John Petrucci

“Don't get stuck in a rut. If you started yesterday's practice playing arpeggios, start today's with scales. Also, try to make a song out of what you're practicing to help break the tedium.”

“As teenagers, we used to listen to entire Rush albums, entire Pink Floyd albums and shut down the lights and it was great.”

“There should always be some sort of conclusion or climax to your solos.”

“In the neighborhood that I grew up in - in New York on Long Island - there were a lot of musicians. For some reason, that time in history in our town in New York, everybody played. So it was all around me.”

“When I look back and think about how I played when I was 16, and moving on to my 20s, 30s, 40s and now 50s - to me, it seems like you gain more experience, you gain more technique, you get better.”

“Just because something is very technical or heavy doesn't mean that it's not melodic.”

“I'm such a huge fan of Steve Howe, I worship him.”

“One very important side of my playing lies in rhythm; I have a very percussive style. It's one I've developed with Dream Theater over the years, and requires the guitar to be very locked into the rhythm of the drums... way more than what would normally entail.”

“Dream Theater has never been a band that hit at a particular fashionable point and said, 'OK, that's basically it.'”

“It's one thing to be recognized by your peers over the course of your career, but the Grammy is something else altogether. You have the Recording Academy, along with a huge cross-section of producers, writers, engineers and musicians from all different musical genres and backgrounds who are making a decision. It's an amazing feeling.”

“Where I lived, on Long Island, you had the radio stations that always played Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and AC/DC and all that. I grew up on all that stuff.”

“Music is great, because you can do that pretty much until you drop.”

“Rush is one of the common denominators in our band as far as a band that everybody loves and grew up with and was a big influence.”

“I'm realizing this more and more that it's one thing to get involved with your own political beliefs and stand behind you believe in personally. But as far as bands doing that in a way where they think they're going to fight the government, the only people they're really hurting is the fans.”

“I'm a fan of creative writing and telling stories.”

“Your solos should be as interesting as any other part of the song.”

“Of all the things that can frustrate a guitarist the most, it's the nagging feeling that he's not reaching a certain level of proficiency as quickly as he should.”

“Although music comes from a very personal place, talent is meant to be shared.”

“To me, there's no question that using a metronome develops your speed and accuracy. If you're learning scales or you're jamming on parts that you can't quite pull off, it's a must.”

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