10 Best Guitarists Of The 2000s

10. John Petrucci

When it comes to technical skill, Dream Theater's music is held up as the gold standard of what any rocker can aspire to be as a musician. Throughout the band's tenure, they have consistently delivered epic songs that leave their audiences awestruck and guitarists sitting back in disbelief.

The way that John Petrucci weaves his playing style through Dream Theater's music sounds so effortless while still being incredibly complicated. The man is a true virtuoso who uses his music-school background to break all the limitations of rock guitar. While he does have some inklings of rock, the solos that Petrucci performs employ scales from many different genres spanning rock, jazz, classical, and even Eastern music.

Even though Petrucci can play like a madman, he has never forgotten the importance behind a song's emotional center. Sure, you can write a song where you play a million notes a minute, but it doesn't mean a thing if the song doesn't have a heart. Petrucci strikes the perfect balance between restraint and intensity as he draws a straight line throughout the song. Jump into Dream Theater's back catalog and witness the concentrated expertise that comes through in every riff that comes from Petrucci's amplifier.