Al Di Meola - Creating Rhythmic Suspense

In this clip, Al Di Meola shares how he practices rhythmic variation to avoid sounding "square".
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[@therealandrecorbin4050]

People think of fast runs with Al's name, no mystery, but his rhythmic and melodic prowess is amazing.

[@mikecimerian6913]

For me, it is his surgical precision. Nice to see him let his guard down.

[@kengreenwood]

It's amazing how rock solid Al's quarter note foot tapping is all while he is going all over the place on the neck...

[@dstfno]

I always found it funny how Al manages to amaze people with this simple thing. It's basically the first thing one starts to learn when taking formal instrument classes 😁

[@kengreenwood]

@@dstfno it’s simple when you’re playing in straight 4/4 time. That’s not what he’s doing.

[@dstfno]

It's not about 4/4, 5/4 or 7/8, it's about the beat regardless of time signature. He's not playing overly complex rhythms over the beat, just because he doesn't play a note exactly on the beat doesn't mean it's difficult. There are players (usually drummers) who can do such complex cross rhythms that even as a listener you lose track of the basic beat. I don't think Al is one of them.

[@tods.9947]

Listening to Al noodle on the guitar would be anyone else’s audition. Such command of rhythm and tonality.

[@michaelj3959]

I remember buying "Romantic Warrior" when it was first released and i listened to it all day for months. Same with 'A Friday Night in San Francisco". Al is a genius at guitar. I always loved and admired his playing.

[@hummarstraful]

I LOVE Al's chord progressions. They are just beautiful!

[@martydibergi5228]

i got Al, Paco and John Mcglaughlin to autograph my guitar and the Hellecasters, Alex Lifeson, Robben Ford, Albert Lee and many others. I ❤ guitar. Al is a Giant!!!

[@williamsheffield1134]

The man’s foot is ROCK SOLID! Al Di Meola is the man!

[@ifeyecould]

Don't forget, Mr. Di Meola started out as a drummer..

[@mikelistman5263]

How awesome to get Dimeola to just jam out on your channel!

[@Mr.Batsu12]

I started to study guitar at 14. When I was around 17 I discovered Al Di Meola through the amazing "Friday Night in San Francisco" album. I'm now 54 years years old and what I want to know more than anything is: How come Al looks the same age now as he did when I first discovered him back in the late 80s!!!!!!

[@Bellabaddi]

Ha ha, yeah, when I see him know I’m like…this is the same dude from the 70s!?!

[@erikpors9775]

I think I know the answer healthy Italian food! although al has had a heart attack not long ago , i think it was during a show in Italy.

[@Necropheliac]

This man is so amazing. He is a national treasure. I wish I had even a speck of his talent. I have all of Al’s albums but I can’t listen to them very often because it just wrecks my self confidence.

[@jakelee7639]

There is so much to Al’s playing and music….far more than just picking and technique…brilliant harmony, counterpoint and the very obvious complex rhythms…..what an amazing guitarist/musician/composer…

[@redfernguitar]

I love how he works so powerfully within a certain set of limitations - like he doesn't do fingerstyle its all pick but with that limitation he runs with it.

[@erikpors9775]

Rick always gets his "guests" in a very relaxed environment they open up and great things happen!

[@josephramone5805]

Cielo e Terra, from 1985, is one of my favorite Di Meola albums. It pretty much sounds like what he was playing here: one guitar, few if any overdubs, a nice deep reverb and lots of wonderful improvisation.

[@spektor88]

It's also one of my all-time favorites and you're literally the first person I've ever heard mention it, so cheers internet stranger. Everyone else: check it out if this vid appeals to you!

[@naderzekrya5238]

Agreed, Cielo e Terra is the Meola album I enjoy the most!

[@giustinoscalise3177]

Recently got into this album. It's so good...

[@Yngsatchvai]

Yes! And Heart Of The Immigrants are just next to nobody ❤ his acoustic playing is beyond beautiful on Traces Of A Tear and Cafe 1930 & Nightclub 1960 especially!

[@scottashe984]

Al D. is consistently amazing.

[@lordstanley34]

Al plays a near perfect phrase that probably only he can and then looks up and says “oh wait, I can’t remember the rest…” Wait, you mean it was going to be even MORE awesome? Lol, this guy is a legend. Epic interview Rick, thank you for posting this - happy to subscribe.

