You may notice that this video looks a little off. The original was pretty bad, so I purchased Topaz video AI to upscale it and restore some of the quality. I also synced the audio correctly, because it was about 11 frames off in the original footage. $250 is a lot to spend on software to make a video 10% better, but y'all make it worth it. Head to my Patreon to get ALL my youtube transcriptions and help me recoup my losses hahaha www.patreon.com/LeviClay
Really appreciate the additional effort by purchasing the Topaz software and providing us with another solid video. It takes a lot of effort to do all the transcriptions you have done and it has been a good tool and enjoyable. keep it up!
Di Meola is now a mature musician. He is not as clean and fast as when he was young, but more complex in rhythm and composition. He is also more humble with age. He is one of the best with the pick and the right hand. You can recognize him immediately when you listen to a few notes.
Al DiMeola is the original shred master to me. A big influence on the teenage Steve Vai. If you listen to Steve's early Zappa career he picks everything, no legato playing ever. There's a great video of the two of them listening to music in Steve's studio and another of them playing together.
On Shut up and play your guitar, Zappa lists Al DeMeola, and a bunch of others as "Fast Italian Guitar players"! 😅 He had a point too, as Paganini was big in Italian households!😁
Had the pleasure of seeing Al live in concert twice so far -- both times playing acoustic sets. Some of the cleanest and fastest alternate picking chops I've ever heard from any player, and he makes every note count! He pioneered shred guitar before the term "shred" was even in the public lexicon!
I also saw him that year, based solely on the fact that he's one of the guitar trio on Friday night in San Francisco. I hadn't even heard the album, I had a guitar playing friend that raved about it but wouldn't loan me his copy.
@@brianmiller1077 - Al DiMeola released his World Sinfonia CD with that same acoustic line-up plus a bandoneon player, I seem to remember buying it at the show, but it was not very good - definitely could not capture the fire of that live performance. Sadly, I can find very little video of that tour, but my friends and I were blown away. One other of that San Francisco acoustic trio, John McLoughlin, was also touring an acoustic trio back around that time. That trio (John McLoughlin, Trilok Gurtu, Kai Eckhardt) released Live at Royal Festival Hall and - good grief that CD is just unbelievably good. I think the video of that performance is on RUclips!
I've watched thousands of hours of Al play live and I'm pretty sure bars 42-43 are played on one string. The camera doesn't show it, of course. But, he's always played those licks that way. As always, thanks for your hard work.
I agree it sounds like one of his usual 3-note-per-string licks. It doesn't make sense to play this lick on 2 strings because it is repetitive and the alternate picking pattern would be going back and forth between inside the string and outside the string. And you're crossing strings so it slows your picking down.
For anyone is not familiar with Return to Forever and this particular concert, there are further videos on RUclips under: "Return to Forever - Old Grey Whistle Test" ..a great UK TV music program.
I saw The Guitar Trio - Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia live many years ago. Al certainly had the best technique and command of the instrument, John was perhaps the most creative, and Paco was a bit like a fish out of water. It was an enjoyable and entertaining concert as they traded off dazzling guitar pyrotechnics.
To me, Al has always been the less interesting of the three. Harmonic minor and some diminished licks at full speed and nothing else. Plus, he was very arrogant and snooty.
Al had the best command and technique? 😊 Paco's command of the guitar is unrivaled, by a long, long margin. Not even close. He was out of his comfort zone in that trio set though, because even though Flamenco guitarists traditionally follow the dancers/singers through improvisation, it's always within a strict structured beat. A Flamenco player at virtuoso level is leagues above the likes of DiMeola or any of history's top electric guitarists.
After I heard Tour de Force, the live album, I put down the guitar for a while because, frankly, I was unsure that it was worth it with someone as bad ass as Al Di Meola out there. When I got done I started learning those songs, and I'm getting there...
