Yeah that's a camera thing unfortunately, took the video with my cellphone.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Volante99 on February 11, 2021, 11:19:21 AM
Oooh this sounds fun! I’ve been working on a few solo sections myself, I’ll upload when I have it pinned down. FINALLY I can show my DT playing to people who can actually appreciate  :laugh:
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Kotowboy on February 11, 2021, 01:17:00 PM
I could probably drum one of the first 4 songs off Octavarium :p

They're all in 4/4 or 6/8
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: kirksnosehair on February 12, 2021, 10:02:47 AM
Great job everyone, I look forward to hearing more of your playing in the coming weeks!

I had meant to record a fresh take before the deadline tonight, but I'll go ahead and toss up a slightly older clip (next week my hair will be considerably longer :lol ).

It's a little sloppy at times and only phone audio, but I didn't want to miss out on the first week.

Finally Free (Acoustic intro) (https://youtu.be/6Bg_xh401q4)


That was fucking sweet, man  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: kirksnosehair on February 12, 2021, 10:07:40 AM
Awesome stuff people, keep it coming.

Here's my attempt at one of the (in my opinion) most difficult riffs to get up to speed, from At Wit's End, along with a few mistakes and awkward face expressions included  :lol

https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY (https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY)


That riff is absurd and hard to play in time at tempo, but you definitely did it justice  :metal   The facial expressions are like bonus material  :lol   :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on February 14, 2021, 10:29:34 AM
Tough one for me this week! In the spirit of the challenge, I initially tried to get this one "wee bit too fast" part that I had never quite been able to play previously up to speed, and was hoping I would maybe be able to get there in time to record today.

When I had my first session towards the beginning of the week, the fastest I could play it was 30% slower than the recorded tempo, so I wasn't feeling too optimistic. But then, this gradually increased to 25% and then 20% as the days went by and by Thursday, I could play it up to just 5% slower than the recording, although slightly sloppily. Yesterday, I had a go at playing at full speed... but unfortunately it still felt just too fast for me, and it was certainly not good enough for me to be happy presenting it to you guys.

But I had a "fallback" idea in my mind, so when I sat down to record today and it became clear my first idea wasn't going to work out, I started doing that instead... but that also didn't work out, as I just couldn't get the right tone and technique down. So I started to panic a bit...!

But eventually I was able to lay something down, this was a part I learnt relatively recently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTvLAxu0CxM&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

I hope you guys enjoy it. My playing today is somewhat below my usual standards (if it weren't for the fact that we are doing this weekly challenge, I probably would have scrapped today's takes and come back to it another day) but in the spirit of the challenge it was important to me that I put something out there, so here it is!

Unless anyone has any ideas for a "theme" for next week's entry (which I am totally open to), then as far as I am concerned my first idea will roll over into next week... so we'll see if I can manage it by then  :D

I must say I am really grateful to Skeever for starting this challenge. I had been out of practice for a while before this started but this has got me right back into the habit, and the fact that I can feel myself getting slightly better each time I sit down to play something is really exciting to me.

So I hope this can continue for a while, and I look forward to seeing what you guys bring to the party this week  :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Architeuthis on February 14, 2021, 10:46:03 AM
Great job everyone, I look forward to hearing more of your playing in the coming weeks!

I had meant to record a fresh take before the deadline tonight, but I'll go ahead and toss up a slightly older clip (next week my hair will be considerably longer :lol ).

It's a little sloppy at times and only phone audio, but I didn't want to miss out on the first week.

Finally Free (Acoustic intro) (https://youtu.be/6Bg_xh401q4)


That was fucking sweet, man  :tup
Heck yeah, dead-on accurate!  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 14, 2021, 03:30:57 PM
I must say I am really grateful to Skeever for starting this challenge. I had been out of practice for a while before this started but this has got me right back into the habit, and the fact that I can feel myself getting slightly better each time I sit down to play something is really exciting to me.

So I hope this can continue for a while, and I look forward to seeing what you guys bring to the party this week  :metal

Good job! And I second the statement above, really grateful for this challenge, it's making me want to practice instead of just doodling around with the guitar.

I'll work on my video tomorrow
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on February 14, 2021, 04:58:23 PM

That was fucking sweet, man  :tup
Heck yeah, dead-on accurate!  :tup

Thanks!  :D

Great job on PBD, JiM-Xtreme, that's one of my favorite parts of that track and you killed it  :tup I certainly echo your sentiments that it's gotten me out of a rut of not playing as much as I used to. I've also got a couple parts that proved a bit too ambitious for one week, and this challenge has gotten me to actually set out to improve a bit more methodically.

For this week, I tried to tackle the "easy" solo from Erotomania. I isolated each of the fast runs (5-7 notes) and focused on getting them clean at 70% BPM and slowly working my way up. Not quite as polished as I would like, but way better than it was a week ago!

https://youtu.be/9r4P3NaSkNU
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 14, 2021, 06:04:49 PM
Nice job

Which amp are you using? Really like the tone.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on February 14, 2021, 06:35:27 PM
Thanks, I'm actually using a Zoom G5n pedalboard that does a decent job at modelling amps/cabs and effects. This particular preset simulated a Bogner Ecstasy Blue and an Ibanez Tube Screamer. I recorded it directly to a Zoom R24, then synced up the audio with the video from my phone using Reaper.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nikatapi on February 15, 2021, 03:31:49 AM
Awesome stuff people, keep it coming.

Here's my attempt at one of the (in my opinion) most difficult riffs to get up to speed, from At Wit's End, along with a few mistakes and awkward face expressions included  :lol

https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY (https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY)


That riff is absurd and hard to play in time at tempo, but you definitely did it justice  :metal   The facial expressions are like bonus material  :lol   :tup

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: ReaperKK on February 15, 2021, 07:28:39 AM
Awesome videos guys, I need to get something posted here

Awesome stuff people, keep it coming.

Here's my attempt at one of the (in my opinion) most difficult riffs to get up to speed, from At Wit's End, along with a few mistakes and awkward face expressions included  :lol

https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY (https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY)


That riff is absurd and hard to play in time at tempo, but you definitely did it justice  :metal   The facial expressions are like bonus material  :lol   :tup

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it!

I love that riff but my hand gets tired looking at it being played :lol
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 15, 2021, 07:47:11 AM
Great job to everyone so far! JiM-Extreme - you played that very well. ANd Fiery Winds, once again you've inspired me, I think I'll try that solo later on too.

I had a tough time with this week... Although I think I've got all the notes in there (aside from the first part), I'll probably take another week on this solo and see if I can't polish it up more for week 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRD5BnBtRw
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on February 15, 2021, 09:25:36 AM
So, this is open for further submissions? I' was confused, because the OP still says 8th of february :)
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nikatapi on February 15, 2021, 09:34:45 AM
Great job to everyone so far! JiM-Extreme - you played that very well. ANd Fiery Winds, once again you've inspired me, I think I'll try that solo later on too.

I had a tough time with this week... Although I think I've got all the notes in there (aside from the first part), I'll probably take another week on this solo and see if I can't polish it up more for week 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRD5BnBtRw

Nice one, interesting choice of tone!

Here's my video for the week, from the beloved Overture 1928:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0)
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 15, 2021, 10:45:59 AM
So, this is open for further submissions? I' was confused, because the OP still says 8th of february :)

Absolutely. Mondays are the deadline to share what you've worked on for the week. I'll change the OP.

Great job to everyone so far! JiM-Extreme - you played that very well. ANd Fiery Winds, once again you've inspired me, I think I'll try that solo later on too.

I had a tough time with this week... Although I think I've got all the notes in there (aside from the first part), I'll probably take another week on this solo and see if I can't polish it up more for week 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRD5BnBtRw

Nice one, interesting choice of tone!