[@TheFortunateTragedy]

What a complete master of the guitar 🎸

[@sapinva]

Still listening to Land of the Midnight Sun after all these years. Never gets old.

[@morethanaveragejoe8224]

Back in the late 80's I was introduced to EVH, Satriani, Vai, Trevor Rabin, and many others. A bunch of the guitar greats gave props to Alan Holdsworth and Al Di Meola. And when I'd go through Di Meola's tunes, I was just blown away by his technique and musicality.

[@GlennSnell]

Keith Richards had mentioned the same thing Al mentioned. The silence/spaces between notes are very important. Kind of like Start Me Up, the space between the chords is what creates suspense and makes it all work.

[@jeromejamies3641]

Miles Davis!

[@gj8683]

@@jeromejamies3641 Yes. It's in Miles' autobiography for one thing.

[@nightnoodler812]

The three albums I remember the most was Casino, Land Of the Midnight Sun and of course Electric Rendezvous, love his style. When I think stylish guitar players, and there are many, I think of Al Di Meola as one that really stands out with his own musical stylings and interpretations. That mix of Jazz and classical has always been a fav of mine.

[@facundosimonetti5203]

at first I thought he was improvising all that stuff and it was amazing in an artistic way, the fact that he was READING those pieces makes it amazing in a technical way

[@DanielBarberMusic]

Wow, this was so great to watch. I've been a fan since Romantic Warrior and have loved so much of his playing and loved this video. And then at the end here when he's playing what is apparently a new composition, and forgets it in the middle, plays some more and then says "I'm too nervous." How cool is that! We're just humans doing our thing, best we can. Thank you Al, for your brilliance, your beautiful music, your inspiration, and your humility. Blessings onward!

[@chineserockethands4578]

The thing I liked the most about the Al interview is that he played the most while explaining things. Hope you can interview him again.

[@kvmalley]

Genius at play, just having some fun at his art, with his paintbrush and another genius instigating him @Rick Beato 2!! ❤️💯👏🔥

[@lorettahookano6139]

Al is one of a kind, everything he play’s is amazing !

[@naderzekrya5238]

I just love the inimitable Beato approach. Cheers dude, for all you do

[@DJRushX1]

Absolutely killing it Rick with all these guests the last few weeks. And now? You Have the Master? omg KILLING IT!

[@senseibear2436]

I didn't realise until the end that it's actually Al Di Meola himself!? I honestly thought he was from the old old days.. I have a mix folder of his songs I play along with The Champ! I thought they were co-temporal so to speak... I'm blown away! I've never seen him play, the technique he uses gives me a lot of hope to maybe start practicing again..

[@anthonylardo6969]

Worth mentioning that Friday Night in San Francisco is mandatory listening for guitarists of any style and skill level.

[@muctop17]

Friday is more than 40y ago and look how's Frisco is doing now... 😮‍💨😯

[@michaelnilsson3103]

Al, Mr metronome and one of my heroes from a very young age. And I have to edit this and add Al Di:s musicality, which i think is extremely underrated. Romatic Warior and all the solo work Elegant Gypsy, Friday Night in San Francisco and it's goes on...

[@Crusader1099]

this is my Mentor since i began playing the acoustic guitar as a young teenager. He as my nr 1 and the late Paco de Lucia 🙏

[@SoupA150]

Beautiful job you are doing with your channel Rick. Great for music and anyone who loves it. Music improves peoples lives and the world at large.

[@bhornz01]

Saw him years ago in a small club in Amsterdam. Really enjoyable live.

[@C_Kawla]

Al is among my top 4 players. His melody is on a whole nother level!

[@joeyserrapede]

His style is so EFFORTLESS… I can’t count how many times I’ve listened to Friday Night… Absolute gold🤩

[@Bellabaddi]

Never cared for DiMeolas songs…but his jamming is on point. He is a master.

[@TrollHunterxXx]

Di Meola is an acquired taste … I had to grow into him … but I’m glad I did. I was too young to appreciate him back in the 90s when he was all over guitar mags … as I got older I started to warm up to him. Very cool you had him on here

[@samseasmusic8933]

Best of the best. Another insightful demonstration!

