3 John Petrucci Licks From 1994

Here's the next Three-For-All lesson with three licks by guitar-wizard John Petrucci of Dream Theater from 1994.
These licks come from a live performance John held for Ibanez at the winter NAMM and features an assortment of licks from his unreleased song 'Barf Bag.'
While you won't find this song on John's solo album or any of Dream Theater's recordings, he did compose/perform this song in the '90s rather frequently and briefly discussed the song in his classic Guitar World lesson series 'Wild Stringdom.'
This lesson reveals a cool string-skipping idea, a slick position-shifting phrase, a "hybrid" blues scale run, and closes with a bonus lick uncovering Petrucci's trademark "speed licks" - where his hyperactive picking technique is combined with a blur of fretted notes to create those wickedly fast showstopping licks he's performed for decades.
This lesson should be a challenge for most viewers and will help you get a little closer to understanding/capturing some of those epic guitar licks/phrases that Petrucci plays so brilliantly in his music.
Give this lesson a view, leave some comments and feedback, and please subscribe to Late Night Lessons - THANK YOU!
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[@aphexlane]

"Hes a guitar wizard, im just a guitar.. guy lol" dude you're a certified wizard come on now lol

[@brainynbrawny9562]

You're a wizard, too, Dave - to be able to play all of these other guy's licks puts you in a GUTHRIE class - very FLEXIBLE in your style and technique! BRAVO!

[@zackeriah87]

You are a humble man... Killer lesson! Great ideas here. Thanks for sharing! Cheers from Chicago, -Z

[@LateNightLessons]

Thanks dude and hey - that's my hometown! : )

[@eldorado9255]

Dave, I never, ever, leave comments on KZbin videos but I feel obliged to... Man you are such a nice guy, a great teacher and definitely a great guitar player. I can't stop watching your videos now that I've subscribed. There should be more people like you on this planet!! Thank you for the super high quality help you offer us mortals. Simply amazing.

[@AndalusianIrish]

I have to agree. I love the range of players you cover.

[@noeeduardo8062]

I know im randomly asking but does anybody know of a tool to get back into an instagram account?? I somehow lost the password. I love any assistance you can give me.

[@manuelsterling1193]

@Noe Eduardo Instablaster ;)

[@noeeduardo8062]

@Manuel Sterling thanks for your reply. I found the site on google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.

[@noeeduardo8062]

@Manuel Sterling It did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thank you so much, you really help me out !

[@Nasosdag]

I can't even express what a huge influence JP and DT have been on me. I will be the first to admit that their latest offerings, while great in their own way, do not really excite me as much as their earlier albums (not sure that the addition of Jordan Rudess has benefited the band in the long run), but they will forever hold a special place in my heart. And it's always great fun watching them live.

[@jamesoneill2855]

Don’t sell yourself short David, you’re a Master Guitar Teacher. Your breakdown of “Guitar Wizards” licks has radically changed the way I play and really empowered me to play out of the box and given me greater hope than a year of studying jazz and three years of studying classical, who knows maybe I’ll write meaningful guitar solos that people might hear. Thank you.

[@jem550]

"John Petrucci is not easy to play", proceeds to demonstrate the notes amazingly fast and accurately and says "my job here is done". Well played sir. Lol. Love your content and look forward to new videos.

[@SEILLC]

Right!? Then says "played slow"...at a speed I can only dream of reaching! Dave, YOU are a MONSTER too!

[@TechMetalRules]

Great breakdown, man! Thanks for the video!

[@evalex71]

Love your lessons man, keep 'em coming

[@alexdanis4185]

You're a breath of fresh air! Awesome content and your way of Transmiting those licks is top notch 👌 Keep up the greatness.

[@MyGuitartime]

so so Good! Thanks for the video!

[@bigfootninjajr1481]

You’re a great teacher. Love all your vids.

[@imranuddin5526]

Good lesson, love your way of teaching

[@LateNightLessons]

Thank you so much! : ) Stay tuned...

