How Petrucci REALLY Built His Chops

PracticeGuitar... - free video master class on building guitar speed without slow practice.
In this week’s video, I show you:
2 guitar technique secrets behind Petrucci’s never-quit fretting hand stamina. (They are on display all over all the legato examples he plays in the Rock Discipline video, but he never says a word about them.)
Exactly how to position your wrist to play loud & articulate pull offs with way less effort than you are probably using now.
How Petrucci and other pros “rig it”, so they get tired less and need less endurance (and less practice) to play guitar fast and clean. (No, it’s not about lowering your string action, using lighter strings or anything about your guitar or amp.)
A counterintuitive picking motion that can end all your struggles with pesky inside picking for good. It’s also one of the secrets behind Petrucci’s effortless-looking picking speed and accuracy.
Why Petrucci’s sitting position is WAY better than Yngwie’s.
2 things Petrucci does when he picks that I think are stupid. One of them is using strict alternate picking. The other is way more subtle, but it could be causing many of your guitar playing “F**k it!” moments right now.
And a whole lot more.

[@derekyang2939]

I've been playing guitar badly for several years, but this video magically fixed some of the problems that were holding me back, and now I'm shredding on my guitar like there's no tomorrow. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

[@99Gara99]

Fake comment haha

[@Cody_Trading]

Expert level analysis. Absolutely amazing as usual Mike!

[@errriss]

Please do Kiko Loureiro picking style next

[@claudiosuarez9905]

Really underated Channel, keep It Up!!

[@DaipayanKarmakar]

Pinky on the body is like a GPS for the pick to locate the strings. Touching other strings is a good advice but very hard to master. Nice explanation

[@pablomontesinos6852]

Agreed. I put my ring finger and pinky in the body of the guitar all the time and can play several Dream Theater solos pretty good and obviously I can play very fast if I want to so, that advice that you don't have to touch the body of the guitar is BS. Works for some and doesn't for others.

[@yourguitarist]

Hi Mike... I checked out your site and I actually know some of the guitarists who gave you testimonials. I had a feeling that you were a Tom Hess student. Great to see you doing this. I have learned a lot already just from your youtube channel. Thank You! :)

[@mazzorcca5491]

Great explanation. Thanks a lot for this!

[@ChrisUlrey-x5r]

The point of "resting" fingers on the guitar is otherwise known as anchoring. Keep the wrist still. Move the pick. JP is the pillar of efficiency. The anchor isn't bad form .

[@GeneralMiller92FIN]

I am nowadays using only the anchoring. The picking got immediately so much better because it is so much more easier to navigate and feel the distances of the strings when you have one fixed "anchor" to compare to. When before I had previously big issues with alternative arpegios. Now I don't have so much.

[@spyroschristoulakis6296]

Excellent breakdown. Kudos!

[@robertourbina7335]

Amazing observations!

[@lowyzzzz]

Demonstrating without demonstrating. This guy is at a different high level !

[@chaggasfernandes]

Thanks for the info

[@TruthGuitar]

What a great analysis of John Petrucci's attack...Great stuff...Subbing!

[@EranShemtov]

Dude great job really . About thumb movin while shreddin iwngwie does that with circular kinda picking motion its possible if u are warmed up and loose it works preety well . Also add "changing angle " exeption . Nice channel man !

[@maxxschneider5534]

Yngwie plays from his fingertips. He hardly uses his wrist. His micro articulation is very efficient. I agree with the picking hand. A lot of people play with their fingers sticking straight out. I started curling my fingers in 5 years ago. Much better

[@bulleta.k.a9135]

Can you show us how he holds the guitar pick great video

[@gacktkun1647]

2:54 I respect your opinion but I will go with what Legato God Tom Quayle said about this particular topic. Electric guitarist need not do Pull OFWs like a Classical Guitarist would. Rick Graham said the same thing. Well I guess Britanya have a totally different Philosophy but I find their explanations more effective and sensible as far as Legato playing is concerned.

[@sole__doubt]

As soon as I was thinking "hey JP hold the pick with his fingers open like me" you then go into saying how its not a good idea.

[@keithveloso2822]

10:55 I disagree. I use the same technique John does here. Yes, his pinky touches the guitar for added support and balance BUT THE FULL WEIGHT OF MY HAND IS ON THE BRIDGE as a pivot point, not anywhere else on the guitar! I don't put weight on my pinky. No one should hold a pick with a closed fist. Just hold the pick with your thumb and index, hold and lock down the fleshy part of the bottom of your hand on the bridge then let the rest of your fingers relax.

[@BrunoCormack]

As usual, there's always an exception.... search for Eduardo Ardanuy and how he moves his thumb I don't know how the guy is so fast.

