A New Practice Regimen (Al Di Meola Month)

[la szum]

Feeling stagnant? No. Lucky!

I am feeling a bit inspired and am eager to add some discipline to my guitar routine.
I am starting a new practice regimen. No noodling allowed, which is a massive challenge
for some of us Noodle Kings and Queens.

Anywho, I'd like to keep a running record of this new regimen and see how long it lasts,
and what comes of it in a year or two. This is not something where I am going to attempt
to take massive bites and then eat an entire Elephant in one sitting. It's a mere 30 minutes.
Every day. First thing. Well, after you know what. No e-mail checks. No Internets. No TVs.
Guitar. The emphasis is to play and adhere to a regimen inspired by a specific player. I
am going to choose the player/artists based on the month it is, and then rotate each month
to a new guitartist.

I'll make my Coffee---the one exception apart from basic hygiene---and then set a timer and
practice specific techniques/styles/moods/modes of the specific musician for that month. I
hope I feel as inspired to do this many months from now as I am on my first day. Feel free to
follow along, play along, or be inspired to develop your own routine. I mean, we were all initially
inspired to learn to play so we could learn to play more, right?

Cheers!

 

[woody]

 

[duzie]

Who’s the first guitarist up ?

 

[la szum]

A is for Al. Al Di Meola.

Al is April's guitarist of the month. I have to credit Al a bit here for inspiring this
whole thing. His picking is so locked in and tight. That percussive and innately
rhythmic style of his lead playing is just so compelling.

I am using Al's music this month to also do some ear training. Today I put on his
Album "Land Of The Midnight Sun" and then went along trying to pick out various
phrases by ear. I did this for 40 minutes with two 5 minute breaks. That percussive
picking is fire! My default is to habitually throw in hammer ons and pull offs to
artificially try and keep up. Fail! Brutal!

That is something I am going to keep working on this month. Pick every note. Every
note. Yes. Every note.

Al;so, dialing in that percussive muted thing he does higher up the neck on the unwound
strings is really a delicate feel thing. I need to hone in on that better. Luckily, I have a few
more weeks this month to do so.

 

[la szum]

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.

 

[la szum]

One thing I wasn't expecting was to dig Al's early tone so much. I do.

How can you go wrong with Les Pauls and Marshalls.

Apparently, he used a Super Distortion in his Les Paul @Stone , and his recording
Marshall was a 50 watter.

 

[Stone]

One thing I wasn't expecting was to dig Al's early tone so much. I do.

How can you go wrong with Les Pauls and Marshalls.

Apparently, he used a Super Distortion in his Les Paul @Stone , and his recording
Marshall was a 50 watter.

View attachment 21314

100% Super Distortion I also read that in a Mag a loooong time ago

 

[FuzzyAce]

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.

So he utilizes economy picking a lot, which makes sense.

 

[la szum]

So he utilizes economy picking a lot, which makes sense.

Yup. Apparently. Another Myth exposed.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Yup. Apparently. Another Myth exposed.

Yep. What matters is how it sounds, right? He was explaining how it made sense for him to do it that way -- which is a great lesson itself. Do what makes sense to you and not necessarily force the same technique as someone else.

 

[AutomationBias]

One thing I wasn't expecting was to dig Al's early tone so much. I do.

How can you go wrong with Les Pauls and Marshalls.

Apparently, he used a Super Distortion in his Les Paul @Stone , and his recording
Marshall was a 50 watter.

View attachment 21314

Well, crap! Does it say what his settings were?

 

[la szum]

Well, crap! Does it say what his settings were?

Yup.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Wow, bass at 10? Wonder what speakers he was using.

 

[la szum]

Yep. What matters is how it sounds, right? He was explaining how it made sense for him to do it that way -- which is a great lesson itself. Do what makes sense to you and not necessarily force the same technique as someone else.

It's fun and enriching to learn these things.

I do find it kind of funny that Al says strict alternate picking makes no sense and is not possible,
and then Paul Gilbert teaches and does the exact opposite of that. I always assumed Paul got it
from Al. But no.

 

[la szum]

Wow, bass at 10? Wonder what speakers he was using.

Yup. His Bass and Treble settings are polar opposite of typical Marshall settings.
I think Michael Schenker prefers the 50 watt Marshalls and also does the Bass on
10 and Treble on thing.

That said, neither guy is playing the wound strings that much. Maybe they like that
added thickness/bloat/tubbiness for playing in the upper reigster.

Don't quote me!!

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Yup. Apparently. Another Myth exposed.

I dunno -- all those examples he was showing were more like rhythm/motivic arpeggio type things with either string skips or one-note-per-string scenarios. His lead playing still sounds if not, very close to, exclusively alternate picked to me.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Yup. His Bass and Treble settings are polar opposite of typical Marshall settings.
I think Michael Schenker prefers the 50 watt Marshalls and also does the Bass on
10 and Treble on thing.

That said, neither guy is playing the wound strings that much. Maybe they like that
added thickness/bloat/tubbiness for playing in the upper reigster.

Don't quote me!!

Yeah, probably gets a bit of a fuzzy edge which does help with the high notes.

 

[la szum]

I dunno -- all those examples he was showing were more like rhythm/motivic arpeggio type things with either string skips or one-note-per-string scenarios. His lead playing still sounds if not, very close to, exclusively alternate picked to me.

Oh, for sure. He's definitely alternate picking a lot. No argument there.

Are you familiar with Paul Gilbert's method of strict alternate picking?

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Oh, for sure. He's definitely alternate picking a lot. No argument there.

Are you familiar with Paul Gilbert's method of strict alternate picking?

Not really. I've played/studied a lot of bluegrass on both guitar and mandolin which is another world where some folks get REAL strict about alternate picking...but the GOOD players I learned from at festivals/workshops/etc., all basically said "have a system; don't just pick willy nilly. The reality is that if you have a well thought out system...98% of your picking in this kinda music will be alternate picking. But that doesn't mean you can't switch over to economy picking when it makes sense". That seems to me to be kinda where Al is at on this.

 

[JiveTurkey]