[@LeadSurge3000]

😊 *Al DiMeola rules!* 😊

[@briannacery9939]

Thank you for the quarter note exercise!

[@rlmccoy252]

Interviewing somebody who actually performed with Paco de Lucía and is also one of the last great artists of the Fusion genre. Mr. Beato, you have really outdone yourself. Thank you so much for this.

[@unclemarkscigarboxguitarlesson]

Met Al at Vememans music in Rockville MD in 1978. He was working with Ovation Guitars then. I bought one BTW. Paul Reed Smith was the guitar tech there as well. Great times

[@davidsummerville351]

So much fun to listen to.

[@SamLazier]

Electric Rendezvous is one of my favorite fusion records!

[@thack102]

So interesting, so talented…. Love to see more of Al … cool 😎

[@claytronico]

After many years of hunching and subsequent work to fix, I started standing with better posture and a shoulder imbalance become more noticeable. Watching this made me realize guitar may have played a part. The shoulder on his picking side goes in what I think is called depression and internal rotation, which explains my imbalance to a T. Hours spent in that position seems more likely than naught to have an effect in the long term, especially over a span of 20-30 years. Maybe corrective imbalanced training is an answer, not quite sure what that might be. More of a comment for PT, but there are a ton of guitar players, and we all deserve healthy shoulders. At a minimum, full ROM every day, takes less than 5 minutes.

[@charliejg]

I still love the live video of Race with Devil on Spanish Highway. The Elegant Gypsy album was kind of my introduction to Al back in the day. Incredible!!

[@as48507]

A buddy of mine said to me “hey, Zappa Plays Zappa is going to be at Medowbrook tonight..” I figured they would’ve been the main act, I was wrong.. the main act was Return To Forever.. that was my introduction to Chic Corea, Stanley Clark, Lenny White, Jean-Luc Ponty and Al. Basically left me speechless for the ride home… mind blowing stuff.. and the crowd was dead silent when they played.. no chatter, only cheering after the song or an absolutely amazing solo…

[@R_Thomp]

Price of admission right here. He's great!

[@Boblivion81]

I didn't blink for minutes lol! Great work. He's a truly amazing guitarist/composer

[@texpig13]

Wow! Al, what an amazing player and person!

[@brendan957]

Re. those spaces Al is referring to, there was a large saying painted on the wall of the music room in my high school, “ Music is painted on a background of silence”.

[@claudius3124]

Wow! that's great!!!! thank you so much Rick!

[@luistillan]

Al di meola is a freaking genius 👏!

[@kalebbales]

Man that thing he’s playing toward the end 7:15 reminds me of some Chris Thile stuff. I’d love to see an Al and Chris collaboration. And Rick!!! I’d like to request a Chris Thile interview!

[@jeffreyjohnson646]

Brilliant playing!

[@MikeSmith-vo2yt]

Flight over Rio from the album Elegant Gypsy is a favourite from back in the day. Great Les Paul sound

[@davemcinn5375]

Bought elegant gypsy when it came out in 77 fan ever since

[@Altosax449]

Gotta love Al D

[@tomlewis4748]

Okay. You've passed the audition! There are two things that a great musician must be able to do. The first is knowing HOW to play. It seems there's no question about that for Al. There are a lot of musicians who know HOW to play. Few are as technically proficient as Al, and I've never seen anyone who could play this fast and this accurately. The second thing a great musician must be able to do is to know WHAT to play. Al's also got that dicked. Knowing what to play is a form of telling a story. Al is telling a story. There are lots of musicians who know HOW to play who don't know WHAT to play. For them it's just 'note salad'. That can't really evoke emotion. But telling a story, the way Al can, does. One of the forms of narrative drive in storytelling is suspense. Al seems to understand this. When one is a true artist who works hard enough to reach this level, what happens is the conscious mind steps back. He is not making conscious decisions regarding which notes to play. Instead, his adaptive unconscious is playing HIM like HE is the instrument. That can be done either spontaneously or from memory. When that happens, it feels like God is playing through you.

[@luke3501]

Brilliant.

[@bkmeahan]

all this time I just thought my timing sucked. turns out I am just playing with rhythm

[@dezfarfara99]

Awesome 💯👍🏼

[@veronicaphillips8310]

Love Al. He's not bad for a guy from Long Island. ❤

[@suzannecoholic1467]

mesmerizing

[@kylefarris8992]

I saw him in 1978 with weather report... denton texas...

