Wild Stringdom w/John Petrucci - Shape Up Part 2 - Examining Fretboard Patterns

These videos are bonus content related to the Holiday 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store: http://store.guitarworld.com/products... Let's continue with a topic that I addressed in last month's column: focusing on the formation of specific scalar patterns, or "shapes," and how to connect them while traversing the fretboard. To me, this concept and approach offer a sensible way to practice these ideas/patterns in order to build up one's chops while also increasing overall fretboard awareness and mastery of scales. The thing I like best about the licks I'm going to show you is that they force you to look at the fretboard beyond playing in a fixed position, or "box" pattern, as the runs move in a more diagonal pattern across the fretboard, which is much more in line with the way that I actually approach the instrument in regard to improvisational soloing.