[@SILVERCHARGEDS]

I agree, if you want to get good at playing fast, you have to play fast. That's what I finally just did one day and though I sucked at first, over a relatively short time, I was able to find my way/groove within that speed. And as far as not touching the body of the guitar with your pinky.... I'm self-taught and must of developed that habit without knowing it was wrong. However, it's never caused me any issues and I've aways thought I did that as a way to help me be more accurate with what I'm playing, be it rhythm or lead.

[@christopherharv]

It is a great video, but I'm not too crazy about his explanation on that one - why we shoulnd't use a pinky anchor. I personally don't use my pinky as an anchor, so I have no horse in the fight. But his logic against the pinky anchor is basically "you could do it wrong (with too much force/tension), so don't do it at all." If we didn't do something because we *_could_* do it wrong, we'd never pick up a guitar in the first place!

[@steliosm2691]

Tips on how to hybrid pick like Polyphia, please.

[@Tiler-ju9zl]

Interesting

[@Zualra]

Great video man. One point I disagree with is wrist movement is the only way to achieve articulate picking. Check out Takayoshi Ohmura of Baby metal. He's a great example of a fast, articulate shredder that uses his thumb and index to move the pick. Thanks

[@rahulghosh9118]

Hello Sir...can we get a video on how to properly implement JP's Rock Discipline into our practice routines?

[@DaipayanKarmakar]

Practice one exercise per week exactly as it's described by John Petrucci. You'll notice the difference in a month.

[@riffcrescendo1740]

Looks to me like Joey from friends wearing a guitar and talking.

[@rockalance]

That thumb positioning has always seemed to add tension to my fretting hand and I have small hands. I naturally use that position for the bottom string, but for top strings its really uncomfortable; so I either point my thumb towards the head or its wrapped around the neck. Any advice on this?

[@doyouluvit]

9:40 thanks for pointing this out. For me, this is the only way to play guitar. (classical style) I never understand how guys play on their right leg, and I don't think playing on your right leg looks cool at all. My opinion =)

[@qriousmind]

Tell that to MAB, one of the fastest guitarists

[@marcoramirez642]

Hi Mike I have a question about finger choice... I really struggle to use my pinky on the lower strings (specially A, E strings) if I'm playing on high positions (15th fret and beyond). Is this normal? Because when I play in those strings high on the neck I feel that my hand become worse at muting the strings above if I use the same fingering as usual, there the fret are kind of out of reach for mu pinky. Hope you understand this and thanks!

[@Priyadarshan_Nag]

Now I know why my jaw hurts after playing my guitar for long periods of time. 🥺

[@serph2951]

I have a huge stamina problem, I can only practice fast stuff for less than an hour, after that I'll be super sloppy and unsynchronized

[@satchrules101]

Hey bro an hour of picking is really good , ur not going to be shredding in songs for an hour .. just my opinion.

[@jamesryder9158]

for now, maybe, but if you keep at it, you can play fast stuff for 5 or 6 hours

[@cpamiseso]

Wow, so many to undo for me I think...

[@davebook1216]

I noticed I hold my breath

[@satchrules101]

Just curious how come you never talk about the 2 way pick slanting ,? because without learning these hand movements u will never be able to pick fast and smooth alternate picking .. but I really like ur lessons !

[@chrisking6695]

He probably either doesn't know about the technique or thinks it's not good and thus doesn't try to teach it or what's more likely he doesn't do it himself

[@satchrules101]

Thanks good points!

[@SolaScriptura94]

I do strongly recommend planting your pinky on the guitar though

[@jakeliftsnshreds6670]

I disagree with your disagreement on resting fingers on the guitar for picking. I cannot play anything remotely difficult without my pinky resting on the body and I can't play anything really difficult without ring and pinky on the guitar, specially alternate picking across multiple strings

[@willtsam171]

is it me or does john remind me a bit of david blaine lol

[@HowToPracticeGuitar]

Being David Blaine is one of John's many talents.

[@rajarajanperiasamy7474]

HOw is it you dont have a million followers?

[@valebliz]

“Moving your thumb and index to change and skip strings is a huge nono to play fast” yeah sure tell that to Martin Miller lmao

[@vubear]

I know right. The man is a joker. Talks crap and doesn’t even play that well

[@Mikau-gb8uo]

he can't downpick "Master Of Puppets" though :D

[@lordviewer7305]

yep but he can play In the Presence of Enemies fast lines but Kirk or James will never be able to ;P

[@casaroli]

I doubt he can’t. I strongly believe he chooses not to do it.

[@riffcrescendo1740]

Has anyone actually seen this guy actually play the guitar?

[@herculesrockefeller8969]

"Don't do what Petrucci does" - otherwise you might end up playing like John Petrucci.

[@Barefoot67]

Petrucci not mentioning tension control is so fuckin amateur hour.........wtf don't ANYONE mention it??.................god bless this man for mentioning it

[@chester51161]

goes to show that just because you’re a great player doesn’t make you a great teacher

[@chrisking6695]

John's action is super low. He barely uses any strength to get a note to ring.

[@gkniffen]

This guy has negative melatonin.