John Petrucci

I often use triadic arpeggio forms within my riffs and solos as a tool to create rich-sounding, poly-chordal sounds.

— John Petrucci

It's hard to answer that from my own perspective because when I'm playing I know where it is coming from and the…

— John Petrucci

When I think of a lot of the players I admire, they could always play their parts without hiding behind distortion and…

— John Petrucci

When you watch your favorite guitarists play, notice how little their hands and fingers move sometimes. The economy of motion can't be…

— John Petrucci

We're a band that really... It's important to us to write music and put it out there and to work together.

— John Petrucci

The guitar is the ultimate vehicle for expression and composition for me. It's a part of my DNA!

— John Petrucci

Music doesn't have to sit within the confines of pop structure, you can really make stuff that's more visual.

— John Petrucci

The style of music that we're playing, this progressive metal style, has always been an upstream battle for us. We don't usually…

— John Petrucci

A violin neck is much smaller than the guitar's, so it's much easier to play wide intervals on one violin string. On…

— John Petrucci

I somehow always found the right people on my own to jam with as well as playing with all my buddies. I…

— John Petrucci

Where I lived, on Long Island, you had the radio stations that always played Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and…

— John Petrucci

Oftentimes, whenever I do interviews with guitar magazines and we discuss my influences, I mention people like Steve Morse, Alex Lifeson, Al…

— John Petrucci

I always get frustrated when I hear someone talking about sweep arpeggios. Though there are plenty of licks and examples out there,…

— John Petrucci

When I look back and think about how I played when I was 16, and moving on to my 20s, 30s, 40s…

— John Petrucci

We've seen progressive rock all over the world, in South America, Europe, Asia, across the US and North America and Australia. There's…

— John Petrucci

One of the main things I look for in a guitarist is in the sound itself. I go for a certain sound,…

— John Petrucci

Out of Berklee Dream Theater was born and we've been together ever since. I didn't have to taste that feeling of defeat.

— John Petrucci

Almost 15 with music, we have so many guitars that we developed over the years. The latest one is 'The Majesty' guitar,…

— John Petrucci

One very important side of my playing lies in rhythm; I have a very percussive style. It's one I've developed with Dream…

— John Petrucci

I'm grateful that as part of the Ernie Ball family, I'm able to connect with my fans in such a meaningful way…

— John Petrucci

I see every new album as an opportunity to start over. To either build or improve upon a direction that has been…

— John Petrucci

If you bring somebody into the band you are going to be with them a lot whether it's in the studio, on…

— John Petrucci

If I'm not in an environment where I can record, it's great to be able to write something down, to be able…

— John Petrucci

In Japan they're definitely more over the top. They had four Boogie stacks and 20 guitars. But otherwise it's pretty much the…

— John Petrucci

In the neighborhood that I grew up in - in New York on Long Island - there were a lot of musicians.…

— John Petrucci

The C+ amps is vintage at this point, and it definitely has a certain sound to it. I wanted something that was…

— John Petrucci

To be in Boston, which is a great city and which is full of many colleges and young kids, and to be…

— John Petrucci

We record Dream Theater shows and I'll sit on the bus and listen to my playing - what worked, what didn't. A…

— John Petrucci

I'm from the school of putting a lot of hours of practice into playing. But at the same time you have to…

— John Petrucci

I do remember one of the first great experiences of going to Europe was playing in Rome hearing the people sing our…

— John Petrucci

I wanted something different. I'd been using the C+ amps for a long time, and I love them - they're one of…

— John Petrucci

You can go on YouTube now and see young kids with massive technique. There's literally eight and nine year olds who can…

— John Petrucci

When we make those guitars we make tons of prototypes, I have all those. And once a guitar has come out there's…

— John Petrucci

I have seen Tommy Emanuel play; my wife and I went to see him and he just melted my face off. How…

— John Petrucci

Before you start a practicing regimen, you have to be aware that the study of music is a lifelong process-it's a discipline.…

— John Petrucci

I don't know if people know this about me, but I'm into Billy Joel. I'm a huge fan of his and always…

— John Petrucci

I started to get turned on to a bunch of different bands when I was in middle school/high school. I was turned…

— John Petrucci

When I listen to symphonies, or long pieces of music, there are so many different moods and movements, and things that are…

— John Petrucci

The good thing about playing this style that we play, you know, the progressive element of it, is that we can add…

— John Petrucci

In order to become a well-rounded musician, you have to master the three major aspects of guitar playing: the technical side, the…

— John Petrucci