There are two kinds of Dream Theater fans: the ones who can count the odd-meter bits, and the liars. I spent years in the second group, nodding along to "Sacrificed Sons" like I had the faintest idea where beat one was hiding. Spoiler: it had moved out and left no forwarding address.
So this little clip is me tackling that odd-meter riff from "Sacrificed Sons" (off Octavarium, the 9/11 one) on guitar — 25 seconds of prog metal that sounds like it needs a maths degree but really just needs you to stop counting the wrong thing. Free tab and Guitar Pro included, because counting this out loud is a two-person job and I'm the second person.
How to actually count this odd-meter riff
The trick with an odd time signature is that you don't count the whole bar — you count the little groups inside it. Instead of desperately chasing "1-2-3-4-5-6-7" and losing your soul somewhere around six, you chop the bar into digestible chunks like 3+3+2 or 2+2+3 and count each tiny group as its own thing. Your foot taps the groups, not every single beat. Suddenly the riff that felt like a runaway staircase becomes a repeating little pattern you can lock into. For a proper deep dive on why these bars feel so slippery, my time signature explainer pairs nicely with this, and if you keep losing the pulse entirely, this "where is beat one" exercise is the physical-therapy version.
Concrete takeaway: before you play a single note, tap and say the groupings out loud until they're boring. Boring means solid. Only then add the guitar — the fretting hand can only be as confident as the counting underneath it. Download the tab and Guitar Pro file and let the click count it with you until it stops feeling like witchcraft.
And if you nail it on the first try, please don't tell me — I'm still emotionally recovering from the day I realised my foot had been tapping in a completely different band. Want the Guitar Pro files, the slow-motion versions, and the occasional existential riff crisis? I'd genuinely love your support on Patreon.