Great video, much appreciated! Al Di Meola has been a primary influence on my playing ever since my father gave me Elegant Gypsy when I was 13 years old. One small remark: I am pretty sure the repetitive lick starting the 41st measure is played on a single string, so 8 7 5 on the b-string I guess. Really unnecessarily difficult to play these fast licks with uneven note groupings without resorting to economy or gypsy picking which is not Al's style :)
The unicorn of Mr. Levi Clay transcriptions. Yes folks - something we couldn't guess would happen. But it has... as awesome and spot on as usual. Nice one, Levi!
Man! Remember, as a young yute, my guitar teacher, Charles Amore, who resembled Al, told me that this cat was ultra bad (as in good), but I was too into rock and roll players. I've ALWAYS known how stupidly great he is but haven't listened to much of his stuff. This is time to really dig in!
We had the Romantic Warrior Album on Vinyl, then tape then CD. An absolute Gem. I used to try and practice some of Als lines. One of first Major Influences, along with Gary Moore,Hendrix etc.
I would argue that what Al plays IS shredding and not jazz. I’m a jazz player and I known lots of other jazz players. None of them listen to Al, for exactly the reason Levi just said. Al doesn’t play good lines, it’s just nauseating scales all the time. He got better later but still cannot play a decent jazz line to save his life. Rock guitar players have never noticed. They idolize Al Di because they prioritize picking technique over the actual content of the line.
@@labontetrevor Jazz and Jazz fusion are different, fusion leans more towards rock and or funk. I’m a bassist so am more into what’s going on in the low end but I was introduced to this album from a jazz guitar player.
Yeah well I’ve been playing guitar for 40 years, and have played hundreds of straight ahead jazz gigs over the last 25 of those years. I led a jazz/fusion trio for a year and a half with Tribal Tech’s Kirk Covington on drums, and I was hired by him, not vice versa. And I live in Austin TX, a city with thousands of guitar players, and ten thousand professional working musicians. I play pretty much every kind of jazz, from Charlie Christian to Kessel to Django to Holdsworth to Rosenwinkel and beyond. I know to every musician I’m just a random guy on the internet to there’s a slight chance I MIGHT kind of know what I’m talking about. Lol
Yes.al dimeola.awesone guitarist.love his style,scale runs while alternate picking.imagine the hours of practice it took when he was learning and growing on the guitar.i wish I could have half of the technical skill of al.and I practice everyday.this is more than just practice.its pure genetic talent.thanks for transcribing levi.i am going to take some sections from transcription and learn them.then try to incorporate into my playing.👍
A hero of mine, but the true Godfather that started this technique of fusion alternate picking is Al's main influence before he got picked up my Chick Corea. That man is John mcLaughlin. Al does do it cleaner and more precise. However, to not regard, McLaughlin would be an oversight.😉
You can see where Petrucci got some of his inspiration from where concerns picking all notes. By the way, I like a lot of Al Di Meola's acoustic guitar parts, but don't particularly like his electric tone.
Yet nobody ever names mclaughlin, any instructional video from the 80s you watch where a guitarist brings up fast alternate picking they mention al. The lines you hear al play and the scales he uses are what influenced legions of guys, you can hear a popular zakk wylde lick in this and you can even hear some stuff vinnie moore has done
Every video I’ve seen of Return to Forever the band mates seem to look the same as this video. If you really want to delve into Al’s unbelievable improv skills check out the concert he did in the early 80s in Germany with John, and Paco. He improvises over “Spain”. It is absolutely jaw dropping.
I agree but he's like 20 something here not bad 😅 ....but yeah it's not as melodic as I wished too ,but for the monsters playing with him they 're more focused than bored I think.. could be many reasons.
At this point I'd almost suspect him of being bipolar... I'll always remember seeing him live at the Montreal Jazz Festival -- it wasn't a free concert, it was inside and quite expensive. It was as usual technically perfect and, I mean, the music was good also as expected, but me and my friend definitely felt the same coldness and lifelessness. Al and the band played for 1:30h ON THE DOT, then just up and left and didn't come back no matter the applause...
@@guthrie_1 That is definitely one way to put it. But even in the business world, there's different kinds of services, with one that compels a bit more to come back. Anyway, it's long gone now, it's just that comment that brought back this memory
Al doesn’t play jazz lines, he plays scales. There’s more music in one measure of Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, or Django than there is in Al’s entire career. Django was just as good at picking as Al, but Django put *WAY* better content in his lines. Di Meola is a clown. All his fans are rock guitar players. No jazz players listen to him.
