The John Petrucci Guitar Method

IN THE CONCLUSION OF OUR THREE-PART MASTER CLASS SERIES, DREAM THEATER’S JOHN PETRUCCI PRESENTS A WIDE-RANGING AND HIGHLY PERSONAL LESSON, COVERING EVERYTHING FROM GETTING STARTED ON THE GUITAR TO EFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO DEVELOPING MONSTER CHOPS.

- Andy Aledort

THERE ARE CERTAIN people in the world that gravitate toward creative outlets. You will find that a lot of musicians also like to draw, paint and write. There’s a common thread that if you are someone that not only has a “want,” but also a “need” to be creative, hopefully you’ll be lucky enough to find music as an outlet for expression. I was fortunate to find music at an early age, at a time when I was also interested in painting, drawing and the visual arts. I found that I gravitated toward the guitar, for whatever reason.

When I was growing up on Long Island, it seemed that just about everyone I knew played an instrument, and there were so many bands. You could literally walk down your street and hear garage bands playing, and there would be “battle of the bands” contests at school. There was a lot of guitardriven music on the radio; all the rock stations would always be playing Led Zeppelin, Boston, AC/DC, Ozzy and Black Sabbath. I always knew I wanted to find a way to channel my creativity, and the guitar and music became the way in which I was able to do that.

When I was young, I had this recurring dream in which I was onstage playing guitar. This was before I was ever in a band, but it drew me in, even before I knew what was happening on the instrument. I’d hear things on the radio and had no concept of how the musicians were making it happen.I’d hear the two guitar players in Iron Maiden playing harmony leads, but I didn’t know how that worked. When I played, I’d think, Where’s the other part? I remember hearing Eddie Van Halen employing different playing techniques, like fretboard tapping, and thinking that it didn’t even sound like a guitar. I had no idea how that was being done, but I was drawn to it. And I loved hard rock and heavy metal—it just hit me, and I loved it. I loved Maiden and I loved Metallica.