[@bkguitar4206]

So nice of you...♥️ I can see the tab...I m grabbing my 🎸 right now

[@manitheman0806]

Dave.....trust us...we all consider you a guitar wizard as well!!! Love your show

[@anthonyjames9711]

Damn right see you in about ten years on this one

[@kimchi2780]

As a kid I LOVED Pull Me Under. Then Awake came out and holy shit! The solo to Lie just totally sold me on JP forever. I now play an EBMM JPXI!

[@kasmeria]

Awesome stuff!!!

[@LateNightLessons]

Thank you! : )

[@vancedean6209]

Awesome. One of the best players around. Amazing tone especially on his lead stuff.

[@dca21camilo]

Great lesson!! I will definitely try it slow :)

[@hanten10]

He has many trademark licks that I'd admired a lot

[@HEADBANGRR]

Definitely like Prog. Cool licks. Thank you

[@MisterPoppy-sc1sj]

humble is cool attitude , thank you

[@cesarneyra3987]

Thanks Man!....I would definetely work on these ideas!

[@LateNightLessons]

That's great and thank you so much! \m/ ROCK ON \m/

[@reedhannon1984]

You go brother, always a great lesson and look into the players.... and boss, your an awesome player....don’t underestimate yourself and be proud that your a monster on guitar...

[@obiem9319]

You're so modest Dave. You're a true master. You're like to the Highlander of guitar. You absorb other masters powers.

[@SEILLC]

Dave, you love EVERY favorite guitarist of mine. One of your best vids IMO. I haven't watched all your vids yet, but if you haven't already, please do a Kee Marcello lesson! One of the unsung hero's of 80's guitar. Thank you!

[@LateNightLessons]

Thanks again! I did create a Kee Marcello Three-For-All lesson last month - so check it out! : )

[@kanebowlin5123]

Your a master of all the masters . Wish I was as good as you daym

[@uncleremus5046]

Dave your Ear amazes me!

[@mikeivey8471]

"I'm just a guitar ... Guy" , lol !!! You sir , are a true master of teaching & breaking things down so that we lay ppl can understand them & attempt to play them !!! Thank you for what you do !!!

[@epicvsfvror]

You are a Master, mate!

[@LateNightLessons]

Wow - thank you so much! : ) Cheers!

[@filipkaczmar]

Holy moly, that technique of yours is absolutely tasty!!!

[@JD-vj4go]

I'm very slowly working through a book called Target Tones and just noticed you wrote it. I'm still on chapter 2 and probably will be for a long while. It's part of my 'Learn to play guitar properly in my 40s project' and it's cool. Thanks man. The other books I've seen on this topic don't really start off simply enough for a beginner or hobbyist.

[@LateNightLessons]

This is awesome to hear and thank you so much for checking out Target Tones! I'm rather proud of that one (and all of my work) and it makes me feel good to hear it's helping you. That's what ALL of this is all about. Thanks again and \m/ Rock on \m/

[@Theosis78]

Finally we found the laid-back, virtuoso guitar guy!

[@DuncanPerryOfficial]

That 3rd lick is very Dimebag esque. Love it👍🏻

[@wyzyguy726]

Nice video.. Thanks.. JP... huge influence... to this day...... Ronni LeTekro blew my mind.... i thought it was a studio trick he sounded so different...

[@LateNightLessons]

Ronnie is a beast. I thought the same thing, but then when I watched footage of him playing I realized he was doing a variation of Al Di Meola's "Mutola" technique, where you're lightly palm muting and picking very rapidly. It sounds insane and most of that sound comes from not only the speed but also that slight palm mute which gives it a thicker "heavy" sound. Thanks for watching and stay tuned for more videos and lessons! : )

[@Yupppi]

To me the most exciting players have always been those that mix a couple of scales together to create this exciting transformation. Dream Theater has always been good at that, going from one exotic mood with a really shivering transfer to the main riff or some banger riff of the song that has very traditional rock mood.