A lot of guitar players aren't Jazz musicians, Jazz isn't the only form of music that exists. I am glad that Al didn't become a Jazz guitarist because there are plenty of Jazz guitarists to listen to, but only Al plays the kind of music he plays.
You may notice that this video looks a little off. The original was pretty bad, so I purchased Topaz video AI to upscale it and restore some of the quality. I also synced the audio correctly, because it was about 11 frames off in the original footage.
$250 is a lot to spend on software to make a video 10% better, but y'all make it worth it. Head to my Patreon to get ALL my youtube transcriptions and help me recoup my losses hahaha
www.patreon.com/LeviClay
Really appreciate the additional effort by purchasing the Topaz software and providing us with another solid video. It takes a lot of effort to do all the transcriptions you have done and it has been a good tool and enjoyable. keep it up!
Your efforts and investment in sharing this music and helping me learn do not go unappreciated Levi. Thank you kindly.
So it's AI DiMeola now? Sorry 😆
Hey Levi, can your book be paid in euros? I checked the website but it seems to accept only US dollars...
@@afonsodeportugal it’s on Amazon, what’s ever your local Amazon is! :)
Elegant Gypsy is such a classic album. It's a must-listen for every guitar player.
Couldn't agree more. Once I heard "Race with the Devil on a Spanish Highway", I devoted myself to learning to pick each note on the fastest passages.
Sure is, but for those who might be curious, the track in the video is from the Return to Forever album, Romantic Warrior.
Al, Chick, Stanley and Lenny.... powerhouse....
He’s one of the best to do it. He gets labelled as Jazz Fusion, but has a tremendous pop sensibility that keep his compositions engaging to the ear.
... unfortunately, that kind of accessibility attracts some vicious reviews from jazz snoots.
Di Meola is now a mature musician. He is not as clean and fast as when he was young, but more complex in rhythm and composition. He is also more humble with age. He is one of the best with the pick and the right hand. You can recognize him immediately when you listen to a few notes.
Al DiMeola is the original shred master to me. A big influence on the teenage Steve Vai. If you listen to Steve's early Zappa career he picks everything, no legato playing ever. There's a great video of the two of them listening to music in Steve's studio and another of them playing together.
On Shut up and play your guitar, Zappa lists Al DeMeola, and a bunch of others as "Fast Italian Guitar players"! 😅 He had a point too, as Paganini was big in Italian households!😁
Another great Italian
Al is the man! Anyone else notice he never ages?
That's because he looked 42 when he was 21 lol
Had the pleasure of seeing Al live in concert twice so far -- both times playing acoustic sets. Some of the cleanest and fastest alternate picking chops I've ever heard from any player, and he makes every note count! He pioneered shred guitar before the term "shred" was even in the public lexicon!
Al's phenomenal acoustic show in 1990 with two percussionists is still the greatest concert experience of my life
I also saw him that year, based solely on the fact that he's one of the guitar trio on Friday night in San Francisco. I hadn't even heard the album, I had a guitar playing friend that raved about it but wouldn't loan me his copy.
@@brianmiller1077 - Al DiMeola released his World Sinfonia CD with that same acoustic line-up plus a bandoneon player, I seem to remember buying it at the show, but it was not very good - definitely could not capture the fire of that live performance. Sadly, I can find very little video of that tour, but my friends and I were blown away. One other of that San Francisco acoustic trio, John McLoughlin, was also touring an acoustic trio back around that time. That trio (John McLoughlin, Trilok Gurtu, Kai Eckhardt) released Live at Royal Festival Hall and - good grief that CD is just unbelievably good. I think the video of that performance is on RUclips!
I've watched thousands of hours of Al play live and I'm pretty sure bars 42-43 are played on one string. The camera doesn't show it, of course. But, he's always played those licks that way. As always, thanks for your hard work.
Yeah, I sometimes wonder what's really going on in cameramen's minds.
