Dream Theater

Lock yourself in your room and set your metronome to 200bpm, as Dream Theater’s John Petrucci tells TG what it takes to become a fret-melting virtuoso...

Words: Charlie Griffiths

While a new breed of shredders – such as Trivium’s Matt Heafy, Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates and Children Of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho attack their fretboards with gymnastic fingerwork, the innovators of the finger-melting technique are still displaying their blinding speed and accuracy. Dream Theater’s John Petrucci has been building his technical expertise since the band formed in 1985, paving the way for a whole new progressive genre. In the two decades that followed, each Dream Theater release has unlocked a new facet of the band’s potential, from their 1989 debut When Dream And Day Unite to this year’s ninth and aptly titled album Systematic Chaos. Never short of inspiration, Petrucci has also released two albums with side-project Liquid Tension Experiment, a live acoustic record with Dream Theater bandmate Jordan Rudess and a solo album, Suspended Animation.

From slick licks to sweep picked arpeggios, John Petrucci tells TG how he developed his mind-blowing technique and gives us an insight into his personal practising regime.

Charlie Griffiths: For TG readers new to Dream Theater, tell us how you got into guitar playing...

John Petrucci: I started playing when I was 12-years-old. I grew up in a neighbourhood on Long Island, New York, where a lot of people played instruments. You could ride your bicycle down the street and there would be garage bands playing parties and stuff, and that had a big influence on me. Everyone my age at junior high school and high school played [an instrument] and there were so many situations to jam and play in. I was just drawn to guitar for some reason. I think I actually used to have dreams about playing guitar!

CG: Did you find it easy to learn to play the guitar at first?

JP: Not at first. I can still remember the feeling of not being able to play a barre chord. You know, that feeling of not being able to press the strings down hard enough with one finger. I started off by playing some really simple stuff, like old Doors songs. I remember sitting outside my house playing guitar and one of the neighbours said, “Wow, that sounds really good!” and I think that was one of the first times I got feedback from anyone. I thought, “OK, maybe I’m doing something right here,” so I carried on and eventually developed better technique.

CG: So were you entirely self-taught at that stage?

JP: Completely. I went to Berklee [College Of Music, Boston, Massachusetts] straight out of high school, so I took a couple of guitar lessons to prepare myself for that. For whatever reason, I was very organised about the way I practised. As I got better, I got kind of obsessed with the technique of guitar playing and I got turned on to people like Al Di Meola, Steve Morse and Allan Holdsworth. I heard these guys playing ‘super guitar’ and I wanted to be able to do that. I realised very early on that to be able to do that, not only would I have to put a lot of time into my practising, but I would also have to be very disciplined in how I did it.

It was lucky how I was exposed to that stuff early on in my life – again, I was surrounded by a lot of music and by people who played. All you had to do was be at somebody’s party and someone’s older brother would say, “Did you ever hear of Chick Corea and Return to Forever?” Next thing you know, you’re listening to this great music.

CG: What is the number one thing overlooked by guitar students?

JP: Learning the notes on the fretboard is the biggest thing. It’s the one thing that will ultimately lead to a greater understanding of the instrument, but it’s also a pretty hard thing to take in and unfortunately there’s no short cut. Rather than sit there and try to learn where all the As are and where all the Bs are and so on, I would work it into what I was already practising. With any exercise you practise, you should be able to name the notes you are playing as you go. Of course, you’ll have to start really slow, but if you persevere it will eventually become second nature.

CG: Your style has developed greatly over the years. have there been any major changes to your approach?

JP: It’s really all about experience. When we recorded Images And Words [Dream Theater’s second studio album from 1992] we still didn’t have a lot of experience, and Dream Theater didn’t tour. If you fast forward and think about all the records we’ve done today, touring all over the world and my playing with G3 [Joe Satriani’s renowned guitar tour], there’s just nothing that can substitute all that experience.

It’s a culmination of all those years of study and playing with great players that has lead to the development of my style. Whenever I’m playing with a great player or writing or recording with that person, it can’t help but rub off. You’ll be challenged and it will push you to another level.

CG: Who has inspired your playing lately?

JP: Actually when I was on tour with G3 and talking to Paul Gilbert, he said to me, “Did you ever get into Shawn Lane?” I’d heard his stuff but never really saw him play or anything, so I did some You Tube research and saw some clips. I was just blown away by him. He is ridiculously good – he has amazing technique and is so musical with his note choices.

CG: Train Of Thought from 2003 is often said to be your heaviest album to date...

JP: When we did that record, all the songs were really heavy and dark. I just wanted to go for it and develop a hyper-technique based on what I normally do, and just expand it and do some things that would make the music more intense and turn some heads. I practised a lot for that record to specifically develop more picking technique and things like that. I did a lot of work with the metronome. I also [developed my picking technique] on Systematic Chaos, but I did it in a different way where I tried to add in more legato and sweeping and different techniques that I don’t normally go for.

CG: Systematic Chaos contains some of your best playing. how do you stay inspired?

JP: You know what, it still feels so fresh. The whole thing feels great! Recording Systematic Chaos was such a blast. I did three G3 tours in the last six months touring in Australia, South America and the US, playing every night and jamming with Satriani, Vai, Eric Johnson and Paul Gilbert. When you’re standing next to a player that good, you can’t help but be inspired and come back to them and ask questions.

I kinda get inspired by different materials too. I’ll research articles in magazines or try to get a new video. Or I’ll look at some new player to get a fresh perspective, and maybe learn some new licks or ideas. Another way I stay inspired is with gear. If I get a new amp or a new pedal it can make me look at things a little differently and get inspired to be more creative. I find over the years that there is a natural cycle. I don’t consciously say, “I’m uninspired, I need to do something about it.” I just naturally pursue new experiences to help keep things fresh.

CG: Can you tell us about your own practice regime?

JP: A lot of times, especially when we’re on the road, I’ll take a guitar solo of mine and I’ll use the solo as my practice session because it will be filled with many different techniques. I’ll take something like ‘Fatal Tragedy’ [from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, 1999] or ‘Stream of Consciousness’ [from Train Of Thought, 2003]. I just slow the tempo down so it’s really, really slow, and then I focus in on the different aspects and licks of that solo.

CG: Finally, how do you put solos like those together?

JP: Because we write and record material in the studio, it’s a very immediate process so I don’t get to do a lot of pre-planning. Now it’s all recorded on Pro Tools, so I just ask the engineer to loop the section so it doesn’t stop. Then I basically turn down the lights and just sit there jamming on it forever, and when I start to come up with ideas I go, “OK, record!”

Sometimes I might go all the way through the section a bunch of times and say, “I like what I did in the middle or at the end,” or whatever and just build it from there. Once it’s recorded I have to learn it to play it live, which is great because the stuff we end up writing is at the edge of our ability and continually makes us improve as players.

Box

Petrucci’s dos and don’ts of practising!

Wanna become a shred master? Then heed these tips from one of the best...

Do play with a metronome:

"The biggest way that I’ve developed my speed and clarity is through playing to a metronome. Whatever it is you practise, increase the tempo in small increments so you don’t notice. After a month or two you’ll see the results."

Do start slowly:

"Fast playing sounds really intense when it’s done right, but when it’s not it can sound sloppy and that’s just horrible. Slowing things down is the best way to do it so that you can really pay attention to the details and only gradually increase the speed."

Don’t show off:

"Don’t try to play something that’s beyond your ability. If it’s sounding unsynchronised or sloppy, that’s when you need to be honest and slow it down – you need to see what you’re doing wrong. Make sure that your technique is precise and deliberate."