[@philipdanne5261]

Good example of what a wicked player David is. Not many people can play this stuff, much less dissect it.

[@LateNightLessons]

Thank you so much Phillip! : ) Petrucci is AMAZING!

[@anthony27436]

Without humility you're not open to advancement .... You're very humble David .. and a very good guitar player I checked out a few of your other licks especially one called the pinky builder or an exercise it was in A minor on the 12th frets .. great exercise for Pinky

[@LateNightLessons]

Thank you so much! : ) Keep watching and stay tuned for more lessons and material! \m/ ROCK AND ROLL \m/

[@davejohnsonmusic]

His tone was so much better back then, even in this bootleg. I also dig his playing and tone on their first album, before they got big. That's how I was introduced to them.

[@EarthAltar]

Hell yeah, Dave! JP is awesome. Thanks for the licks!

[@LateNightLessons]

No problem bro! Thanks for watching and good luck - Petrucci is a BEAST! : )

[@EarthAltar]

@@LateNightLessons Grabbing my axe now.

[@LateNightLessons]

That's awesome bro, let me know how it goes. : )

[@EarthAltar]

@@LateNightLessons Hey, got a question. So if the 1st lick is basically a dominant Db9 (V of Gb major), and the 2nd lick is a Bb minor scale (vi of Db major), and the 3rd lick is basically C pentatonic minor I was wondering why the key sigs are in C# minor (E maj)? Is he playing all those licks over chords from C# minor in the song? I don't know the song, and was just curious if it sounds really outside, or is it some kind of modal approach to playing over C# minor? He is a genius, and these are really cool licks, but I don't understand these choices for that key. Lol.

[@LateNightLessons]

Good questions and honestly Petrucci (and DT music) is horribly difficult to analyze and fully understand (most of the time), simply because most of their music was written using ideas/elements from the "outer limits" of music theory. From the time signature shifts and key signature shifts to adding ideas and phrases that are unorthodox and unusual from a variety of styles. 'Barf Bag' is basically in C# minor, but he's flirting with a Hendrix-style tonality, so right off the bat we're dipping into that "hybrid" blues-rock sound, where it's C# minor, but flirting with the major third and hybrid pentatonic scales. The licks I chose for this lesson are from different areas of this song, so to really understand how it moves/flows, you'd need to listen to the song first, then you'll have a better idea of how he's hitting all of these chords and tonalities. In my mind, this tune is a blues-rock thing, but it's progressive - so it's totally not a traditional blues approach (a la SRV). He's technically mixing blues, rock, and jazz influences together, and wrapping it all up with a progressive rock/metal bow. Overall the song is in C# minor (although it's technically a hybrid major/minor blues thing) and no matter where the chord progression goes, you'll find him always coming back to that solid C# minor root and foundation. Look for the video where these licks came from (Petrucci NAMM 1994), so you can hear the song and how it flows. I hope this helps and thanks for the question bro! : )

[@backtoshallabal6662]

Dave I hope you consider a Q and A video!!!

[@peterbrown2890]

Man I bought that guitar ..still have it .done the hard yards. Paid for itself ..

[@douglaslima2749]

You could make more videos of John Petrucci dude! And one of Steve Morse's missing. Great videos like always!

[@LateNightLessons]

Thank you and there's totally some Steve Morse on the way! : ) Stay tuned...

[@acekoolio819]

awesome lessons david. i was wondering what strings you use as your bending and vibrato is phenomenal!

[@JasonAThornberry]

Could you please provide a lesson on how to play Example 31 from Rock Discipline?

[@EvanBradleyTranscriptions]

The third lick is all picked. No hammer-ons or pull-offs. The lick is almost like a combination of the sextuplet lick in Lie (4:40) and the descending blues lick in Take the Time (8:04-8:08).