I agree it sounds like one of his usual 3-note-per-string licks. It doesn't make sense to play this lick on 2 strings because it is repetitive and the alternate picking pattern would be going back and forth between inside the string and outside the string. And you're crossing strings so it slows your picking down.
@@nicksm7980 *producer/editor
Sorry, where is this, time-wise? I'm not gonna sit here counting bars. :)
@@kazkylheku1221 The numbers of the bars are on top of the staff .. They are small, but there .. The repeated lick in question is from 1:03 to 1:07
I 've seen him live a couple of times, he's truly amazing.
I love to hear him playing the acoustic guitar
Yep, Al, Larry, John, Paco and Morse is where it's at in 70's guitar picking.
More Al please!! So overlooked
Actually The Godfather of rhythm..he's one of my musical heroes..
For anyone is not familiar with Return to Forever and this particular concert, there are further videos on RUclips under: "Return to Forever - Old Grey Whistle Test" ..a great UK TV music program.
Al is AMAZING. Thanks for sharing this for all of us Guitar freaks!
Di Meola and John Mclaughlin were probably the two original shredders arguably like ever,
Al was a huge influence on my guitar playing. I discovered him through Steve Vai and just fell in love with electric and acoustic stuff. Just amazing!
John McLaughlin, Trio of Doom ( while it lasted), nuff said. Shawn Lane too……..ridiculously fast….
My older brother saw the Romantic Warrior tour and was completely blown away. That started our fusion quest.
@@waverlyking6045 Harmonic minor attracted?
UNCLE~MR.AL DI MEOLA AND UNCLE~MR.MICHAEL SCHENKER WERE MY VERY FIRST TWO GUITAR HEROES...PHENOMENAL VIDEO FOOTAGE OF UNCLE AL.
Now I know why people put him as one of the best guitarists ever
I saw The Guitar Trio - Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia live many years ago. Al certainly had the best technique and command of the instrument, John was perhaps the most creative, and Paco was a bit like a fish out of water. It was an enjoyable and entertaining concert as they traded off dazzling guitar pyrotechnics.
To me, Al has always been the less interesting of the three. Harmonic minor and some diminished licks at full speed and nothing else. Plus, he was very arrogant and snooty.
Al had the best command and technique? 😊 Paco's command of the guitar is unrivaled, by a long, long margin. Not even close. He was out of his comfort zone in that trio set though, because even though Flamenco guitarists traditionally follow the dancers/singers through improvisation, it's always within a strict structured beat. A Flamenco player at virtuoso level is leagues above the likes of DiMeola or any of history's top electric guitarists.
I once owned Tour de force live on vinyl.
Very nice tracks by Al
After I heard Tour de Force, the live album, I put down the guitar for a while because, frankly, I was unsure that it was worth it with someone as bad ass as Al Di Meola out there.
When I got done I started learning those songs, and I'm getting there...
Yet another banger of a transcription, Lev.
I took lessons from this guy when I was a kid and never realized it.
So glad to know I don't hallucinate the handful of hammer-ons, pull-offs, and trills( the trills not being in this solo) he'll do for effect...
Return To Forever!
The Wizard by Al di Meola. Brilliant. One of my all-time favorites.
Great effort and result, Levi! Btw what RTF song is this ?
That he is, still some of the best right hand technique in the world today to. ut him at age 21-15 was ridiculous man great footage here!.
Golden Dawn Suite is my fav song of Al Di Meola.
he was ... 22 yo
Great video, much appreciated! Al Di Meola has been a primary influence on my playing ever since my father gave me Elegant Gypsy when I was 13 years old. One small remark: I am pretty sure the repetitive lick starting the 41st measure is played on a single string, so 8 7 5 on the b-string I guess. Really unnecessarily difficult to play these fast licks with uneven note groupings without resorting to economy or gypsy picking which is not Al's style :)
1:05 onwards is very Friday Night in San Francisco like. To me the best recording he has featured in.
The unicorn of Mr. Levi Clay transcriptions. Yes folks - something we couldn't guess would happen. But it has... as awesome and spot on as usual. Nice one, Levi!
