Not only is Al Di Meola revered for his melodic guitar chops, he's also known for his world class rhythmic sensibilities. Throughout his career, the jazz fusion legend has proved time and again the significance of nailing a solid sense of rhythm and, by extension, experimenting with different rhythmic styles.
Di Meola's penchant for rhythmic experimentation first started early on when he developed an affinity for percussion during his school years – and it's an obsession that still continues to this day, as he reveals in a new interview with Rick Beato.
“I was highly influenced by percussion and drums,” he told Music Radar of his guitar style back in 2015. “Those were really my first loves and all through school I didn’t pay attention so much and constantly I was tapping my fingers on the top of the desk while keeping a steady quarter-note 4/4 with my foot under the desk – and I would practice playing counter-rhythms against my foot.”
His formative years also included soaking in the rhythms showcased in New York's Latin clubs – a hands-on study in rhythm that would forever shape his approach not only to his guitar playing but also to composition.
“I did spend a lot of years by myself, getting into New York City and hanging out in salsa clubs,” he tells Beato in a new interview. “I remember climbing up the stairs, even if a lot of people were dancing and the big band was going, whether it was Tito Puente or whoever, and I just took it all in.
“And I spent a lot of years – which I shouldn't have done, but now that I look back, I'm glad I did it – tapping rhythms.”
Di Meola recalls how, before transferring these newfound rhythms to guitar, he always started with a more primordial technique: tapping his foot, “always concentrating on the 4/4... never going out of time.”
“What I've said in a lot of demonstrations or clinics I've done, is [to] really focus on the foot. It becomes very important because whatever syncopations you're playing on the upper half of your body cannot influence down there. So it's like two separate parts."
Essentially, Di Meola insists it's crucial for your foot to be locked in – like a metronome – when you play counter-rhythms, a practice that ensures you don't get completely thrown off.
And if you want a glimpse of rhythmic virtuosity, this unearthed rehearsal footage of Al Di Meola rehearsing Race with the Devil on a Spanish Highway with Steve Vai is bound to teach you a thing or two about technique.
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