The Songwriting Process

John Petrucci, virtuoso guitarist and co-founder of progressive metal band Dream Theater, comments on the role of improvisation in the band’s songwriting process:

Usually [songwriting] stems from some kind of jam or improvisation.  One of the things that we’ve done from the very beginning is that we love to play together and improvise and have these long, extended jams.  And usually when we do that something will come out of it, whether it’s a feel, a melody, a chord progression, or something we can latch on to.  And then once that seed is planted, then the sparks start flying and we just kind of go off — you know, “That’s really cool, let’s move it in this direction, let’s make it go 4 more times,” and then some guy will chime in, “You know what would be cool? There’s this feel on such and such album that I could picture here.”  And there’s such a great chemistry.  And then once it starts to become a little more cohesive, we generally map it out.  We have a big, some sort of display, some sort of board, a grease board or something, and we’ll start writing out the arrangement.  And usually it’s something that’s erasable because we constantly change it.  And we develop it from there.  When we feel like it’s complete and the song is done, there you have it.

Source: Youtube