[@1loveMusic2003]

Mind blowing!

[@U_ever]

Already a 13%'r. Love your stuff.

[@bcatalogrecords]

best hairpiece in jazz fusion.

[@markburnham7512]

Been digging Al since RTF. Solo work has been no less impressive. So cool to see him working with MM lately to usher in the next gen.

[@tavinhoschmitz]

Freaking fantastic

[@michaelstorms47]

Love it!

[@johnstitt2615]

More gold from Beato. Spoiling us Rotten. ✌️

[@joecrowaz]

Romantic Warrior is STILL a masterpiece.

[@drbassface]

Yes! Agreed:)

[@mysterbear]

A masterpiece is forever.

[@Unibabble]

That was an album for the ages. interesting too how Chick Corea and Al Dimeola have such similar, excellent command of timing in their playing. Two similar musical souls, or was it Chick's influence on a young DiMeola? Who knows, but I hear so much of the same ability to either stay right smack in the pocket or play all around it with complete freedom and expression, never losing that pulse.

[@joecrowaz]

@@Unibabble I think Al was 19 on that Album 😨

[@SeeCSeesCC]

❤❤❤❤❤DiMeola

[@jenko701]

One accomplished human.

[@VarenyamPandya]

0:46

[@DennisCameronMusic]

🦵 I have the Al Di Meola left leg metronome from Boss, it doesn't let me play, just tells me to listen.

[@StreetsOfVancouverChannel]

This man is a drummer/percussionist who moved on to guitar! Talk about polyrhythmic independence! 😎👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻🥃

[@omartechnologies]

Oh why was that part cut out? Is it cuz it's not released yet? Just around the 5.20 mark.. He was about to do some magic and you applauded him.

[@BaroqueBlues]

Rick PLEASE READ, one of the most viewed songs on KZbin was stolen from Al Di Meola! It has over 3 billion views, it's called "Lean On by Mø" they stole it from "South Bound Traveler" a song off of Al's kiss my axe album.

[@Teabonesteak]

Good ear!

[@franklee1205]

The man loves experimenting .. Beautiful 😂!!

[@brianwhite3771]

Passion Grace and Fire tour with Al, John and Paco with Steve Morisson at the UofA campus. I can't recall the y

[@brianwhite3771]

The year i believe it was mid to late 80's

[@dennisbell9639]

1977 I attended his concert in St Petersburg, Florida.

[@RandyJohnson777]

Rick how you don't just pee your pants when these legends just start belting out these beautiful concepts .... lol ... then he says "That's my Rick Beato line" wow ha ha ha

[@neilloughran4437]

I remember watching this first time around and was mesmerised by the interview and playing. But what happened at 5:19 here? I also remember this on the original interview... did you cut the piece he was about to play?

[@mk1st]

You don't see many nylon string guitars with cut-outs. Sounds great (but of course he could make a washboard sound amazing).

[@unsinpilt]

perfect left leg mettronom

[@louisskoog3072]

Does anyone know what you would call that percussive rhythm he's strumming right at the start? Or how you would play it? I cannot get my strumming to sound so varied and rhythmic.

[@rareform6747]

Stay in some lanes AL .. Your most well develop !

[@mattj376]

is there a way for the subscribers of the 2nd channel to not get the message in the middle of the videos

[@davepunk2077]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@eliwirth1938]

What song does he start playing at 2:10?

[@Sevenator69]

How ridiculous is it to just be sitting there with Al DiMeola and his guitar...but then for him to go "hey, check this out". Holy smokes, Rick....

[@guitarpaolo]

Guitar model please!

[@paulauksztulewicz4803]

What type of pick is used on nylon strings?

[@joeyserrapede]

Nylon picks🤣 But really, whatever you like, .60 orange Tortex sounds great, Fender medium celluloid… I always go for a pick that sounds good first and is comfortable second, usually you can find one that does both for you after a little searching~🎸

[@lazerwolph]

Which mode or scale is he using here?

[@davidhahnbirds]

👂 💚

[@jeromejamies3641]

The last piece was not from this world. Wow! Some chords 99% of guitarists will never play or know