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!

Later,

Brian Huether