[distressed_romeo]

There's an awesome Al DiMeola video interview in the new issue of Guitar Techniques (the one with ZZ Top on the cover), where he breaks down how he develops those cool syncopated rhythms. Seriously inspiring stuff...

[Apophis]

Thanks for info

[kung_fu]

In case you didn't know, RTF are going to be getting back together for some shows Al Di Meola, The Official Website, www.aldimeola.com

Is this the lesson?

[jacksonplayer]

Originally Posted by kung_fu

In case you didn't know, RTF are going to be getting back together for some shows

I heard about that--that is so freakin' awesome!!

I'm getting to an age where I don't feel like travelling to see many shows anymore but this is one I will totally travel to NYC to see, if necessary. I might even catch a few shows here and there.

BTW, is that some fucking sick playing in that video, or what? The scary thing is, Al's just casually tossing out some licks there.

[Quicksilver689]

shane gibson has a similar lesson on the Chops From Hell Website - I've always really liked those cool syncopated lines - watch the vid here:

http://www.chopsfromhell.com/gibsonshane3_ex1.mpg

[777]

so what hes saying is in your 1-2-3-4 you should try playing wher the (-) is ? and always tap your foot while you play

[distressed_romeo]

Originally Posted by 777

so what hes saying is in your 1-2-3-4 you should try playing wher the (-) is ? and always tap your foot while you play

Basically, yeah. What he's getting is that rather than relying on 'feeling' rhythms, you should always make sure you have an internal clock going marking the downbeats, so if you want to play really complex, syncopated rhythms, you'll always know where each note lies relative to the downbeat.

Since I started working at this, it's made complex rhythms MUCH more accessible, so it's something worth cultivating in your own playing. It makes transcribing rhythms much easier as well.

[Luan]

you know what I mean

[jacksonplayer]

Originally Posted by 777

so what hes saying is in your 1-2-3-4 you should try playing wher the (-) is ? and always tap your foot while you play

Distressed Romeo is right on about this, but I would also add that Al's saying that most of the interesting stuff that a player can do is going to happen between the beats rather than right on them.

I don't know what Al sounded like pre-RTF (because I don't think he recorded anything before that), but he clearly got a lot of that from Chick Corea, and Al basically admits that in this clip. Listen to Corea's rhythm playing, and you can hear the same principle. He *could* play right on the beats, but his rhythms are far more interesting because he doesn't. He leaves the beat to the rhythm section and plays against them much of the time. For a very good example, listen to the title track of RTF's "Romantic Warrior" album.

Of course, "Romantic Warrior" is pretty much a good example of everything that is good about music.

[Holy Katana]

What is that guitar? It looks like an Ibanez. Maybe he's got an endorsement deal with them now or something.