Here's my video for the week, from the beloved Overture 1928:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0)

All I have is a single-coil guitar and a blues jr., with a boss pedal in front, so the tone is kinda what it is... will be switching out some gear shortly though  :biggrin:

Nice job on Overture 1928, I remember starting that one in High School, but didn't have the patience to get anywhere at that time.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on February 15, 2021, 11:49:07 AM

Here's my video for the week, from the beloved Overture 1928:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0)

Niceeee  :metal love it dude! One of my favourite pieces of music by the band ever  ;D
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on February 15, 2021, 02:03:31 PM
Cool, I like the Overture solo! My band once did a cover of that one :)

There's a bunch of stuff from DT I've learned in the past. I'll see if I can join in on the fun!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 15, 2021, 02:17:54 PM
Cool, I like the Overture solo! My band once did a cover of that one :)

There's a bunch of stuff from DT I've learned in the past. I'll see if I can join in on the fun!

The more the merrier!

Alright, disclaimer: Sound is pretty bad for my video. As I started recording today, I noticed something off with my guitar (I have not play it in a while). I decided to put new strings on it, hydrate the neck and give it some much needed love. Not sure what happened but now I am getting pretty bad buzz on my 6th and 7th string, I think the neck warped a little (which is pretty common with neckt-hru guitars). I tried masking it and I think I made it worse  :facepalm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7mJhsOSW5Y&feature=youtu.be

Anyways, Not sure if this falls under speed or technique challenge. I usually default to economy picking and it just doesn't work for me on this part. I tried to overcome that and get comfortable with Alt picking and I got the pattern, kind of. Still needs a lot of work but in the spirit of continuing this challenge, I am ok with uploading a bad video.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on February 15, 2021, 02:44:17 PM
I'm really excited about this. I have lots of practice video's on my computer from Dream Theater songs or parts of songs. I just have o figure out what I want to do for this particular challenge. There's a couple of songs I know right of the bat that I play somewhat often still. Maybe I'll just pick one of those to test the waters first :biggrin:
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: T-ski on February 15, 2021, 04:13:39 PM
Any recommendations for an easy riff a beginner could try? I’ve only been playing for 10 months.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 15, 2021, 05:31:55 PM
Any recommendations for an easy riff a beginner could try? I’ve only been playing for 10 months.

I've seen your videos from the "learning guitar" thread. you can try "Finally Free" -  Riff that starts at 4:00. Really simple and cool sounding.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nikatapi on February 16, 2021, 01:04:18 AM
Cool, I like the Overture solo! My band once did a cover of that one :)

There's a bunch of stuff from DT I've learned in the past. I'll see if I can join in on the fun!

The more the merrier!

Alright, disclaimer: Sound is pretty bad for my video. As I started recording today, I noticed something off with my guitar (I have not play it in a while). I decided to put new strings on it, hydrate the neck and give it some much needed love. Not sure what happened but now I am getting pretty bad buzz on my 6th and 7th string, I think the neck warped a little (which is pretty common with neckt-hru guitars). I tried masking it and I think I made it worse  :facepalm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7mJhsOSW5Y&feature=youtu.be

Anyways, Not sure if this falls under speed or technique challenge. I usually default to economy picking and it just doesn't work for me on this part. I tried to overcome that and get comfortable with Alt picking and I got the pattern, kind of. Still needs a lot of work but in the spirit of continuing this challenge, I am ok with uploading a bad video.

Great stuff, you know you have to give us more 7-string  guitar goodness! I think it sounds pretty great, indeed these alt picking parts are tricky for both muting and getting the perfect coordination between the hands but that was great.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 16, 2021, 06:47:37 AM
Good job everyone! I've updated the frontpage with everyone's submissions.

 I've been spending at least 15-30 minutes of my hourly practice routine each day working on the solo, and it's been great dedicating at least part of my efforts to a stretching toward something that I've always considered "too hard" for me. Let's keep this going...

Week Three starts today. We'll keep it open ended again. I may continue polishing my Week Two submission... not sure yet.

Submissions due 2/22.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on February 16, 2021, 08:55:17 PM
@Skeever, love that solo, and you've definitely got the foundation set, looking forward to seeing your progress! Glad I could inspire with my selection; at the start of this challenge I actually ran through the first half of the discography while at work and that solo just stood out to me.

@nikatapi, great work on those runs, it's a challenge syncing up both hands at those speeds!

@Vmadera, speaking of syncing up both hands, that sounded pretty good to me! Glad to see a 7-string as well, and as an aside, I'll just mention that ACOS is really fun to play.  ;D

@T-Ski, I think DT's greatest hit of all time (PMU) would be good place to start (intro to chorus at least).
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 17, 2021, 07:37:45 AM
Great stuff, you know you have to give us more 7-string  guitar goodness! I think it sounds pretty great, indeed these alt picking parts are tricky for both muting and getting the perfect coordination between the hands but that was great.

@Vmadera, speaking of syncing up both hands, that sounded pretty good to me! Glad to see a 7-string as well, and as an aside, I'll just mention that ACOS is really fun to play.  ;D

Thanks! Glad to hear it doesn't sound as bad as I thought. I'm still trying to pick the next challenge, maybe ACOS will make an appearance...  :P
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 17, 2021, 09:04:17 AM
@T-Ski, I think DT's greatest hit of all time (PMU) would be good place to start (intro to chorus at least).

The only thing I would add is - don't feel like you need to learn any full songs. DT can be really tough with a lot of relatively easy songs still having some insanely challenging parts. Don't get snagged on thinking you have to learn any more than the parts that sound like a doable challenge for you, keep it fun without feeling unattainable.

Speaking from experience as someone who put down guitar for a long time (at least this style of playing) for reasons similar to the above.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: T-ski on February 17, 2021, 03:03:59 PM
Thanks for the suggestions!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 18, 2021, 05:32:12 PM
Random question:

For these challenges, are we limited to DT material or are side/solo projects included? just wondering :justjen :huh:
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 18, 2021, 06:55:49 PM
Random question:

For these challenges, are we limited to DT material or are side/solo projects included? just wondering :justjen :huh:

I was thinking we should keep it to DT, since it's a DT-related challenge. But if you want to play something a DT member did on another album, I think that's OK. What does not feel as appropriate is playing something a non-DT member did on a DT adjacent side-project. So, for example, playing a JP lick from LTE or his solo album feels more "right" to me than playing a Roine Stolt part from the newest Transatlantic.

That said, if people want to try some new things after awhile, we could maybe broaden the challenge over that the Musician's sub. For now, though, I like considering this a "DT-related" challenge, rather than a general musicians one. I'm trying to keep it as broad as possible for all DT fans, so even someone who just started could feel comfortable sharing their progress on any part no matter how difficult as long as it's DT.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 18, 2021, 07:20:17 PM
Got it :tup makes sense, I was just wondering for the future. There's plenty of DT material I want to learn.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on February 22, 2021, 01:48:05 PM
Here's my submission for Week 3!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-jxkMfEor8&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

The lesson for me this week was, not to be overly ambitious. Over the last couple of weeks I've had so many different ideas of what to present for this and in almost every case, I've really underestimated the amount of work I need to put in to get it up to recording standard, especially given such a short period of time. Initially I wanted to go on to the next section as part of this video, but considering how much I needed to practice just to get this riff as tight as it needed to be, I figured I had done enough here.

