Dream Maker – Images and words from a private lesson with Dream Theater’s John Myung

With impeccable musicianship, elaborate arrangements and a commitment to complex grooves, Dream Theater is somewhat of a square peg in a round hole. Their sophisticated brand of rock has resulted in endless comparisons with such 1970’s progressive bands as Yes, Rush and Kansas. Dream Theater has successfully combined the raw-edge power of heavy metal with the melodic fluidity of jazz and classical music. “We’re a hard-rock band that just happens to have many diverse influences,” explains Dream Theater bassist John Myung. “Our music is something that comes very naturally to us. We know what we want to hear—and what we don’t.”

Following the groundwork laid with 1992 ‘s gold-status Images And Words, Dream Theater’s latest release, Awake, is a virtuosic showcase of blistering melodic lines, odd time signatures and solid , hook-oriented songwriting. And Myung’s scorching melodic flurries and complex groove lines position his adventurous , often daring, bass-playing on an equal par with the guitar and keyboards in Dream Theater’s complex compositional palette. “ Throughout the history of music, the bass has pretty much been used in an accompanying role,” says Myung. “In jazz , the bass supports the saxophone; in rock, it supports the singer or guitarist. But there’s no reason you can’t get as much out of the bass as any lead instrument. Thematically, the bass plays a huge role in music—the character of the bass-line will dictate the character of the song. Everything else is just icing.”

Native New Yorker Myung began playing bass at the age of 16, after years of violin studies. Heavily influenced by Steve Harris , Chris Squire and Geddy Lee, John spent many hours learning the bass-lines of these rock bass legends. “I would come home from school every day and play a long with Iron Maiden records, learning the parts note for note so that my friends and I could jam to them,” he says.

After high school Myung entered Boston’s Berklee School of Music where he continued his studies and met up with future Dream Theater bandmates—drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci. Each of them departed from school after only one year of study. Originally called Majesty, Dream Theater became a true vehicle of expression for Myung. His exciting playing style quickly developed into a distinctive voice and an integral part of the Dream Theater sound. With his expanding role, however, Myung soon felt the need for more, in order to execute on his instrument what he heard in his head.

Feeling the restraints of playing four- and five-string basses, Myung’s move to the six-string was borne from a need to explore broader musical terrain: “I was at a loss with my basses—I needed more. Just prior to the Images And Words tour I walked into a music store and picked up a six-string. It immediately felt right—you could feel the substance in the instrument. But it doesn’t matter if you have two, three or four strings on your bass,” he asserts. “Creatively, the six-string was what I needed to express myself.”

“The six-string just makes things easier for me,” says Myung. “All movement is economized in that I don’t have to move up and down the fingerboard as much. Positioning is much easier, especially when playing things like a [saxophonist] Charlie Parker solo or the Bach cello suites (Six Suites For Violoncello, by J.S. Bach]. The ability to double parts with the lower octave really helps fill things up. It all adds up to me being able to express myself better.”

In converting to the six-string bass John felt little need for adjustment in his already unique right-hand technique. “Actually, I use three right-hand fingers in various combinations—index and middle, index and ring , and index, middle and ring [see Photo A]. But the right hand is always a problem. I do a lot of single- and cross-string exercises using eighth notes, eighth-note triplets and 16th-notes.”

His John Entwistle-like right-hand technique enables Myung to execute the demanding lines that have become a Dream Theater trademark. But has adjustment to the wide neck of the six-string been a problem? “What works best for me is keeping my middle finger and thumb opposite each other, using my thumb to ‘shadow’ the middle finger [see Photo B]. Of course, when I play live, it goes off a little, but it’s something that I try to keep as consistent as possible. It’s really a matter of what works best for each individual...what’s most comfortable for you.”

John has created a series of melodic exercises to help develop facility on the six string: “I’ll set the metronome at 100 beats per minute and play diatonic 7th-chord arpeggios [Ed. note: In C major: Cmaj7. Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, etc... ] up and down the fingerboard [see Figure 1] around the cycle of fourths [starting with the key of C major and moving up a fourth through every key signature until arriving back to C major], in different rhythmic configurations of eighth notes, 16th-notes and triplets. [Ed. note: On a six-string bass, the low B and C arpeggios can be played in four octaves while all others in that range only work in three octaves].

“Another exercise I do is play a three octave arpeggio up and down the neck, then follow it with its corresponding scale, also using varying rhythms [see Figure 2]. This really helps develop your ears to chord and scale qualities.