[@MimicDaravon]

The pattern of that last lick is very similar to part of Marty's solo on "Tornado of Souls" but he's playing a 2-String B Minor arpeggio instead of a pentatonic shape. I'm pretty sure Marty uses a mix of picking and legato on it though, I think he does something like: Up PO Down Down Up PO Up PO Down Down Up PO Up PO Down Down Up PO Down Down Up PO Down Down Up PO Down Down Up PO Down Down. I can't imagine trying to pick every note at the speed Petrucci does here.

[@runnershigh7573]

Woow that sounds amazing. May i ask you which type of fender stratocaster this is...and which pickups? Keep on rockin'. Cheers Roger

[@LateNightLessons]

Thanks Roger! My Strat is a heavily-modified 1997 Fender Floyd Rose Classic Stratocaster, which was purchased brand new, but since that time I've removed/replaced the Floyd, changed the neck/pickguard/knobs, and changed the pickups to all Seymour Duncan - JB humbucker (bridge) - reverse-wound single (middle) - Cool Rails (neck). It's a really balanced set and sounds really even between the pickup settings too. Thanks again and rock on!

[@patrickkeenan6331]

I've seen DT about 12 times, and every time they just got....better.

[@EC66OK]

I got to see DT in a 1000-seat club show (and maybe 350 people there?) on their first national tour (Images and Words...don't recall who they were touring with, but this was a "night off" gig and they were headlining the club show in OKC) and stood about 3 feet from Petrucci all night. Terrifying as a guitarist to think "this?" This is what I have to keep up with? Needless to say, I didn't, but it's still a lot of fun to listen to him play and to learn about his style and techniques.

[@LateNightLessons]

That's awesome! While I'm still a fan and really like their latest album, I have to admit that I'm a HUGE '90s DT fan and between Images and Words and Awake, I'm not sure if they'll ever surpass those albums, but they've consistently pushed themselves musically to the outer limits and have released all sorts of great music and albums. \m/ DREAM THEATER \m/

[@EC66OK]

@@LateNightLessons 100% agree! Love a lot of the newer stuff, but I&W and Awake are still my favorites.

[@midgetworld228]

The bonus lick is Marty Friedman esque. I am guessing there may be a way to economy pick it with double down strokes. Love your videos. If John is a wizard and you are just a guy…I don’t know what that makes me haha. Keep on punching!

[@TMoody]

Someone bought that Ibanez with the multi colored faces into the shop the other day..... I about fell out when he opened the case. :-)

[@LateNightLessons]

Man, that's awesome! : o

[@AndalusianIrish]

That first lick sounds quite like "Spirit of Radio". Do you know if Petrucci is an Alex Lifeson fan? I can also.hear how someone like John is indebted to Ritchie Blackmore, especially the solo on "Highway Star". Yes it's faster than Blackmore but it's the same vibe IMHO.

[@bustercrack788]

Not A master ......The Master Mr B - Great Stuff 🇬🇧👍

[@LateNightLessons]

Thank you and technically, there isn't a single greatest or "best" - it's music not football. : )

[@guitarkis4969]

You state that a lot of these players are MONSTERS.....but I think (and I am sure I speak for a few others) that YOU are a monster too! How you learn all these licks for video after video is amazing. How do you learn and put them all to memory? One of these would take me months.....okay, longer! lol

[@obiem9319]

Fact. Did you know that John Petrucci learned about Shawn Lane from Paul Gilbert during the G3 with Satch?

[@anurajlepcha7359]

Great 💕🔥🤘You are Next Joe satrainiii

[@LateNightLessons]

Thank you! I love Satch and he's totally on the list! Stay tuned... Take care!

[@ThrashRebel]

There was another video in which you mention wide stretches & add 9 chords & I said that I do wide stretches, especially in chords. Coincidentally, I initially learned to do wide-stretch chords from a Guitar World (or was it Guitar Player) magazine John Petrucci lesson. The lessons were called “Wild Stringdom.” He gave about three or four examples of cords he used that incorporated 6 & I think 7-fret stretches. I learned those chords & then experimented with the concept on my own. So, John Petrucci was my inspiration for many of the chords I used in my music. I never really practiced his soloing style though. I will practice these licks. Are you still near Atlanta? I live near Atlanta, but I’ve only been in the area since 2015. Before that I spent 1/3 of my life in Indiana, 1/3 in Los Angeles & 1/3 in Japan.

