Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro, chances are you play along to your favorite guitar players from time time. It is a great way to further our guitar skills and often opens us up to fresh new ideas that we may have otherwise have never thought of. In this section, I hope to show you the limitless creativity that some great guitar players have displayed and hopefully it will inspire you to greatness!
I honestly have no idea why it took me so long to discover Al DiMeola and Paco de Lucia. I guess it had to do with the tunnel vision I had when I first started learning the guitar - if it wasn't 80's metal or shred style guitar on electric I didn't want to have anything to do with it. But like most guitarists, I eventually matured and over the years I have discovered a limitless array of incredible guitar players who cover a wide variety of styles.
Though I had seen Al DiMeola's name on pretty much every guitar magazine I
read when I was learning guitar, it wasn't until fairly recently that I discovered
him. My introduction to DiMeola came in the form of a legendary live guitar
CD titled Friday
Night In San Francisco which featured DiMeola, Paco De Lucia and John
McLaughlin. Having labored many years on developing pick technique, these guys
immediately resonated with me. And beyond their obvious technical skills, they
display a level of musiciansmanship that is quite envious.
Having listened to the live CD, I continued to seek out their music and eventually
came across Al DiMeola's CD Elegant
Gpysy on which I found "Mediterranean Sundance". Al, Paco
and John play a variant of the song which is morphed with one of Paco's tunes,
but I prefer the studio version.
Anyway, enough said. Let me show you the intro section of this great piece!
Tab for this tune is readily available online. Click here
for a Power Tab version. To hear Al and Paco play it, either buy the Elegant
Gypsy CD, or listen to it online using a streaming service such as
Rhapsody. I
have provided a clip of me playing the intro, which should give you a good sense
for the intro even if you are inable to listen to the actual song.
If you listen to Al and Paco play, you'll note that Paco is panned left and
Al is panned right. During the intro they are essentially playing the same parts,
but with Paco adding flamenco embellishments. In addition, during certain riffs
by Al, Paco is playing chord strums. The challenge when playing the intro as
one guitarist is blending these chord strums and riffs in a seamless manner.
You can be the judge of whether I blended them seamlessly!
Here are some comments on various parts of the intro (the measure numbers are
based on the Power Tab file that is linked above):
Measures 1 - 4: This is the classic intro riff of the tune,
familiar to many guitarists! Al plays it somewhat straightforward, while Paco
adds flamenco embellishments.
Measures 9-11: In this section, Al plays lead lines while
Paco strums chords. As you listen to my recording, you'll see how I combined
the strums and the lead riffs.
Measures 12-13: Here we have Al and Paco playing fairly
fast scalar lines. You'll want to hone your alternate picking chops before
tackling these riffs!
The other measures are essentially repeats of the above concepts.
I hope this great guitar classic provides inspiration for your own playing!
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