As I Am: Authentic Guitar TAB

This folio captures one of progressive metal's most technically demanding albums in precise, playable TAB form. The note-for-note transcriptions of Petrucci's work give ambitious guitarists direct access to some of the genre's most innovative and challenging material, while the included lyrics and Uelsmann artwork connect players to the album's conceptual depth.

These pieces breathe with instrumental drama. Passages surge with aggressive energy, suddenly shift into intricate melodic development, and demand total technical command while maintaining emotional clarity. The music balances mathematical precision with genuine expressive depth, creating something that feels both cerebral and viscerally engaging.

Advanced guitarists pursuing progressive metal repertoire and players aiming to master complex alternate picking, sweep picking, and polyrhythmic fingering patterns. This folio serves guitarists who want to understand how technical mastery serves compositional ideas rather than existing as technique for its own sake.

• Build stamina through these pieces gradually; the technical demands compound across the seven-song sequence, so practice them in order rather than jumping to the most difficult passages.
• Use a metronome starting at tempos well below the recorded versions, then incrementally increase speed as finger dexterity and rhythm accuracy solidify.
• Study the TAB alongside the album recording to internalize the phrasing and articulation choices that give these transcriptions their musical intent, not just their technical accuracy.
• Pay attention to the dynamic range notation; Petrucci's playing moves between aggressive attack and nuanced dynamics that elevate the technical passages into genuine musical statements.

Program individual songs from this album as recital pieces for advanced guitarists showcasing contemporary metal composition, or assign them as long-term technique-building projects that challenge students across multiple skill areas simultaneously. The included artwork and lyrics make these pieces suitable for multimedia recital presentations that go beyond traditional guitar performance.

• Sweep picking accuracy and speed across multiple strings
• Alternate picking precision at high tempos
• Polyrhythmic thinking and syncopated phrasing
• Legato technique including hammer-ons, pull-offs, and tapping
• Navigation of complex chord voicings and extended harmony
• Reading and applying detailed dynamic and articulation notation