[@LateNightLessons]

That's awesome dude and nope - I haven't lived in Atlanta since the early/mid '90s. I did like nearby in Asheville, NC from 2015-16, but it's been a long time since I was crusin' up and down Jimmy Carter Boulevard. : )

[@ThrashRebel]

Late Night Lessons, I’m mot even sure where Jimmy Carter Blvd. is. 😂 With navi I would be lost, around here. I left Los Angeles in the mid ‘90s, ‘95 to be exact.

[@LateNightLessons]

When I went to AIM it was technically in Norcross, GA at that time, so I remember every street was "Peach-something" - Peachtree Corners Circle, Peachy Lane, Peachtree Drive, Peach Street, etc... I also remember that every day to get to school I had to jump on Jimmy Carter Blvd. to make it to school/classes. I saw Danny Gatton, Dream Theater, Vai, Van Halen, Toto, and a ton of great concerts when I was living down there and going to school. It was amazing! Those were the days! : )

[@ThrashRebel]

Late Night Lessons, most of the good concerts/gigs I saw were in the Los Angeles area. I saw White Snake at a small college bar in Terre Haute, Indiana. 😂 That place was so small. Even Hollywood clubs like the Whiskey are bigger than that college bar. I knew White Snake’s career was on a downward spiral when they showed up with a massive bus & equipment truck to play a tiny bar in Terre Haute. 😂 I couldn’t afford a big university. I went to a community school, Santa Monica College. I’m attending Mercer University, now, but without my GI Bill I wouldn’t be able to afford it.

[@LateNightLessons]

That's wild bro! I've played in Terre Haute (many years ago) and I can't remember the name of the place but it was a popular college bar. Was it called "Ballyhoo" or something like that? I totally can't remember the name of the club, but I wonder if it was the same place you saw Whitesnake?

[@frankpaws]

How about Frank Gamble?

[@douglaslima2749]

In the third lick, the Petrucci picks all the sextins. It play everything with alternating picking.

[@LateNightLessons]

Yep, that's why I wrote it without using legato and as 32nd notes in the transcription. I'm more of a mix-and-match picking player and use lots of legato phrases in my music, so hitting that tempo (which is basically tremolo picking) is a little awkward when it changes to another string, as I'm accustomed to picking licks like that on a single string (a la EVH). I'd like to see a close up of his hand picking phrases like that and slowed down to a crawl to see how he navigates from string to string at a blazing speed and it's still clean. As I said in the video - he's a wizard and I'm just a "guitar guy." Besides, I'm more interested in sharing concepts and ideas than trying to emulate another player note-for-note. The ideas and concepts he has are more valuable to learn that just Xeroxing his licks.

[@rickgrebenik9250]

Your good teacher, I'm gonna subscribe to your channel, good player and humble . But Lucas Liberia you need to look into please

[@ButtmanRises]

....you know...

[@arminpolsinger6025]

hi. I like you

[@satchrules101]

the fast picking c minor thing .. the tab has pull offs.. but its all picked .

[@leeDs718]

People don't 'understand' Petrucci as a player. He shouldn't be lauded for speed but rather his guitar mechanics and melodic phrasing. It's very difficult to emulate his playing style.

[@laskar2439]

Too much speak

[@Aristotelezz]

Dream Theater is not a good name for a rockband. Sounds like music for 13 years old girls or so. They are a superband but remained long for many rock fans unnoticed, I think due to their name.

[@leem1416]

Dude, you’re really intelligent and an excellent guitar player, but you talk too much!

[@paulhanwetbe212]

5 minutes of talking... Bored

[@LateNightLessons]

You have two options - either watch my 'Just The Tip' series (with NO talking whatsoever) or watch someone else's channel. I bet you complain about getting "free samples" and "free advice" too. I have no patience for rude dildos.