But I just want to repeat what I said about this last week (and will probably continue to repeat every time I upload something) that I am really happy that we're doing this as it's given me that motivation I need to practice regularly and not make excuses, even in spite of having a busy life and work commitments. I hope this can continue for a long time!  ;D
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: RaiseTheKnife on February 22, 2021, 02:47:20 PM
That was awesome, Jim, thanks for posting.  Love your bass sound.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 22, 2021, 06:18:03 PM
Good work, JiM! I think it sounded good and didn't seem like you were struggling at all.

I had a similar revelation to you. I did the same thing again, hoping to polish it more. But, it turns out, one week is not the difference between being able to play triplets and sextuplets at 130 BPM. I think overall I did a better job, but certainly one week (where maybe the solo takes up about 15-20 minutes of my daily routine) wasn't the difference between getting the solo from 75% to 100%.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrX4ivU34k8

Next week, I'm definitely going to go with something simpler. Maybe just a riff.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on February 22, 2021, 08:53:52 PM
Great intro to Ytse Jam, JiM, really liked the tone.

@Skeever, you sound a lot more comfortable with the solo this week, nice work.

I can also 3rd the humbling experience, so I decided to stick with just a 7 measure section from Erotomania, one of my favorites I like to refer to as the Beethoven section:

https://youtu.be/RJFs4Jf5JTY

This took quite a bit of practice at 60-70% BPM in order to get smoothly transition from string to string ready to pull off with my pinky. Fortunately, I had plenty of time once I decided to scrap the insurmountable speed run leading up to it, let alone the ones after it.  :lol
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nikatapi on February 23, 2021, 01:03:50 AM
Love the work you people are doing, awesome playing by JiM-Xtreme, Skeever and Fiery Winds.
My attempt for the week is Barstool Warrior, with lots of mistakes in the transition of the riff, but i wanted to have something this week as well, so please be kind :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Pl4TAmSmM
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 23, 2021, 07:04:42 AM
Great job guys!

@Jim: Glad to see someone pulling out material from WDADU. sound good  :metal

@Skeever: Sounds good, sure improvement from last week  :metal

@Fiery Winds: Sounds good! Erotomania has some really cool parts and that's one of my favorites  :metal

@Nikatapi: Sounds great. I learned that riff when the album first came out and I remember playing it differently. I'll have to go back to it and check but sounds pretty good  :metal

No video for me this week  :\ Had a busy week with not enough time to record on the weekend. I practiced the "Heavy" part of Glass Prison's Restoration. Starting around 8:50 until right before the solo at 9:41. I started practicing just the ascending part of the pre-chorus, but realized how awesome that entire thing is. Hopefully I'll have a video for it for next week.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on February 23, 2021, 11:56:46 AM
Thanks a lot for the compliments guys, much appreciated! Love what you guys are doing also!

I'm already excited about my submission for next week and practice has begun  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on February 23, 2021, 02:06:33 PM
Great stuff guys! I've updated the frontpage.

@Fiery Winds - Awake was my first DT album, with that solo in particular being a major "oh shit" moment for me  :lol
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on February 24, 2021, 12:21:06 PM
I recorded something! (rough take, be warned)

I just need to find a way to show it to you guys, since I do not have a Youtube account (yet).



EDIT: Here it is! https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nikatapi on February 24, 2021, 02:57:20 PM
That's some tight right hand technique!
Awesome work Elite!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on February 24, 2021, 03:40:27 PM
My forearm hurts just looking at it, nice jobs!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on February 24, 2021, 08:50:20 PM
@Nikatapi: Nice job, those weaving spider-like patterns JP likes to write are fun to play.

@Elite: Glad to have another weekly participant, and I think you've made up for the first couple weeks with that endurance run.  :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: wolfking on February 28, 2021, 04:00:13 AM
I recorded something! (rough take, be warned)

I just need to find a way to show it to you guys, since I do not have a Youtube account (yet).



EDIT: Here it is! https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ

Nice rhythm hand technique.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on February 28, 2021, 02:08:54 PM
Well guys, here is my entry for Week 4!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=295tQDW0fQU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

Close one for me this week. I wasn't quite sure if I was going to get this one up to speed in time, in fact I didn't even expect to record it today - I thought I'd maybe see where I was at tomorrow and decide whether I was going to give this a go, or go with my "Plan B". But I sat down for a bit of a practice session this evening and, as time went by, I could just feel it coming together, getting increasingly comfortable at increasing speeds... and then I had this beautiful and exciting moment when I realised that I was ready, that I was in the zone. So, without even going up to my usual recording room (for fear of losing it due to a change of environment) I just opened up iMovie and hit record, and here is the result!

I have to say I'm quite proud of this one. This particular part has been probably my favourite passage of the track in question for years and years, but I never really had a reason to sit down and put the hours into being able to play it properly. But thanks to this challenge and the encouragement and support I'm getting from you guys, I did it and I'm so happy for it - I feel like my playing is reaching new heights! So grateful to all of you   ;D

Buzzing right now  :biggrin: bring on next week!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on March 01, 2021, 08:01:46 AM
Sounds awesome dude! I think that's my favorite part of the dance of eternity as well. Glad you are finding yourself able to meet your goals!

I did not have a ton of time to practice this week so I picked an easier part, even still I didn't want to waste any time on the video so I just played it without trying to do any background production or sync up with the actual audio track.

https://youtu.be/-bjxMkIZrjc
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 01, 2021, 06:19:00 PM
Good job guys!

Really like your Bass sound Jim, keep it up.

Skeever, good job, you guys are giving me ideas for future challenges.

Here is my video for this week:

https://youtu.be/7fwQ6o9WF68

I missed week 3, this week I started practicing a different song but realized I wasn't going to get it up to speed by today so switched last minute to ITPOTE.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on March 01, 2021, 07:26:33 PM
@Vmadera00: Nice job, that lick is one of my favorites to play to test how well my right and left hand are in sync.

@Skeever: Well done, I'll have to add that lick to my list to learn  :tup

@JiM-Xtreme: Great job, glad to hear you're making strides in your playing, it certainly sounded great.

Unfortunately, life got a little too busy this week and I couldn't get a video together in time, but thanks to Vmadera00 I dusted off my old 7-string and will be practicing on the wider neck for next week's submission.  :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on March 01, 2021, 11:57:59 PM
Thanks for the responses, guys! I have played that Count of Tuscany part before, but it's definitely some sort of endurance run. Once you got that down, it's actually not too difficult to do. I didn't film anything this week so far, but I'll get the 7-string (or 8) out as well :)

I recorded something! (rough take, be warned)

I just need to find a way to show it to you guys, since I do not have a Youtube account (yet).



EDIT: Here it is! https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ

Nice rhythm hand technique.

You should join too!

---

@Vmadera: Cool, good start! Now the rest of the song :biggrin:

@Skeever: Nice choice; 6:00 is lots of fun to play! And good job :) Why are you not playing along to the music though?

@JiM-Xtreme: that's great; that part is quite difficult on guitar as well, but it looks like it's way more difficult on bass. Nice job!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: kirksnosehair on March 02, 2021, 07:42:30 AM
I recorded something! (rough take, be warned)

I just need to find a way to show it to you guys, since I do not have a Youtube account (yet).



EDIT: Here it is! https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ (https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ)


For a "rough take" that was pretty solid, dude  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: kirksnosehair on March 02, 2021, 07:44:57 AM
Well guys, here is my entry for Week 4!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=295tQDW0fQU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=295tQDW0fQU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)

Close one for me this week. I wasn't quite sure if I was going to get this one up to speed in time, in fact I didn't even expect to record it today - I thought I'd maybe see where I was at tomorrow and decide whether I was going to give this a go, or go with my "Plan B". But I sat down for a bit of a practice session this evening and, as time went by, I could just feel it coming together, getting increasingly comfortable at increasing speeds... and then I had this beautiful and exciting moment when I realised that I was ready, that I was in the zone. So, without even going up to my usual recording room (for fear of losing it due to a change of environment) I just opened up iMovie and hit record, and here is the result!

