"As I Am" by Dream Theater

[CustomX]

Can you guys help me with a section from As I Am? On the studio version, it starts at 5:31 and goes to 5:35. I know its only 4 seconds long but how the hell does he play it. Is it sweeped? Alternate picked? It's so fast I can't tell.

On the Live-Budokan version it starts at 5:20 and ends at 5:25. Here's the tab for it...

|------6-------| |------6-------| |------6-------| |------6-------|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------19-18-17------------------------------|
|-----------------------------19-18-17----------19-18-17---------19-18-17--|
|----------17-16-15-19-18-17----------------------------19-18-17-----------|
|-17-16-15-------------------------------------------------------------------|

|------6-------| |------6-------| |------6-------| |------6-------|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
|-----------------------------------------------------------------22-21-20-|
|-------------------22-21-20-----------------------------22-21-20---------|
|----------21-20-19----------21-20-19----------21-20-19------------------|
|-21-20-19----------------------------21-20-19----------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

[Garrett]

That, my friend, is a classic example of Mr. Petrucci alternate picking FAST AS HELL. He shows you how to do it in his Rock Discipline instructional video. There are some excellent excercises in that vid to help you increase speed and dexterity.

Basically what he does is play a pattern and move it around the fretboard and accross strings. As you can see in your tab, it's a simple series of descending lines. The hard part is alternate picking each note, with out playing legato. Oh and you have to do it FAST AS HELL. I'm convinced he has bionic implants in his arms. ;)

He can, and does, sweep from time to time. But the vast majority of his soloing crazyness is alternate picked.

[CustomX]

Thought so. Even on the DVD it doesnt even look like his wrist is moving b/c its so fast.

[Garrett]

Bionic implants ;)

[Dan Desy]

Thought so. Even on the DVD it doesnt even look like his wrist is moving b/c its so fast.
I think it's his picking fingers that move, not his wrist.

[CustomX]

I think it's his picking fingers that move, not his wrist.
Explain? He doesn't even use his wrist, but instead just his thumb and index finger?

[Garrett]

I watched some of the Rock Discipline video again and his fingers don't move at all when he's playing fast. His wrist just kind of twitches and these amazing lines come out.

Granted, the vid is 10 years old, but I doubt he plays much differently now.

[Dan Desy]

Explain? He doesn't even use his wrist, but instead just his thumb and index finger?
I was just half joking. Like Garrett says, his wrist barely moves.
The guy is just a goddamn machine!:dude:

[Mike Dresch]

The key to picking super fast is economical motion of your wrist and whatever digits you use to hold your pick. If you move too much, you're wasting energy and losing accuracy. You want to use small, short attacks on the string. Basically just enough for the pick to hit the string and then back again, and so on and so forth. The hard part is getting your left hand to keep up with your right hand. Just takes some practice.

[CustomX]

The key to picking super fast is economical motion of your wrist and whatever digits you use to hold your pick. If you move too much, you're wasting energy and losing accuracy. You want to use small, short attacks on the string. Basically just enough for the pick to hit the string and then back again, and so on and so forth. The hard part is getting your left hand to keep up with your right hand. Just takes some practice.
Wouldn't that then be economy picking...?

[Mike Dresch]

I don't know what you call it, I just do it :)

[CustomX]

Teach me? Thanks.

[Garrett]

I don't consider Petrucci's style to be economy picking. I always think of Frank Gambale when I think of economy picking. He sweeps a lot and even when he doesn't, he minimizes the amount of pick strokes as well as minimizing the amount of movement. Go out and buy Show Me What You Can Do. But that's a whole other can of worms from Petrucci.

Do you have a metronome? If not, go out and buy one now. It's the most important thing for building speed. I'm definitely no shredder, but I can get some nice right hand speed. My left just can't keep up.

Here's what to do for Petrucci kind of speed:

To get just your right hand, set a comfortable pace on the metronome. Pick a string and play quarter notes (one note per click). Then double your speed (8th notes, two notes for each click), alternate picking. Double your speed again (16th notes). If you're really ambitious, play 32nd notes.

When you can do 16th notes comfortably, raise the speed a little until you're comfortable there. Repeat. It will be a gradual process, but increase the speed each time you get comfortable.

Here's where it gets hard:

To get the left hand more involved, pick a simple single-string pattern and coordinate with your picking hand. Use the metronome as above to build speed.

Here's where it gets really hard:

With lots and lots of patience and practice with the metronome, you'll be able to play more complex patterns and switch strings while being speedy.

Remember, if you want Petrucci-esque shredding, alternate picking with the shortest possible pick stroke is the way to go.

[CustomX]

Gracias! All of that is really helpful.