'INSIDE PICKING WAS A BIG DISCOVERY FOR ME'

Dream Theater’s John Petrucci on game-changing exercises and creating a solo that “feels like you’re floating”

- Amit Sharma

DON’T OVERTHINK IT

You’d be surprised, out of all the progressive and technical moments in our music, the favourites for the audience are usually the big, simpler riffs that grab your attention. You have to show restraint and not overwrite or overthink your parts. You’ll come up with something good and then that voice will start running in your head – ‘how many times have I done this, is this too typical, am I repeating myself?’ And you have to shut off that voice and carry on. Sometimes you will stumble on something that just has that special thing… if it feels good, keep going!

EMBRACE THE AMBIGUITY OF NINTHS

I’ve used ninth chords in old songs like Pull Me Under as well as more recent stuff like Invisible Monster. I actually stole the chord from [Rush guitarist] Alex Lifeson, who was the first person I remember hearing use that kind of sound. It felt cooler than a powerchord. It didn’t really have a major or minor thing. It’s basically two fifth intervals stacked on top of each other, which always seems to resonate really well on a guitar. You can easily turn a ninth into a minor third, or a major third, so it’s quite ambiguous – which leaves you more options for melody as a songwriter. It’s very different to, say, the flat five chord which I use a lot in