Why I Suck... Series 3, Episode 2 - John Petrucci!

I have spent a great deal of February glued to YouTube at 0.25 speed... partly because of the horrific news of the last couple of weeks, but for the most part because I've been deeply immersed in the incredible playing of Dream Theater's phenomenal shred master, John Petrucci. It's going to be a very brief potted history this month, because there is one hell of a lot very high level stuff to get into! I'd recommend checking out the thoroughly entertaining Andertons TV interview “The Captain Meets.. John Petrucci” for some more details and to check out the man's incredible technique and sense of harmony. And his beard!!

Born July 12 1967 in New York, the young Petrucci took up guitar age 8 as he saw his sister being allowed to stay up late to have organ lessons! From such small acorns... As it turned out, his first attempts didn't pan out (oh, SNAP) – but at the age of 12 he tried again, and this time, it stuck. His major influences at this time were AC/DC, Led Zeppelin & Black Sabbath and this would lead over time to an interest in heavier, more complex music like Iron Maiden and the legendary Canadian prog trio, Rush.

Petrucci would go on to study at the renowned Berklee College Of Music alongside childhood fried and bass player John Myung, and here they met drummer Mike Portnoy. With the addition of another childhood friend Kevin Moore on keyboards, in 1985 these four formed a cover band focusing on Iron Maiden and Rush covers. They initially recruited local friend Chris Collins as lead vocalist but fired him in November 1986 – it would be a year later when they finally replaced him with the far older and more experienced Charlie Dominici.

With the lead vocalist issue settled, the group began gigging more intensively around New York and further afield, but this brought it's own problems. The band was originally named Majesty, but around the time of Dominici's hiring another band from Las Vegas with the same name began threatening legal action, so the band hurriedly renamed themselves. Various names were tried but it was Mike Portnoy's father who came up with “Dream Theater”after the name of a small cinema in Monterey, California. They continued to perform and record and on June 23 1988 were signed to Mechanic records, a division of MCA.

And there ends the history lesson – let's get stuck in to some licks!

It should be noted that all of these came from just TWO solos - “Pull Me Under” and “Answering The Call”, and I never actually finished “Answering...” - this should give you an idea of quite how intense and complex Petrucci's playing is! It's no surprise that he has also appeared as a solo artist on the G3 tours along Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Onto the first example – this is from “Pull Me Under” and starts with what you could view as a C#m arpeggio morphing into a run that features E Dorian, E minor and E Harmonic minor- but at the blistering pace it's pulled off it's more about the overall effect creating the “tension”. Dream Theater stuff is rarely strictly diatonic and Petrucci's playing frequently goes “outside”. With all of these licks, start slow and build up – there's a LOT going on here, and to be honest even if you don't ever get them up to Petrucci's frightening tempos, you can still learn a lot.

Next up is this run from “AnsweringThe Call” - in fact all the next examples are from that track, just as a measure of how dense and intense that track is!

This is all based around a diminished 7 arpeggio, which is built around stacked minor 3rds, giving the pattern R b3 b5 bb7. We start off with F#dim7, F# A C D#, but because of the symmetrical structure of the arpeggio, F#dim7, Adim7 (A C D# F#), Cdim7 (C D# F# A) and D# (D# F# A C) are all the exact same chord with the exact same notes in. You can see how Petrucci moves the same pattern three frets (the interval of a minor 3^rd) up the fretboard to create the run.

You can't look at John Petrucci's playing without mentioning his use of chromaticism. This next example (which is in fact the very next thing he plays in “Answering The Call”) rips across the fretboard with blistering alternate picked runs. What's particularly interesting here is his picking technique as he groups uneven numbers of notes (5s and 7s in this case) before crossing strings. Counting these irregular note groups is tricky so recommend a word or phrase – I use “opportunity” for 5s, “what an opportunity” for 7s.

Further on into the solo, I came across this almost bluesy lick... I'm not sure if this is a regular feature of Petrucci's playing but it's cool as hell and bears checking out! There's elements of the C# blues scale, C# diminished7 7^th arpeggios there plus some chromaticism, so we're pulling together some different facets of his style here! This lick will also sound cool played at a more moderate or “sane” tempo, as opposed to it's original “melt the skin off your face” speed. An interesting point to check out is how the early part of the lick pivots off the C# root note on the 14^th fret B and to watch the sweep through the diminished 7 arpeggio.

If anyone is wondering how they might make use of these diminished 7^th arpeggio in their regular blues/ rock playing, a little theory can throw some light on to it:

Diminished 7^th – R b3 b5 bb7 (aka 6)

Blues scale – R b3 4 b5 5 b7

Dorian mode – R 2 b3 4 5 6 (aka bb7) b7

So with a few judiciously placed scale tones around them, the diminished 7^th may well become your secret weapon of choice – it's certainly one of mine! (So yes, you can use them in “Johnny B. Goode” ;-) )

As with Larry Carlton last month (and Steve Vai next.. and really everyone so far!) a month isn't remotely enough time to do justice to his INCREDIBLE technique and musicality, but it's given me an insight into his style and a LOT of cool new ideas to try out!

