**3/27: John Petrucci’s Week 8 Feedback**

“Congrats and a job well done to all of the winners in the MTM competition! I’m blown away by all of the amazing talent out there. Now it’s time to pick our grand prize winner! Good luck shredders!”

Match The Master Contest

Our Match the Master contest challenges guitar players to match John Petrucci’s riffs from Dream Theater’s new album, The Astonishing. One grand prize winner will earn a master class with John, an Ernie Ball Music Man guitar, and a prize package including gear from Mesa Engineering, Fractal Audio Systems, TC Electronic, and Dimarzio.

We’ll also be selecting weekly winners, who will receive an Ernie Ball prize package and prizes from the following sponsors.

Sterling By Music Man

• JP60 Guitar

Dunlop

• JP Signature Cry Baby Pedal
• JP Players Pack of JP Jazz III Guitar Picks

Dimarzio:

• Two John Petrucci Signature Pickups
• One John Petrucci Signature Strap

TC Electronic

• JP Signature Dreamscape Guitar Effects Pedal

Fractal

• T-Shirt

MESA Boogie

• Grid Slammer Overdrive Pedal

Stay tuned to this blog post, updated weekly, to see the winners!

Week 8 Winner – Adam Shedd | Round Rock, TX

Congratulations to Adam Shedd, our eighth and final weekly winner! John says, “For our final week of the competition I’d like to congratulate Adam Shedd for an awesome job matching my riff from ‘Moment Of Betrayal’. An honorable mention goes to Saad Khan for his very cool 8 finger tapping version of the same riff.”

Week 7 Winner – Jonathan Munoz | Miami, FL

Jonathan Munoz from Miami, FL wins week 7 with his version of Riff #8! John said, “Congrats and great job Jonathan!”

Week 6 Winner – Øystein Fornes Gundersen | Boston, MA

Our week 6 winner is Øystein Fornes Gundersen from Boston, MA. Øystein nailed Riff #4 and was hand-picked by John Petrucci to be our weekly winner. John said, “Congratulations Øystein for matching this tricky riff!”

Week 5 Winner – Brett Poindexter | La Pine, OR

Brett Poindexter is our week 5 winner! John Petrucci selected his Riff #5 as the top video. John says: “Killer job matching my riff from ‘A New Beginning’ Brett!”

 Week 4 Winner – Evan Bradley | Lincoln University, PA

Congratulations to Evan Bradley! John Petrucci picked his version of Riff #7 as the best of Week 4. John says: “Great job matching my riff Evan! It has some subtle twists in it and you nailed all of them. Hey, nice guitar too!”

Week 3 Winner – Andy Xiong | Cottage Grove, MN

Congratulations to Andy Xiong, selected by John Petrucci as the Week 3 Match the Master winner. John says: “There’s so much great talent out there. Awesome job Andy!”

Week 2 Winner – Nathanial Dominquez | Los Angeles, CA

Congratulations to Nathanial Dominquez, selected by John Petrucci as the Week 2 Match the Master winner. John says:“Awesome job Nathaniel! You totally nailed it. Keep up the good work!”

The playing so far has been very impressive, but John also appreciates quality videos, and was impressed by one entry in particular this week. He says: “Special props this week to Jonathan Munoz for production value.”

Week 1 Winner – Joshua Jenkins | Denton, TX

Out of over 800 first-week contestants, John Petrucci handpicked our week 1 winner, Joshua Jenkins. Congrats to Joshua, and thanks to everyone who entered. We’ve got 7 more weeks of winners, so keep trying!