“A lot of my practice exercises are very pulse-oriented,” continues Myung. “So I concentrate a great deal on making these exercises groove. I want to get as much out of my practice time as possible, and if I can make these exercises groove, it can only carry over to when I’m really playing. With the authority to manipulate different feels rhythmically, and a melodic sense to alter these feels, the possibilities are limitless.”

Awake showcases Myung’s multi-faceted style in a number of settings, including chordal tapping. “It’s something I picked up from watching Billy Sheehan play—he’s the greatest at that style. And with the high C string on the six-string, I can now play chords that never sounded right on the four-string. They ring out much brighter and are more physically accessible,” he says. Figure 3, a line similar to the introduction of “Scarred” (Awake), displays a tasteful use of chordal tapping above a pedal point, utilizing a right-hand technique not unlike Sheehan’s: “I totally picked that up from Billy [reinforcing the right-hand index finger with the middle finger: see Photos C-F]. It just makes sense. With the added strength you’re able to get a more focused, consistent tone.”

Another coloring ingredient John prefers to use is natural harmonics (N.H.), as witnessed in Figure 4, a phrase similar to the intro of “Lifting Shadows Off A Dream” (Awake). As with “Scarred,” John approaches this line from a compositional standpoint, using harmonics to give the song his unique, personal slant. ‘“Shadows’ is a good example of how familiarizing your self with bass harmonics can help you approach a song from a different angle,” says Myung. “They sound so rich, they lend themselves to cool ideas. Jaco Pastorius turned me on to the world of bass harmonics—he played them beautifully!” Myung achieves his broad-ranged, piano-like sound by executing lightly plucked harmonics above a sustained fretted pitch on a lower string, as Photos G and H illustrate. Notice how John’s index finger frets the E string conventionally (i.e. pressing the string down behind the fret) while his ring finger lightly touches the D string directly over the fret.

One device Myung employs to develop and experiment with this technique is to harmonize a scale with harmonics, as in Figure 5. “Take the ascending C-major scale, for example. You can harmonize each fretted scale degree with a harmonic above that note. The harmonics don’t have to be in any particular order. Use whichever ones you’re in the mood for...whatever sounds good to you. This is a cool way to acquaint yourself with and develop a feel for natural harmonics.”

A great deal of Dream Theater’s sound revolves around the rhythm section’s ability to play seamlessly over odd time-signature changes. Sections shift, sway and groove so subtly that it’s often difficult to distinguish the odd-time changes from the straight 4/4 measures. “You can still rock your head to it,” says Myung. He asserts, however, that the band’s affinity for changing meters is not a contrived effort: “It’s something that just happens naturally. Any time signature will have a pulse that feels natural, and can be used musically—unless you’re approaching music from a mathematical standpoint, which also has its place. But in our music, meter changes occur because that’s how we hear a line or section developing, not because we consciously attempt to play in, say, 9/8 or 5/4 just for the sake of doing it. It comes from playing together so much and being intimately familiar with each other’s approach.” Figure 6 is a line similar to one Myung plays in “Erotomania” (Awake) and is a good example of the type of abrupt odd-time changes he glides over so fluently.

In spite of hectic scheduling and travel, Myung maintains a strict practice regimen while on tour: “I try to practice at least three hours a day. I’ll play for two and a half hours, then take 30 minutes just to relax and limber up. It’s not as intense as it may sound; I work it up slowly. Just as a runner doesn’t begin to sprint immediately, you need to gradually condition yourself to handle greater challenges. However, I once saw Al Di Meola perform at a clinic and he was warmed up in 10 minutes!” he laughs.

“To be proficient in this band and play this music with the right attitude and strength takes a lot of stamina. If I don’t maintain my chops, some parts I play can become a struggle, and that’s not cool,” confides Myung. “I spend a great deal of time on chops maintenance and collecting musical ideas. And I get m any ideas just from practicing. Whenever I hit upon something that I think is cool, I’ll throw it in a hat with other cool things I’ve discovered. When we write and need an idea for a solo groove or whatever, I can pull something out and see if it works. One should always have a reservoir of ideas from which to draw.”

Rackology

John Myung’s Equipment Line-Up

Bass: Nicholas Tung Six-String

Strings: D’Addario standard gauge

Amps: Mesa/Boogie Strategy 400 Power Amplifiers through Mesa/Boogie Triaxis preamps modified for bass

Speakers: Three Mesa/Boogie Powerhouse cabinets with 1x15/4x10, and two Mesa/Boogie 8x10 cabinets