“Each song has its own little mountains for me to climb. But I like it”: John Petrucci on why playing challenging songs is important
No matter how long you’ve been playing guitar or how good your technical ability is, it’s always a good idea to play tracks that feel challenging – and Dream Theater’s John Petrucci agrees.
Petrucci says he purposely tries to put challenging elements of guitar into new songs when the band are pulling together a new record, just to keep him on his toes. The progressive metal outfit have just released their 16th studio album, Parasomnia.
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Asked by Ultimate Guitar which songs are the most challenging to play from the new record, Petrucci says, “They all have their moments. When I record a new album, I’m always trying to see if I could put something in there, do some new technique or something that maybe I haven’t done before, and just challenge myself. That keeps me on top of my game.”
He adds, “Every song has a moment in there. And then the interesting thing about that is that especially when you have to play those songs live, they become a little bit intimidating. Like, ‘Okay, now I have to try to learn how to do this consistently night after night.’ And what I find as a guitar player is that, eventually, you’re able to do those things that you challenge yourself on. And they become, now, a new part of your arsenal.
“In Night Terror, there’s just like a crazy, fast kind of picking thing that I put in there as a unison section with Jordan [Rudess, keyboardist]. And it takes a lot of focus and dexterity to do, and now I could do it every night without an issue. So, each song has its own little challenges in there that are little mountains for me to climb. But I like it. I like having that challenge.”
You can catch Dream Theater on tour this month. Head over to their website for tickets.
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