I have to say I'm quite proud of this one. This particular part has been probably my favourite passage of the track in question for years and years, but I never really had a reason to sit down and put the hours into being able to play it properly. But thanks to this challenge and the encouragement and support I'm getting from you guys, I did it and I'm so happy for it - I feel like my playing is reaching new heights! So grateful to all of you   ;D

Buzzing right now  :biggrin: bring on next week!


That was badass, bro :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nattmorker on March 02, 2021, 11:51:13 AM
Hi everyone, I had a couple of rough weeks and haven't been able to keep track of this thread. Are submissions still "open" (in the sense that one can play any song)?

I hope I can follow the thread again. Great submissions everyone!

PS: Sorry if my message is confusing, english is not my native language.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 02, 2021, 04:25:21 PM
Hi everyone, I had a couple of rough weeks and haven't been able to keep track of this thread. Are submissions still "open" (in the sense that one can play any song)?

I hope I can follow the thread again. Great submissions everyone!

PS: Sorry if my message is confusing, english is not my native language.

I don't see why not. A new week starts today, not sure what the theme for this week is though.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on March 02, 2021, 05:06:38 PM
Yep, today starts a new week, and since people are having a good time with that, I think we can just leave it open indefinitely.

I will update the front page as soon as I get a chance - sorry, but been pressed for time in the past week or so.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on March 03, 2021, 01:57:05 PM
I recorded something! (rough take, be warned)

I just need to find a way to show it to you guys, since I do not have a Youtube account (yet).



EDIT: Here it is! https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ (https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ)


For a "rough take" that was pretty solid, dude  :tup

Thanks, man!
It's a part I've played many times before and it's a good part to play to keep that right hand in shape. It was a 'rough take', because I was thinking of what to record, because I wanted to join in and I recorded three different (parts of) songs and then stuck with this one. But I must say, looking back at it, it does look pretty cool. :biggrin: My thumb is doing some weird twisting here and there though.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 07, 2021, 03:18:49 PM
https://youtu.be/ZDzEuDij7-E

For this week I wanted to keep it melodic with a part I really like but never tried to learn for some reason. After uploading, I realized I could've done better. some transitions from note-to-note sound disconnected, and I missed a few slides that are played on the original.

I'll admit that I've been a bit discouraged to play lately, so I have not been spending enough time practicing. Let's hope for a better week. On to week 6!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on March 08, 2021, 06:58:56 AM
https://youtu.be/ZDzEuDij7-E

For this week I wanted to keep it melodic with a part I really like but never tried to learn for some reason. After uploading, I realized I could've done better. some transitions from note-to-note sound disconnected, and I missed a few slides that are played on the original.

I'll admit that I've been a bit discouraged to play lately, so I have not been spending enough time practicing. Let's hope for a better week. On to week 6!

Sounds great to me! You handled the quick runs well, and nice job with those hammer-ons at the end.

No submission from me this week - the Covid vaccine 2nd shot knocked me on my ass, so I missed a bunch of practice time. I will try and get what I'm working on ready for next week. 
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 08, 2021, 12:57:20 PM
https://youtu.be/ZDzEuDij7-E

For this week I wanted to keep it melodic with a part I really like but never tried to learn for some reason. After uploading, I realized I could've done better. some transitions from note-to-note sound disconnected, and I missed a few slides that are played on the original.

I'll admit that I've been a bit discouraged to play lately, so I have not been spending enough time practicing. Let's hope for a better week. On to week 6!

Nice job man! I love that part and you did it justice  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 08, 2021, 01:21:30 PM
Here's my entry for week 5!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PHsKWXUEio&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

Ok, so I should point out that I have pretty much known how to play this particular riff since the album came out... the only bit here which I've never been able to play up to speed before is 0:20-0:22. Although it appears quite simple I've always found it tricky to play that part in time and up to speed, and never really felt inclined to put in the time or effort to nail it. But once again, this is what I love about this challenge... it's really giving me the opportunity to polish up things I've sort-of learned to play in the past, but not properly.

God, this album makes me so nostalgic!! It was the first "new" album I heard after discovering DT. I was 16. Just hearing it takes me right back...
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 08, 2021, 05:47:29 PM
Here's my entry for week 5!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PHsKWXUEio&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

Ok, so I should point out that I have pretty much known how to play this particular riff since the album came out... the only bit here which I've never been able to play up to speed before is 0:20-0:22. Although it appears quite simple I've always found it tricky to play that part in time and up to speed, and never really felt inclined to put in the time or effort to nail it. But once again, this is what I love about this challenge... it's really giving me the opportunity to polish up things I've sort-of learned to play in the past, but not properly.

God, this album makes me so nostalgic!! It was the first "new" album I heard after discovering DT. I was 16. Just hearing it takes me right back...

I've been rediscovering Octavarium lately, really great album and song.

Your playing is great as always. Very consistent week to week  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on March 08, 2021, 08:17:21 PM
@Vmadera00: Great job, you really nailed the basics of that solo, and those hammer-on runs were clean  :tup As far as discouragement goes, I feel you there, though I admit that this challenge has done quite a bit to keep me accountable to practice even just a little bit (just having my guitar out and on a stand ready to pick up and play made a huge difference for me). I'm my own worst critic, and if this challenge means anything it's turning my criticisms of my own playing (by my own standards and/or the feedback of others) into a goal that can be broken down into a series of attainable sub-goals. Our only comparison is with the musician we were yesterday, and I see improvement from every participant so far.

@JiM-Xtreme, excellent as always, your tone is great, and that's as much your technique as your gear. That section (and the one it leads to) is one of my favorite parts of Octavarium.  :tup

Like JiM-Xtreme, I also tightened up a song I mostly knew but was sloppy (still am in parts) and haven't played in a while (haven't pulled my 7-string out of its case for over a year!), so this was a great opportunity to brush up on my technique as well as develop more calloused fingertips in areas never touched on a 6-string  :lol.

I screwed up a bit in the chorus (wasn't originally planning to record that far) but I was really happy with how the rest came out so here's my intro (plus some) to Bridges in The Sky (https://youtu.be/ZTklUM5UjD8).
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 09, 2021, 07:16:48 AM
That was cool!

I was planning to play this for the same reason. When I first got my 7-string, this was the first riff I tried to learn, and after realizing how sloppy I was playing it, I gave up and didn't try again. Good job  :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nattmorker on March 09, 2021, 08:44:47 AM
My entry for this week, my take on "Regression":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mwA-77MTWI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mwA-77MTWI)

Maybe I'm cheating a bit because I already had the video, but I really wanted to participate in this and I've been really busy the last weeks.

I have have always find interesting to play/analyse the vocal melodies, also, I'm not a very good singer!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 09, 2021, 10:26:22 AM
Really cool!

Have you used the GeoShred app? Even the free version is tons of fun to play with.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on March 09, 2021, 07:36:41 PM
My entry for this week, my take on "Regression":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mwA-77MTWI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mwA-77MTWI)

Maybe I'm cheating a bit because I already had the video, but I really wanted to participate in this and I've been really busy the last weeks.

I have have always find interesting to play/analyse the vocal melodies, also, I'm not a very good singer!

As someone who "cheated" with his first video, welcome to the challenge! That was a really cool blend of two instruments that I had not even considered going into this challenge, so props to you for the arrangement and performance.  :tup

That was cool!

