john petrucci style

[newbieguitarmaker]

i want to ask what is that thing that petrucci does where he puts his right hand near the nut of the guitar, is he like capoing the frets or something?

thanks

[eclecticmage]

Now I could be wrong but I believe he may be using his hand to muffle the other strings while he is doing other licks with his left so there isnt any notes ringing over. Vai and Satch both do this method. Though I have seen some players go as far as to use scrunchies on their guitar necks and they just move them up to help dampen any loose ringing strings. Hope that helps.

[pawel]

Dampening the string, what eclecticimage said. It's cool if you want to play speedy legato licks with your left hand and have them sound clean.

[newbieguitarmaker]

thanks

[Andelusion]

If you want to learn this properly, find the tab for a piece by Satriani called 'The Power Cosmic' don't confuse this with 'The Power Cosmic Parts 1/2' from Engines of Creation.