DREAM THEATER Guitarist JOHN PETRUCCI – Romancing The Fretboard: Chopin Arranged For Guitar

Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci has posted a three-part lesson on Guitar World for Chopin’s “Piano Concerto In A Minor, Opus No. 2” arranged for guitar. An excerpt from Part 1 is available below.

“Here’s the first installment of Chopin’s ‘Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus No. 2’. I’ve arranged it for guitar, and as you can see, it’s not for the meek.

But if you’ve been diligently practicing the chromatic exercises from my past few lessons, you should be ready to tackle it.

This etude is an excellent study in the use of chromatic tones in a melody. I’ve included chord symbols above the staff to give you an idea of the melody’s harmonic context. These chord symbols reflect the basic underlying harmony originally provided by the left hand part on the piano.

Studying classical music, especially pieces from the Romantic period such as this, will give you serious insight into how to use chromatic passages in a composition or improvisation and have them make sense.

You might be wondering, how the hell can you use this chromatic stuff in a rock song? All you have to do is listen to some Dream Theater tunes for the answer.”

Go to this location for more. Links to Parts 2 and 3 are available on the page.

Dream Theater have once again updated their festival schedule for 2015. More shows have been confirmed for the Czech Republic, Italy, Russia, Romania, Germany The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia and Switzerland. The band’s summer festival schedule can be viewed below:

June
27 – Metal Hammer Festival – Katowice, Poland
28 – Prague Sounds Good Festival – Prague, Czech Republic    
30 – Prog In The Castle – Bari, Italy

July
1 – Prog in Cavea @ Cavea Auditorium Parco Della Musica – Rome, Italy    
3 – Darkside Festival – Moscow, Russia    
5 – I Am The Rocker Festival – Bucharest, Romania    
9 – Classic Rock Nacht Festival – Bonn, Germany    
10 – Mind Over Matter Festival – Vienna, Austria    
11 – Rock Harz – Ballenstedt, Germany
12 – Bospop Festival – Weert, Netherlands    
14 – Wrightegaarden – Langesund, Norway    
16 – Bukta Tromso Open Air Festival – Tromsø, Norway, Norway
18 – Bang Your Head – Balingen, Germany   
19 – Pistoia Blues Festival – Pistoia, Italy
21 – MetalDays Festival – Tolmin, Slovenia
23 – Rock Fest – Barcelona, Spain
25 – Ramblin’ Man Fair – Maidstone, UK
26 – Z7 Sommernights – Pratteln, Switzerland
31 – Wacken Open Air – Wacken, Germany<7p>

August
1 – Skogsröjet Festival – Glasbruksvägen, Sweden    

Go to this location for all ticket information. Follow and share exclusive BraveWords content via our official Facebook page here.