I was planning to play this for the same reason. When I first got my 7-string, this was the first riff I tried to learn, and after realizing how sloppy I was playing it, I gave up and didn't try again. Good job  :metal

Thanks! It certainly feels faster than it sounds, not unlike riding a rollercoaster vs. spectating from the ground, and that required a lot of slow bpm practice in an almost meditative state to keep my hands relaxed. Keep at it, it's certainly within your reach  :tup

I haven't decided what to work on for next week yet, but I can't thank Skeever enough for getting the ball rolling on this, you and all the participants here have encouraged/inspired me to keep doing something that I love, but all too often let fall to the side for "more important" things.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: wolfking on March 14, 2021, 04:47:58 AM
Here's my entry for week 5!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PHsKWXUEio&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

Ok, so I should point out that I have pretty much known how to play this particular riff since the album came out... the only bit here which I've never been able to play up to speed before is 0:20-0:22. Although it appears quite simple I've always found it tricky to play that part in time and up to speed, and never really felt inclined to put in the time or effort to nail it. But once again, this is what I love about this challenge... it's really giving me the opportunity to polish up things I've sort-of learned to play in the past, but not properly.

God, this album makes me so nostalgic!! It was the first "new" album I heard after discovering DT. I was 16. Just hearing it takes me right back...

Bitchin'!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: wolfking on March 14, 2021, 04:52:07 AM
You should join too!

I don't have time much anymore to do videos but here are a couple of DT vids I did years back;

Constant Motion solo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqcsvtkuTI

Ministry short solo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1V92or60gg

Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on March 14, 2021, 03:33:42 PM
I started this last week before the vaccine kicked my ass, so technically I've been working this into my practice routine for about 1.5 weeks. That said I'll give it another week to see if I can get it a bit more smoothly. Hopefully one day I can play it as good as Fiery Winds  ;D

The bluesy part is deceptively tough!

Erotomania solo 2:
https://youtu.be/QyLrb_8JLVI
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 15, 2021, 07:56:44 AM
You should join too!

I don't have time much anymore to do videos but here are a couple of DT vids I did years back;

Constant Motion solo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqcsvtkuTI

Ministry short solo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1V92or60gg

Is that an authentic JPM100 on the Constant Motion video? A friend of mine was obsessed with finding one for years (authentic and not overpriced). He finally found one in 2018. Really nice guitars. Good jobs with those solos.

I started this last week before the vaccine kicked my ass, so technically I've been working this into my practice routine for about 1.5 weeks. That said I'll give it another week to see if I can get it a bit more smoothly. Hopefully one day I can play it as good as Fiery Winds  ;D

The bluesy part is deceptively tough!

Erotomania solo 2:
https://youtu.be/QyLrb_8JLVI

Really cool! Keep at it man. you have the main structure there, just need to clean it up a bit more  :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 15, 2021, 04:01:42 PM
So, week 6 I think we are on now?

Up until now, my submissions have all been parts of songs that I have either known how to play in the past, or had a vague idea how to play them and just polished them up for this. This week, for the first time I finally decided to have a go at a part I had never yet attempted to play.

So here's my entry for this week... it's Pale Blue Dot once again  ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B18mm6hiIpA&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

This part was quite fun to learn but whilst doing so, I was quite surprised to discover that JM actually skips one of the notes that the guitar and keys play. I really can't imagine why he chooses to play it this way (and it is definitely a choice - I have watched and slowed down multiple life performances on YT to verify), but to be honest if it was simply to make it easier I wouldn't blame him. The fingering of this part is incredibly awkward and caused such pain on my left wrist after only a couple of practice attempts. And of course, the fact is it is always going to be that much trickier for a bassist to play something like this...  :)
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: wolfking on March 15, 2021, 08:26:17 PM
You should join too!

I don't have time much anymore to do videos but here are a couple of DT vids I did years back;

Constant Motion solo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqcsvtkuTI

Ministry short solo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1V92or60gg

Is that an authentic JPM100 on the Constant Motion video? A friend of mine was obsessed with finding one for years (authentic and not overpriced). He finally found one in 2018. Really nice guitars. Good jobs with those solos.

I started this last week before the vaccine kicked my ass, so technically I've been working this into my practice routine for about 1.5 weeks. That said I'll give it another week to see if I can get it a bit more smoothly. Hopefully one day I can play it as good as Fiery Winds  ;D

The bluesy part is deceptively tough!

Erotomania solo 2:
https://youtu.be/QyLrb_8JLVI

Really cool! Keep at it man. you have the main structure there, just need to clean it up a bit more  :metal

Yeah mate it is.  Got it about 15 years ago now at a second hand shop for $400!  The store didn't know what they had, on the tag it had something like "Joe Petruni model.'  Best deal I'll ever come across in my life.  Was in perfect condition too.  And thanks.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on March 15, 2021, 10:06:23 PM
Wow wolfking, what a steal on that guitar! Also, that is some great shredding you've got there, but I'm impressed with your vibrato as well, great job  :tup

@Skeever, for only a week+, that's a great start! Keep at it and you'll flow straight through.

@JiM-Xtreme great job, my guess is maybe he omits that note for "chunking" purposes, breaking up what would otherwise be a continuous stream of notes, but your guess is as good as mine!

I didn't attempt anything ambitious this week, rather I learned the intro riff to Stream of Consciousness while adding the harmony (I'm not sure the official transcription, so I don't know if it's two guitars, guitar+keyboard) but I found it fun to add the extra note to the descending progression. Also, I really need a haircut but I kinda want to wait until I get the vaccine.

https://youtu.be/OO3Pcsmjoyw
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 16, 2021, 11:58:50 AM
I didn't attempt anything ambitious this week, rather I learned the intro riff to Stream of Consciousness while adding the harmony (I'm not sure the official transcription, so I don't know if it's two guitars, guitar+keyboard) but I found it fun to add the extra note to the descending progression. Also, I really need a haircut but I kinda want to wait until I get the vaccine.

https://youtu.be/OO3Pcsmjoyw

Sounds great dude! I really love that song.

Even though it's not really a song as there's no vocals... you know what I mean  :D

Whether that's the way JP plays it or not, it sounds really good. To interpret the parts as you see fit or put your own spin on them is totally in the spirit of the challenge, at least as I understand it. It's all just a bit of fun  :D
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 16, 2021, 01:27:48 PM
When I was in college, I wrote a 10 page analysis paper on Stream of Consciousness. The professor came back to me and told me he started listening to DT because of it  :metal Sounds pretty good though.

I think JP does a lot of stretching playing this. For example, going from the C# down to B, he would keep the root on the 5th string and just move down to the 3rd fret. The way you are playing it sounds good to me, you have the correct notes, which is all that matters  :tup :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on March 16, 2021, 11:13:30 PM
Sounds great dude! I really love that song.

Even though it's not really a song as there's no vocals... you know what I mean  :D

Whether that's the way JP plays it or not, it sounds really good. To interpret the parts as you see fit or put your own spin on them is totally in the spirit of the challenge, at least as I understand it. It's all just a bit of fun  :D

Thanks! That's definitely what I was going for this time around.

When I was in college, I wrote a 10 page analysis paper on Stream of Consciousness. The professor came back to me and told me he started listening to DT because of it  :metal Sounds pretty good though.

I think JP does a lot of stretching playing this. For example, going from the C# down to B, he would keep the root on the 5th string and just move down to the 3rd fret. The way you are playing it sounds good to me, you have the correct notes, which is all that matters  :tup :metal

That's awesome! This is one of my favorites too, I'd love to read that if you don't mind sharing.

After looking at JP playing it live, I definitely see how I made certain modifications in order to make the larger chords possible.

@Skeever, I put together an updated list of all the submissions so far, feel free to add it to the first post.