See you next month for Steve Vai – in the meantime, all TUNEICEF proceeds and Two Pint Solos proceeds will be going to fund the DEC humanitarian mission in Ukraine - £50 so far, not much but better than nothing. I can only hope that sanity prevails soon.

Slavia Ukraini, slavia heroyem

Erotomania (Dream Theater Guitar Cover)

Video Killed The Radio Star

Larry Carlton Style File

Why I Suck... Series 3, Episode 1 - Larry Carlton!

I must admit, after all the confidence expressed in the last post, I came to this with a degree of trepidation – it's a long way from the stinging pentatonics ofAlbert King to the fusion stylings of the legendary Mr. 335! So, I drew a deep breath, mentally prepared myself for a lot of frustration and made ready to slow YouTube down to 0.25 play speed...

First, a little potted history. Born March 2 1948 in Torrance California, the young Larry first began guitar lessons at the tender age of 6. During his teenage years at junior high school he was first exposed to jazz – stating, during an interview with Rick Beato, that it was the sound of a 6^th chord that caught his ear. From then on, he would delve into Barney Kessel, Joe Pass, BB King, and a particular fondness for John Coltrane which continues to this day, particularly his 1962 album “Ballads”.

His career began in 1968, recording his first album “With A Little Help From My Friends” which would lead on to a steady career as a session musician with artists like Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan amongst many, many, many others – seriously, his discography here is just incredible, and his solo on the Steely Dan track Kid Charlemagne is the stuff of guitar legend. During the mid-70s, he joined jazz-rock group The Crusaders, performing on no less than 13 albums! From 1978 he began to embark on a solo career, and has followed that path ever since along with various sessions and collaborations (including one with fellow studio legend Lee Ritenour). He's still active, recording touring and performing to this day – even getting shot in 2012 (which just seems like a wanton act of vandalism to me – like putting a brick through the window of St Paul's cathedral) doesn't seem to have slowed him down!

With such a discography, it was difficult to know where to start, so I typed “Larry Carlton” into YouTube and let fate decide.. so the examples here are taken from “Minute By Minute”, his famous instrumental “Room 335” (which, full disclosure, I did learn from an old Guitar Techniques issue.. but had entirely forgotten since!) and his legendary “Kid Charlemagne” solo. It should be noted that a month is nowhere near enough to do justice to the effortless melodic sensibilities of such a monster player, but I definitely think I've learned a few things which I'll try and pass on here.

This first example comes from “Only Yesterday” and is based around G minor pentatonic – yes, as it turns out even the legends still use the same basic tools as you and I! Notice the wide interval skips in the first few notes, and notice as well the use of both E (6^th) and Eb (b6) to spice things up. The wider stretches come from Larry blending positions 1 and 2 of the G minor pentatonic – two simple scales, multiplied by each other, creating something exotic. Notice the bend of Ab – b2, very dissonant – into b3, standard minor pentatonic fare, before resolving to the root G on the 20^th fret B string.

Moving onto the second example taken from his iconic “Kid Charlemagne” solo based around a C7 vamp, and beginning with a 4^th position C major pentatonic run up before dicing into something that sounds altogether more outside and atonal – but actually it's nothing of the sort, being based around an Eb arpeggio in 3rds and 4ths, the only real “out there” note being the Ab (b6).. what sells it is resolving to the Bb, the b7 and hanging on the G note, which is the 3^rd of the Eb but the 5^th of the C7.

The third example is taken from “Minute By Minute” which is based primarily around C major pentatonic, and this line stays largely faithful to it, moving across positions 4 and 5, but notice the artful hammer on from the Eb on the 13^th fret D – hammering from b3 into major 3^rd.

Finally we come to a lick that is not a direct transcription but more of a portmanteau of several patterns used in the classic “Room 335”. This is largely in D, but uses the familiar patterns of the 1^st position F# blues scale....

… wait, what?

OK – D major (R 2 3 4 5 6 7) : D E F# G A B C#

F# blues (R b3 4 b5 5 b7) F# A B C C# E

So as you can see, the only non diatonic note is the C, acting as a b7 against the D root. In fact if we rearrange the pattern:

E F# A B C C# - 2, 3, 5, 6, b7, 7

So, here is Larry Carlton taking one of the most basic lead patterns we all know and superimposing it to get a far more jazzy and sophisticated sound. Check the lick – you can even see the Magic 3 Notes in there, amongst the flowing, looping 16ths that characterise the climax of Room 335, finishing with a shift in positions and ending up on the A, the 5^th of the key, often used in blues as a “leading” tone.

As I mentioned before, this has been a scratch on the surface of a true master of the guitar, and should be regarded as a springboard for your own explorations rather than a comprehensive guide, so I urge you – to YouTube with you!

Enjoy, see you over on YouTube for the demo video (remember to Like, Share & Subscribe)... and brace yourself, because next month we tackle Dream Theatre's shred/prog master John Petrucci!

Stevie Ray Vaughan Style File

Only Yesterday (Larry Carlton guitar cover)