A New Practice Regimen (Al Di Meola Month)

[Warmart]

I missed my sesh this morning. Woke up freezing my ass off. No heat. Pilot is out.

So I left and went to work. Back home now and it won't light. It's windy as fuck and I
think a downdraft blew out my Pilot and now when I try to relight it it blows out my
lighter.

Sucking it up with a space heater for the time being.... and hope to Di Meola later.

Oh sheet!

At least you have something as a backup and your backup to your backup is playing like Al to heat yourself?

Have you tried one of these to relight it?

 

[TSJMajesty]

Oh sheet!

At least you have something as a backup and your backup to your backup is playing like Al to heat yourself?

Have you tried one of these to relight it?

That's for killing snakes.

 

[la szum]

Haha! I tried to relight it and my matches/lighters kept getting blown out. The wind
is howlin'!

Been here 8 years and this has never happened before.

I did get lucky a moment ago and relit the Pilot when the wind calmed enough for
just a second, and didn't extinguish my foot long matchstick.

 

[la szum]

Did 40 minutes today.

Experimenting so much with different degrees of picking pressure, pick types,
and the way I hold my pick. Man, I choke up so much on a pick that I might as
well be using just my fingers.

It's odd trying to change and alter old habits. They do die hard.

The other realization today is switching to thinner picks. There's more
thwack there that lends itself to the percussive picking style. Just sounds
and feels a little more fitting. So me ordering more picks today is on the
agenda.

Been using thicker and thicker picks since I started playing. Was a medium
guy for years (.050 to .080 or thereabouts). Last 10 years or so I have
been in the (1.00 to 2.00) range and man those are not working at all for
me in trying to adapt to more strict picking and a better flow.

Probably change my thoughts again on all of this.

Fun learning new things, and relearning old things I have forgotten or left behind.

 

[la szum]

Man, this dedicated and intentional practice thing is really helpful. Why'd no one
tell me sooner??




I am having a blast with this and in the short 10 days or so I have been doing this
I have noticed a "game-changing" leap forward in my picking precision and fluidity.

Ok, not really. But sort of.

I am really dialing in those muted passages that Al kills at. I have never muted this
much when playing single note lines/runs on the unwound strings. No one mutes
like Al. It is not easy or natural. Have to get that perfect match of deadening the
note without killing it completely.

Listen to this. Fire.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Glad you're making progress @la szum !
I haven't listened to much of Al in years. I have a double anthology cd of his around -- need to pop it in.
His muted runs are so cool and unique.

 

[la szum]

It's insane! Then he does those unison lines with a Bassist, or a Keyboardist, or a freaking Vibraphonist.

Like them cats in Dream Theater.

 

[la szum]

Here you go, @TSJMajesty .

 

[metropolis_4]

If you can read, this book is worth picking up:

If you can’t read, pick it up anyway and make learning part of your repertoire!


Also, if you haven’t yet, make sure to check out Splendido Hotel. I think it might be my favorite. So many good songs on there



And yeah, 50w Plexi with bass and mids on 10, treble and presence on 0 with a LP

 

[metropolis_4]

My assumption was that Al was a strict alternate picker. Uhmmm...... check out his
own words here. He even suggests what Paul Gilbert did was impossible.

It’s interesting, he must have changed his mind at some point. In his Picking Techniques book he’s all about strict alternate picking. But he does mention the importance of economy of motion. Maybe he figured there were more efficient ways of playing certain passages

 

[TSJMajesty]

Here you go, @TSJMajesty .

Unavailable.

 

[metropolis_4]

Unavailable.

It’s on FaceBook. If you have an account you can view it there. It’s pretty cool

 

[la szum]

Unavailable.

I don't do Facebook and wasn't signed in, but it let me view the entire thing.

petrucci di meola dinner - Google Suche

 

[FuzzyAce]

It’s on FaceBook. If you have an account you can view it there. It’s pretty cool

I guess I'll never know then.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I don't do Facebook and wasn't signed in, but it let me view the entire thing.

petrucci di meola dinner - Google Suche

Are they listening to a piece from that one-off show with just Jordan & John?

Yeah, I think it is. John just said, Friday nite in Nyack. I went to that show with 2 buddies, and it was super!! At one point they announced for their next piece they would just play off each other, I think saying, 'Write a song,' similar to how they compose songs in the studio. It went quite well as I recall. And they managed to end it..., as if it was on purpose, so to speak. Very cool to see that sort of interaction between 2 of, arguably the most accomplished musicians of our time. Well, there's so many great guitarists, but Jordan for sure. He's unhuman!

 

[Achilles]

I got to see Al, John, and Paco early 80s at the Opera House in Boston.
Solo Steve Morse on classical was the opening act and then he joined them for the encore.

I think about 10 billion notes were played that night. Crazy. And the one guy who I'd never heard
a single note from before stole the show. Without a pick.

 

[JasonE]

I am going to have to start at the beginning of this thread and read through what you are doing. I have been trying to get a practicing plan together for myself to see if I can promote spending more time playing and also expanding my ability to apply some theory that I know into my playing as well as get a deeper understanding of it so I can apply it without thinking about what I am doing. Along with this I plan on recording some pieces so I can play them back after I record them to really be able to hear how I did when I am not in the moment of playing. For me, what sounds good in the moment may not land where I want it to and I really hear that when listening back.

 

[la szum]

Man, this has bewen so good for me. It's really hipping me to how bad my ADHD is, too.

I am wanting to bounce around and not stick to working on specific things with intention
and focus. If nothing else, Al demands focus and precision.

My conditioned self is like,

But I ignored the inclination to noodle up this morning. I am realizing if I just buckle down
(much like going for a walk, or exercising, or meditating) and get 'er done then it pays lasting
benefits of the good kind the rest of the day.

I am really intrigued and somewhat excited about what kind of fruits this will yeild if I can
keep my conditioned self on the sidelines just long enough to keep this up for a few more
months. Or longer.

 

[la szum]

The other thing I am vibing on from Al is that as much as he melts your face and can
rip flurries of notes he's also very tasty and uses a lot of space and pauses. You just
don't have to play all the time. Taking a breath is vital even when we are sprinting.

 

[duzie]

Keep riding the wave