Week 1
Skeever - Surrounded Solo (https://youtu.be/rDV3vbaE23g)
JiM-Xtreme - As I Am bass intro and verse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy4zGyEbUUU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Vmadera00 - The Astonishing (A Savior in the Square, I think?) (https://youtu.be/tquedaIj5IA)
Fiery Winds - Finally Free Acoustic (https://youtu.be/6Bg_xh401q4)
nikatapi - At Wit's End riff (https://youtu.be/QLGVYY9xvdY)

Week 2
JiM-Xtreme - Pale Blue Dot intro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTvLAxu0CxM&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Fiery Winds - Erotomania Solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r4P3NaSkNU&feature=youtu.be)
Skeever - Learning to Live Solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRD5BnBtRw)
nikatapi - Overture 1928 solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDYzjycjk0)
Vmadera00 - Panic Attack riff (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7mJhsOSW5Y&feature=youtu.be)

Week 3
JiM-Xtreme - Ytse Jam (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-jxkMfEor8&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Skeever - Learning to Live Solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrX4ivU34k8)
Fiery Winds - Erotomania Solo 2 (https://youtu.be/RJFs4Jf5JTY)
nikatapi - Barstool Warrior (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Pl4TAmSmM)

Week 4
JiM-Xtreme - The Dance of Eternity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=295tQDW0fQU&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Skeever - 6:00 Verse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bjxMkIZrjc)
Vmadera00 - In The Presence of Enemies (https://youtu.be/7fwQ6o9WF68)
Elite - The Count of Tuscany (https://youtu.be/_w9CULxUEFQ)

Week 5
JiM-Xtreme - Octavarium (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PHsKWXUEio&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
Vmadera00 - Surrender To Reason (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDzEuDij7-E)
Fiery Winds - Bridges in the Sky (https://youtu.be/ZTklUM5UjD8)
nattmorker - Regression (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mwA-77MTWI)

Week 6
JiM-Xtreme - Pale Blue Dot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B18mm6hiIpA&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme)
wolfking - Constant Motion solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqcsvtkuTI)
wolfking - The Ministry of Lost Souls solo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1V92or60gg)
Skeever - Erotomania Solo 2 (https://youtu.be/QyLrb_8JLVI)
Fiery Winds - Stream of Consciousness (https://youtu.be/OO3Pcsmjoyw)
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on March 17, 2021, 07:55:22 AM
Done! Thanks for picking up the ball  :lol

Good job to everyone who submitted. JiM - I'm glad we've got a bassist here submitting. Watching you play is giving me a deeper appreciation of JM's parts, especially on the newer albums where I often can't hear whether what he's playing is that impressive or not especially given how chunky JP's guitars have become. Seeing is believing!  :tup
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 17, 2021, 12:27:49 PM

Good job to everyone who submitted. JiM - I'm glad we've got a bassist here submitting. Watching you play is giving me a deeper appreciation of JM's parts, especially on the newer albums where I often can't hear whether what he's playing is that impressive or not especially given how chunky JP's guitars have become. Seeing is believing!  :tup

Thanks, that's great to hear! Indeed, JM is fully deserving of the credit he receives as one of the greatest bassists on the planet, even though he never really goes out of his way to show off just how technical he can be. He just plays what is right for the song, providing the perfect foundation for the sound of the band as a unit. For that reason he is one of my greatest inspirations as a player, although I must confess my natural tendency is to show off a bit more...!

He does spend a lot of time doubling JP's riffs/rhythm guitar parts, so if ever you are struggling to clearly distinguish what he is playing it is a fairly safe assumption that that is what he is doing. But that in itself deserves a huge amount of credit, as a lot of these parts were clearly not written to be played on a bass guitar, and yet somehow he manages it!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Volante99 on March 20, 2021, 06:02:18 PM
Welp...here is my very humble attempt at the outro to Innocence Faded. There are about 147 mistakes, and I totally flubbed up the speedy ending run. But hey, fake it until you make it! I’d say I’m about 80% there.

As another warning, my “amp” is literally my head phone speakers attached to a cranked up Digitech pedal from 2003. So...it sounds a little rough.

I always loved this outro, reminds me of Journey/Neal Schon on crack.

https://youtu.be/5bsae50hMiI
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 21, 2021, 03:24:12 PM
Welp...here is my very humble attempt at the outro to Innocence Faded. There are about 147 mistakes, and I totally flubbed up the speedy ending run. But hey, fake it until you make it! I’d say I’m about 80% there.

As another warning, my “amp” is literally my head phone speakers attached to a cranked up Digitech pedal from 2003. So...it sounds a little rough.

I always loved this outro, reminds me of Journey/Neal Schon on crack.

https://youtu.be/5bsae50hMiI

That's a tough part to tackle, good job though. I'm sure that with some practice you can get passed those mistakes, but over all sounds like a good start  :tup :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 21, 2021, 03:31:42 PM
Alright, 2 videos from me this week. Since I didn't get a chance tp upload last week, I am uploading week 6 and 7 this week.

Week 6 - Take the time. Some obvious mistakes here and there, but really fun part to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvE_eKaLx_0

Week 7 - Illumination Theory. Some more mistakes here, due to lack of practice. I will probably stick with this one for next week if the challenge doesn't change. Even if the challenge changes, I will probably try to learn the whole intro for my own pleasure (the arpeggios are giving me some trouble).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBSz2lAeC9c
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 22, 2021, 11:37:28 AM
Welp...here is my very humble attempt at the outro to Innocence Faded. There are about 147 mistakes, and I totally flubbed up the speedy ending run. But hey, fake it until you make it! I’d say I’m about 80% there.

As another warning, my “amp” is literally my head phone speakers attached to a cranked up Digitech pedal from 2003. So...it sounds a little rough.

I always loved this outro, reminds me of Journey/Neal Schon on crack.

https://youtu.be/5bsae50hMiI

Sounds great to me dude, I'd be thrilled if I could play a JP lead anywhere near that well!

Alright, 2 videos from me this week. Since I didn't get a chance tp upload last week, I am uploading week 6 and 7 this week.

Week 6 - Take the time. Some obvious mistakes here and there, but really fun part to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvE_eKaLx_0

Week 7 - Illumination Theory. Some more mistakes here, due to lack of practice. I will probably stick with this one for next week if the challenge doesn't change. Even if the challenge changes, I will probably try to learn the whole intro for my own pleasure (the arpeggios are giving me some trouble).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBSz2lAeC9c

Great job on both, I really like both those parts. Good that you're all caught up now  :tup

Just uploading my entry for this week, it will be with y'all soon...
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 22, 2021, 12:55:14 PM
Back to WD&DU with me again this week!  :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZfzI-uAE_0&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

Apologies about the mixing on this one, I think my bass was a little loud going in.

This is another part I have never attempted to play before this challenge. However, having heard this song dozens of times over 15 years + since I discovered DT, it didn't take me very long to learn. I also think this is due to the fact that, having been doing this challenge for a few weeks, my chops are now in really good shape and I'm finding it easier than I expected to learn new parts, and play the parts I already knew how to play better than ever before. So let me reiterate my thanks to Skeever for starting the challenge off, and the rest of you for your participation and continued support. Let's keep this going  :metal

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm certainly ready to take things up a notch, and have each week's challenge be based on a particular song, album or theme for a particular week. I think it would be really cool and fun if we did things that way going forward, and that way it might seem more that we are all in it together. But equally, if the majority of people just want to keep it open I'm cool with that too. I certainly have no shortage of ideas for things to learn and practice over the coming weeks  ;D
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 22, 2021, 05:42:21 PM
Nice work! Love that song and you did justice to it :tup

I agree that maybe we should move towards themed challenges. Finding free time it's always the challenge for me, so I'll continue my best in keeping up  :metal
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on March 22, 2021, 06:34:33 PM
Nice work! Love that song and you did justice to it :tup

I agree that maybe we should move towards themed challenges. Finding free time it's always the challenge for me, so I'll continue my best in keeping up  :metal

I am totally cool if somebody wants to think of themes. The work/parent from home life has been really getting me the last few weeks though so if somebody else wants to pick up the ball from here at least in terms of coming up with challenges I am totally fine with that.

