Dream Theater

With the new Dream Theater album confirming his status as one of the world's most gifted shredders, prog metal virtuoso John Petrucci reveals commitment, ingenuity and obsession are all the skills you need to go far in the guitar world...

Words: Steve Allsworth

When it comes to talented rock guitarists, they don't come much more skilled than John Petrucci. Carrying out guitar duties for prog metal titans Dream Theater as well as exploring his solo status with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani on their G3 tour, Petrucci has made his mark on modern-day rock guitar playing.

Formed at the Berklee College of Music, Dream Theater were always a heavy metal band with a difference. Starting out as Majesty in the 80s, the band was an instant hit, but changed their name to Dream Theater later on. They garnered much attention with albums like Images and Words (1992), and although frequent changes within the band caused continued upset, their energetic live performances sealed their reputation.

Petrucci also had significant solo success, his phenomenally fluid alternate picking technique capturing the imagination of shredders worldwide. He played with prog rock projects Explorer's Club and Liquid Tension Experiment, as well as releasing an album with Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess, An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess (2000). But Dream Theater are still going strong: we caught up with John just before the release of new album Train Of Thought.

Steve Allsworth: Is Train Of Thought a massive departure from the band’s last album?

John Petrucci: The concept going into this album was to write songs that were really exciting to play live, and they certainly are. In fact, the response to them has been great. The songs are darker in tone, which for some reason comes across better live - people can relate to them a little more. In the past, a lot of our songs only had heavy sections. whereas this time we made the songs dark and heavy the whole way through.

SA: Your solo material on the G3 tour seemed to have a darker vibe too.

JP: Some of it did, some of it didn't. Actually, I'm working on a solo album at the moment, and some of it is more up tempo and in a major key. In fact, one of them is a little pop sounding! It's not gonna be as dark as the Dream Theater stuff.

SA: Do you always strive to achieve something new on each Dream Theater album?

JP: Absolutely. It's something that keeps it interesting for us, and I think for the fans as well. When I was a kid, I liked when bands changed things a little bit. You don't want to depart from what you set out to do originally, but it's good to have a fresh perspective.

SA: Tell us about the relationship between yourself and Jordan.

JP: Playing with him definitely inspires me to play different lines. In the past - like most keyboard players - Jordan would come up with lines and I had to harmonise with them or play in unison. I found it really, really challenging. I tended to play things I wouldn't normally on a guitar, and I had to practice a lot to get those techniques right. On this new album I sort of had a selfish plan where I was gonna write all the unison parts and make them very guitar friendly. If you notice they're linear, so although they're fast, they’re easy to play!

SA: Do unusual time signatures and odd note groupings come naturally to you?

JP: Yeah, I think all musicians think of music in terms that make it flow. I think it's naturally ingrained, when someone's writing, even improvising - there are unconventional groupings of notes you'd have in speech. It's just natural in all of our playing styles.

SA: Is that because of your prog rock influence?

JP: That's definitely one of them. I think all of us in the band at one time or another were drawn to that type of music – it pushed our buttons. We like having songs that aren't always in 4/4. The other part is some people just naturally think that way; the wacky part of the brain makes you think that way!

SA: How did you organise your development?

JP: Well, you just nailed it - I was really organised about it. First of all, at a young age I was driven enough to put in the time. I was kind of obsessed with it, and that’s something you can't really teach. I have my own kids, and I try to get them to practice, but it has to be something they wanna do. If I had three hours, I wouldn't just sit there and noodle in front of the TV, I'd divide up my time and organise it. For instance, I'd work on chords for half an hour, picking for a half hour and legato for a half hour. I'd collect data and have it in folders, so I could reference different things. I was seriously studying.

SA: How often do you practice these days?

JP: I actually practice a lot, but it really depends on what I'm doing. I'm on tour at the moment, so I need to practice a lot to maintain the material, because we constantly change the set list. You can't put enough time in, trying to remember the notes, the sections, the time changes, the cues and the count-offs that go into the live performance. If I'm at home, more time is spent composing.

SA: Have you discovered any new guitar techniques recently?

JP: Actually, I have. I've tried to play more intensely on the solos for this album. They're probably not as melodic as some of my previous, but with Six Degrees I felt I did a whole album of Dave Gilmour-ish solos, and this time I wanted to do something more ripping. The trouble is, pulling that off live is tough! So I started developing a practice that would conserve my energy, so my arms and hands wouldn't tense up. It involved a lighter attack and a concentration technique where I try to get into a head space that's very relaxed, conserving valuable energy.

SA: You've been playing seven-string guitars for a while now, was that a natural progression from the humble six-string?

JP: Yes, it was. I remember the day I got my first seven-string, where I was and what we wrote, it was really natural you know? It wasn't really a problem to adjust. I got it in '94 when we were writing Awake, and already we'd written ‘The Mirror’, ‘Caught In A Web’ and ‘Lie’ and they were all darker. As soon as you tune down like that it starts to get dark.

SA: What is your advice to new guitar players who want to improve on the guitar?

JP: One thing that was helpful for me was to play with other people. I met John, our bass player, when we were real young. You have somebody that's equally as passionate as you, and you write, jam and have all these different outlets. It was really important and special for me. It puts you into situations that are more realistic. You can't be playing in your room all the time if you wanna be a professional. I was able to get that experience early on, so I'd really recommend it.

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Petrucci Looks Forward

SA: How have you developed certain influential techniques, such as the Paul Gilbert string skipping approach?

JP: Most of the time I learn things from people and then embellish upon it, and that’s what I’ve done for years and years. Whether it’s learning from a book or a lesson or getting together with somebody, jamming with a keyboard player, saxophonist, or a violin player and asking questions. I mean, I do that constantly.

SA: Do you have specific goals on what you want to achieve next on the guitar or in your music?

JP: Well, the solo album’s something I’m getting closer to. I’ve been working on it for two years – it’s not like a Def Leppard thing, though – but it’s just finding the time to do the tracks.