The guitar is the ultimate vehicle for expression and composition for me. It's a part of my DNA!

When you use a metronome, you'll start to notice where the notes are falling, if they're on the beat, behind the beat, between the beat, and so on.

Early on in my career, I was really into the volume pedal techniques that somebody like Steve Howe or Alex Lifeson would use.

I could talk about technique, theory and gear for days!

Rush and guitarist Alex Lifeson are among my biggest influences.

When I listen to symphonies, or long pieces of music, there are so many different moods and movements, and things that are really beautiful going to something with a lot of tension.

It's amazing how well real strings blend with metal, like that whole sound.

We're a band that really... It's important to us to write music and put it out there and to work together.

Chopin was a master of melody, harmony and voice leading - the art of smoothly moving from chord to chord.

Before Dream Theater took off I used to teach a lot, and one of the things my students often asked me was how to apply the chromatic scale to practical playing situations. You see, their other teachers would give them chromatic warm-up exercises without providing any explanation of how important and versatile this scale actually is.

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.

Anytime I can use open strings in a chord, or add a ninth, I will.

I love playing live, but our tours generally last about a year. I could never do this without the understanding and support of my wife. She's also a guitar player, and we knew each other before Dream Theater started touring.

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

In my touring rig, there's a pedal drawer, where I'm able to switch pedals in and out, going into the front of the amp.

I listen to somebody like Shawn Lane, and unfortunately he is no longer with us, but I hear him playing and I am like, 'That is just absolutely ridiculous.'

We love what we do. We're passionate about making music and as composers; that's just who we are.

A violin neck is much smaller than the guitar's, so it's much easier to play wide intervals on one violin string. On the guitar, you really have to stretch to play them.

Dream Theater music, there's a lot of background and context to the songs, as far as the subject matter and the albums they come from.

To play sweep arpeggios correctly, you have to mute each note with the left hand immediately after picking it.

I've listened to musicians who say that using a metronone makes you robotic, that it decreases your 'feel.' That's ridiculous. Either you have feel or you don't. Feel is one of those intangibles that can't be taught. But if you do have feel, using a metronome will allow you to play cleaner - and that'll make your 'feel' have more, well, 'feeling.'

I'm grateful that as part of the Ernie Ball family, I'm able to connect with my fans in such a meaningful way and hopefully inspire guitar players to up their game!

I spent a lot of time developing my chops when I was younger. In doing so, I found that one of the hardest things was dealing with what to practice.

I have seen Tommy Emanuel play; my wife and I went to see him and he just melted my face off. How do you play guitar like that? There are so many people that play at a ridiculous level and I sit there watching them and I'm like, 'Wow, wish I could do that.'

After you've practiced for an hour or so, turn down the lights and record yourself playing. Improvise and go nuts, then playback what you've recorded and listen for your strengths and weaknesses.

If I had to pick a favorite band of all time, it would be Rush.

For me, it's always easier playing with a drummer.

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.

Guitarists use downstrokes and upstrokes to play fast patterns, but doubling up on down- or upstrokes might be essential to the sound of a specific melody. So as a player, you've got to sharpen your picking skills as much as you can.

I've always employed a melodic style with my leads, placing strong emphasis on infusing romantic sensibilities into what I'm trying to say. Those big, epic melodies come from influences like Pink Floyd, Journey, Marillion... bands that have these guitar parts that are just soaring!

There's successes you have in your career. For me, for example, as a guitar player, as somebody in a band putting out albums, the success that we have in our field and how we're viewed by our fans; that type of success means more than anything to us.

Growing up on Long Island, I think Billy Joel albums come with your driver's license.

Before you start a practicing regimen, you have to be aware that the study of music is a lifelong process-it's a discipline. And the key to mastering any discipline is consistency.

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.

One of the main things I look for in a guitarist is in the sound itself. I go for a certain sound, and I think it's an important thing for making a player more identifiable in the big giant pool of musicians out there. You want a sound that people will recognise just as much as your playing.

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.

As a guitar player, you never stop learning, never stop honing your skills.

I don't have very eclectic tastes in music.

We are very, very fortunate to have built a career based on playing the kind of music we play. In a lot of ways, it's a very eclectic style. It's not pop; it's not mainstream; so the fact that we have been able to have the career that we have had internationally, with all the success we've had, it's like a miracle. It's amazing.

Definitely an important aspect of my playing is keeping my hands in sync.

I do remember one of the first great experiences of going to Europe was playing in Rome hearing the people sing our music so loud. It was louder than the music we were playing.

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.

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

We record Dream Theater shows and I'll sit on the bus and listen to my playing - what worked, what didn't. A lot of times it's embarrassing and humbling, but that's what you have to do to get better.

For anyone who doesn't know his work, Andreas Vollenweider is a harpist who creates very atmospheric, new agey music that's totally beautiful.

I think if anything, what 'The Astonishing' proved is that we're always going to experiment.

If you practice in a focused, concentrated manner and make efficient use of your time, you will progress a lot faster than if you were to use the same time noodling without any specific goals or direction.

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

I often use triadic arpeggio forms within my riffs and solos as a tool to create rich-sounding, poly-chordal sounds.