I gave myself a couple days in a row off this week so that I could just chill out and watch the Snyder cut lol. not sure this is as much of an improvement as I wanted it to be but at least I got the speed up and I will try it for one more week unless I get bored and lose the inspiration.

https://youtu.be/Xsvb_i_CZi8

Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nattmorker on March 22, 2021, 06:45:07 PM
Back to WD&DU with me again this week!  :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZfzI-uAE_0&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

Apologies about the mixing on this one, I think my bass was a little loud going in.

This is another part I have never attempted to play before this challenge. However, having heard this song dozens of times over 15 years + since I discovered DT, it didn't take me very long to learn. I also think this is due to the fact that, having been doing this challenge for a few weeks, my chops are now in really good shape and I'm finding it easier than I expected to learn new parts, and play the parts I already knew how to play better than ever before. So let me reiterate my thanks to Skeever for starting the challenge off, and the rest of you for your participation and continued support. Let's keep this going  :metal

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm certainly ready to take things up a notch, and have each week's challenge be based on a particular song, album or theme for a particular week. I think it would be really cool and fun if we did things that way going forward, and that way it might seem more that we are all in it together. But equally, if the majority of people just want to keep it open I'm cool with that too. I certainly have no shortage of ideas for things to learn and practice over the coming weeks  ;D

Good choice and great playing! I like the notes you added on the B string. And yeah, it would be fun to do a particular theme each week. I'm up for that.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on March 22, 2021, 10:01:31 PM
Great job this week guys! Glad to see so many sticking with this, hope it's just as enjoyable to the viewers as well (please join in!)  :)

I'm definitely up for a more focused challenge as well! I'm not quite sure how best to select the theme/song, but I'll think about it and share any suggestions I come up with.

I apologize for having to skip out on another week; a routine dishwasher replacement required more extensive plumbing repairs and took up all my free time this weekend.  :sadpanda:

Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 23, 2021, 07:17:37 AM
Does anyone have any suggestion for a theme? it could be anything from

1) Play any part of "X" song
2) Play any part of "X" album
3) Play a part that changes time signature
4) Play a part that goes above "X" BPM

 :justjen
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 23, 2021, 12:48:54 PM
Does anyone have any suggestion for a theme? it could be anything from

1) Play any part of "X" song
2) Play any part of "X" album
3) Play a part that changes time signature
4) Play a part that goes above "X" BPM

 :justjen

Any of these could work, I guess it depends with how crazy people want to get with the challenges! I think it's more important at this stage that we work out who is going to set the challenges going forward. I would be happy to think of one for this week, but beyond that, it would be cool if we could maybe take turns or something because I personally would find it fun to have challenges set for me by other people.

So, yeah. Maybe we could draw up a rota or something. But then, I guess that could get complicated if certain people aren't able to do the challenge each week...  ???
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 23, 2021, 01:20:13 PM
Here is an idea (maybe).

I am ok with you picking the challenge for this week. I was going to suggest that since you've been the most active out of all of us (have not missed a week if I'm not mistaken), you get to pick the challenge for this week, but did not want to throw your name out  :lol

After that, I think it could be something that, whoever the first person to submit is for that week, has the choice to pick the challenge or grant the next person the choice to pick the challenge. It would give everyone an equal chance to pick a challenge, as long as they are first to submit their challenge for the week, and also serves as a little competition as to "who will be the first to submit". We can set a submission times frame if that helps.

Just my thought, happy to hear other ideas.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on March 23, 2021, 02:58:27 PM
Alrighty then, after a few weeks of not doing anything (well, I did play a lot of guitar..) here's another thing I threw together just now. I was messing around with this song and then thought; why not record it? It's a little bit sloppy, but I must admit that I had enough after about 5 takes and decided to go with the first one I recorded.

Here's the main riff to the best Dream Theater song since 2002 ( :) ), The Enemy Inside: https://youtu.be/Z0f9RxkVXU4
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 24, 2021, 07:26:19 AM
Alrighty then, after a few weeks of not doing anything (well, I did play a lot of guitar..) here's another thing I threw together just now. I was messing around with this song and then thought; why not record it? It's a little bit sloppy, but I must admit that I had enough after about 5 takes and decided to go with the first one I recorded.

Here's the main riff to the best worst Dream Theater song since 2002 ( :) ), The Enemy Inside: https://youtu.be/Z0f9RxkVXU4

FTFY  :P

But in terms of your playing man, really well done and very tight! Pretty good tone too  :D

Here is an idea (maybe).

I am ok with you picking the challenge for this week. I was going to suggest that since you've been the most active out of all of us (have not missed a week if I'm not mistaken), you get to pick the challenge for this week, but did not want to throw your name out  :lol

After that, I think it could be something that, whoever the first person to submit is for that week, has the choice to pick the challenge or grant the next person the choice to pick the challenge. It would give everyone an equal chance to pick a challenge, as long as they are first to submit their challenge for the week, and also serves as a little competition as to "who will be the first to submit". We can set a submission times frame if that helps.

That works for me, I think we should run with that general idea for now unless anyone has any other suggestions.

Ok then guys, so here is your challenge for the week (what's left of it). I've decided to keep it still fairly simple and open at this stage, but perhaps we can get more specific with the challenges as we go on. I've also picked an album which I see has gone completely unrepresented up until now...

So, by no later than Monday 29th March, your challenge is: Play any part from Falling Into Infinity.

Whoever submits first (can be earlier than the above date) gets to decide the next challenge.

Best of luck, look forward to seeing what you guys can bring  :D
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nattmorker on March 24, 2021, 09:18:02 AM
Alrighty then, after a few weeks of not doing anything (well, I did play a lot of guitar..) here's another thing I threw together just now. I was messing around with this song and then thought; why not record it? It's a little bit sloppy, but I must admit that I had enough after about 5 takes and decided to go with the first one I recorded.

Here's the main riff to the best Dream Theater song since 2002 ( :) ), The Enemy Inside: https://youtu.be/Z0f9RxkVXU4

Great playing! It sounds really tight and heavy, great choice and awesome guitar BTW.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: nattmorker on March 24, 2021, 09:18:49 AM

Ok then guys, so here is your challenge for the week (what's left of it). I've decided to keep it still fairly simple and open at this stage, but perhaps we can get more specific with the challenges as we go on. I've also picked an album which I see has gone completely unrepresented up until now...

So, by no later than Monday 29th March, your challenge is: Play any part from Falling Into Infinity.

Whoever submits first (can be earlier than the above date) gets to decide the next challenge.

Best of luck, look forward to seeing what you guys can bring  :D

This sounds good, it should be fun. Count me in.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on March 28, 2021, 04:13:00 AM
Ok then guys, so here is your challenge for the week (what's left of it). I've decided to keep it still fairly simple and open at this stage, but perhaps we can get more specific with the challenges as we go on. I've also picked an album which I see has gone completely unrepresented up until now...

So, by no later than Monday 29th March, your challenge is: Play any part from Falling Into Infinity.

Whoever submits first (can be earlier than the above date) gets to decide the next challenge.

Best of luck, look forward to seeing what you guys can bring  :D


Alright! Here we go then :)
I recorded this one this morning. The guitar solo in Peruvian Skies. I picked this one, because I think it's underrated; it's one of my favourite Petrucci solos because it's melodic and very fitting as a great bridge between the first and second half of the song. Took me a couple of takes to get everything right, but it's fun to play (as is the rest of the track, to be honest, but I didn't record that).

Enjoy: https://youtu.be/9hpKqeZcecE
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on March 28, 2021, 05:47:29 AM
But in terms of your playing man, really well done and very tight! Pretty good tone too  :D
Great playing! It sounds really tight and heavy, great choice and awesome guitar BTW.

Thanks, both of you! This guitar is amazing to play. It's an eight-string, but truth be told I don't use the eighth string all too often. Ever since I got this one, about 10 months ago, my seven string hasn't left its case. For this video I recorded the guitar in a DAW and mixed it with the original song for the final video. I couldn't get it to sound right when recording through my phone, probably too much low end that made it muddy. This way I could turn up the guitar a little and still have it sound good in sync with the music. I used a Kemper Profiler with a pretty random Marshall profile that sounds quite good for this sort of stuff and that's become my go-to sound for practising heavier stuff.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 28, 2021, 05:50:43 AM
Peruvian skies rocks! second favorite track for the album. Sounds good  :metal I like how you turned your mirror into a guitar  :lol Just joking, great job.

I recorded my part yesterday, but was not necessarily happy with it. I was hoping to be able to do another take today but my day is looking pretty busy, so we will see. I'll post later today either way.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Skeever on March 29, 2021, 12:27:12 PM
Great job Elite! Peruvian Skies is a song I've just recently been starting to appreciate more (I used to skip it quite often).

I'm still kinda stuck on the 2nd Erotomania solo, the last part where it's 16th notes at 100~ bpm. Ugh. No "week" of practice is gonna get me there, so I just have added that part to my regular warmups (I can do it around 70-80ish if I'm warmed up).

I didn't get around to FII but I want to. Not sure what the theme will be this week but I've been listening to FII this week to see what I'd like to learn from it.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on March 29, 2021, 02:13:00 PM
Ok then guys, so here is your challenge for the week (what's left of it). I've decided to keep it still fairly simple and open at this stage, but perhaps we can get more specific with the challenges as we go on. I've also picked an album which I see has gone completely unrepresented up until now...

So, by no later than Monday 29th March, your challenge is: Play any part from Falling Into Infinity.

Whoever submits first (can be earlier than the above date) gets to decide the next challenge.

Best of luck, look forward to seeing what you guys can bring  :D


Alright! Here we go then :)
I recorded this one this morning. The guitar solo in Peruvian Skies. I picked this one, because I think it's underrated; it's one of my favourite Petrucci solos because it's melodic and very fitting as a great bridge between the first and second half of the song. Took me a couple of takes to get everything right, but it's fun to play (as is the rest of the track, to be honest, but I didn't record that).

Enjoy: https://youtu.be/9hpKqeZcecE

Nicely played dude  :)

Here's my effort for this week. It's only a partial success for me, ultimately I think I needed to give this one a bit more time and polish. Also, I really wanted to include the crazy fill that comes at the end of this section but just couldn't get it up to speed in time. Oh well... onwards and upwards!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKRqJ3XRxM&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 29, 2021, 04:20:26 PM
Jim, nice work :tup yeah the part after that its crazy, but I'm sure you can get it. I don't think that part needs more polishing, sounds good to me  :metal

Alright, here is my attempt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ0KPOlhg7o

I kept messing up different parts as I was recording. I think this was the most consistent one I got. I will continue to clean it up and maybe go for the full song, we will see.
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Fiery Winds on March 29, 2021, 08:16:57 PM
Close call getting this one in, and I've got quite a bit of polishing up left to do (along with a fresh set of strings on closer listen), but in the spirit of this challenge, I attempted my favorite solo on this album:

Lines in the Sand (https://youtu.be/_5GiX-z-1Lg)

@Elite: Awesome job on Peruvian Skies! My second favorite solo on that album  :lol  That guitar is killer looking too, with matching pickups!

@JiM-Xtreme: Great job, that tapping was really smooth, and you've got the groove!

@Vmadera00: I admit, this is a song I usually skip, but way to rock out those licks at the end!  :metal

Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on March 30, 2021, 06:52:22 AM
Close call getting this one in, and I've got quite a bit of polishing up left to do (along with a fresh set of strings on closer listen), but in the spirit of this challenge, I attempted my favorite solo on this album:

Lines in the Sand (https://youtu.be/_5GiX-z-1Lg)

My favorite solo as well, and I almost played the same for this challenge  :lol glad I didn't because you sound way better that I would have. BTW, I did not ignore your request to read my essay on SOC, just have to dig through an old computer and once I do, I'll send it over  :tup

We need a new theme for this week's challenge, but not sure if Elite will come back to provide one  :huh:
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on March 30, 2021, 08:33:05 AM
I will come back! Let me think on it!

Thanks for the responses to mine. I was quite happy with how that one turned out to be honest. The guitar is a bit weird, yes. It's actually a hollowbody with mini-humbuckers and - indeed - a mirror :lol This is the only six-string I have with decent access to the higher frets, so that's why I picked this guitar for the last lick. Technically playable on any 22-fret guitar, but the six-strings I own make it difficult to reach.

All of you guys; nice work! I'm watching every video, but I'm often watching a bunch in a row, so excuse me for not commenting on ALL of them..

Bass intro to Lines in the Sand: nice! Cool to see you tapping that stuff :)
You Not Me riff/thing: that's actually a really cool part of the song! I kind of forgot that was there, great choice! Doesn't sound or look 'easy' either.
Lines in the Sand solo: that was great! I might try that one myself as well. Looks fun to play!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: T-ski on March 30, 2021, 02:54:22 PM
I’m enjoying everyone’s playing in this thread, lots of talented people here.

Keep it up!
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: JiM-Xtreme on April 18, 2021, 11:31:46 AM
For three weeks, where have I been?

After this unscheduled break from the challenge, this felt like an appropriate thing to record...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAx00PgP7jA&ab_channel=JiM-Xtreme

Obviously it's quite a bit longer than previous videos which hopefully should make up for the missed weeks. Hope you guys like it! This is one of my favourite sections of any DT song ever...

Is anyone else still wanting to be involved in this? I'm happy to set challenges going forward if no one else can think of any. If not, maybe I'll just carry on doing this on my own...
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Lonk on April 18, 2021, 12:30:08 PM
Nice work, I love the vibe on that part of the piece.

I'm down to coming back to the challenges. I've been doing my own challenges, some outside of DT (Mastodon is really fun to play).
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: Elite on April 18, 2021, 12:34:31 PM
Yeah, uh, I'm sorry for not posting a theme. I actually thought about this thread today! I have been rather busy myself and playing lots of other stuff as well to be fair. If anyone wants to st a challenge, go ahead. I'll join in when I find the time :)

How's the OP doing? Since he set this up initially :biggrin:
Title: Re: Dream Theater - Weekly Musicians Challenge
Post by: kirksnosehair on April 20, 2021, 11:44:02 AM
Close call getting this one in, and I've got quite a bit of polishing up left to do (along with a fresh set of strings on closer listen), but in the spirit of this challenge, I attempted my favorite solo on this album:

Lines in the Sand (https://youtu.be/_5GiX-z-1Lg)

@Elite: Awesome job on Peruvian Skies! My second favorite solo on that album  :lol  That guitar is killer looking too, with matching pickups!

@JiM-Xtreme: Great job, that tapping was really smooth, and you've got the groove!

@Vmadera00: I admit, this is a song I usually skip, but way to rock out those licks at the end!  :metal


Great playing by all of you.  Very impressed  :hefdaddy