Man! Remember, as a young yute, my guitar teacher, Charles Amore, who resembled Al, told me that this cat was ultra bad (as in good), but I was too into rock and roll players. I've ALWAYS known how stupidly great he is but haven't listened to much of his stuff. This is time to really dig in!
We had the Romantic Warrior Album on Vinyl, then tape then CD. An absolute Gem. I used to try and practice some of Als lines. One of first Major Influences, along with Gary Moore,Hendrix etc.
This is not shredding it’s jazz fusion and it’s brilliant
He’s running picking patterns through scales dude.
I would argue that what Al plays IS shredding and not jazz. I’m a jazz player and I known lots of other jazz players. None of them listen to Al, for exactly the reason Levi just said. Al doesn’t play good lines, it’s just nauseating scales all the time. He got better later but still cannot play a decent jazz line to save his life. Rock guitar players have never noticed. They idolize Al Di because they prioritize picking technique over the actual content of the line.
@@labontetrevor 👆🏻#truth
@@labontetrevor Jazz and Jazz fusion are different, fusion leans more towards rock and or funk. I’m a bassist so am more into what’s going on in the low end but I was introduced to this album from a jazz guitar player.
Yeah well I’ve been playing guitar for 40 years, and have played hundreds of straight ahead jazz gigs over the last 25 of those years. I led a jazz/fusion trio for a year and a half with Tribal Tech’s Kirk Covington on drums, and I was hired by him, not vice versa. And I live in Austin TX, a city with thousands of guitar players, and ten thousand professional working musicians. I play pretty much every kind of jazz, from Charlie Christian to Kessel to Django to Holdsworth to Rosenwinkel and beyond. I know to every musician I’m just a random guy on the internet to there’s a slight chance I MIGHT kind of know what I’m talking about. Lol
It was the "HIFI tester" for the 70's Elegant Gypsy.
Now you know where Yngwie took his alternative picking. And fortunately he doesn't have a white stratocaster...but he played Aolien scales..ahhh!!lol
I heard Yng and Al in the same day way back when I was starting.
Unfortunate.
Thanks for this!!!!!!
PLEASE DO THE CHON 2008 DEMO
King of the palm mute
Not only that, but Di Meola has a signature left hand muting technique of playing the unfretted notes to create staccato.
I would like see the transcription pf marty friedman with char 03 is pretty cool 🎉 that improvisation too
Al is a bad ass
He’s a pretty good cook as well.
What year was this?
but that bass in background ....wow
Why YES HE IS!!!
HE doesn't get enough accolades!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
The Duel of the Tyrant and the Jester from Romantic Warrior. RTF Super Group!
Yes.al dimeola.awesone guitarist.love his style,scale runs while alternate picking.imagine the hours of practice it took when he was learning and growing on the guitar.i wish I could have half of the technical skill of al.and I practice everyday.this is more than just practice.its pure genetic talent.thanks for transcribing levi.i am going to take some sections from transcription and learn them.then try to incorporate into my playing.👍
I saw him perform live in NYC - it made me want to Sell my Guitar ( he was so incredible ). only he and Allan Holdsworth had that effect on me.
Al di meola is a god
Al!
RTF. Love them.
JP’s hero
A hero of mine, but the true Godfather that started this technique of fusion alternate picking is Al's main influence before he got picked up my Chick Corea.
That man is John mcLaughlin.
Al does do it cleaner and more precise. However, to not regard, McLaughlin would be an oversight.😉
Ok who is typing in Friday Night in San Francisco now? Lol I knew it!
Throw some more distortion and delay on that and its basically john petrucci lol (who i know loved al)
Fuck yeah Aldi
I prefer Lidl
You can see where Petrucci got some of his inspiration from where concerns picking all notes.
By the way, I like a lot of Al Di Meola's acoustic guitar parts, but don't particularly like his electric tone.
Have you ever heard of some guy called John McLaughlin ?
Yet nobody ever names mclaughlin, any instructional video from the 80s you watch where a guitarist brings up fast alternate picking they mention al. The lines you hear al play and the scales he uses are what influenced legions of guys, you can hear a popular zakk wylde lick in this and you can even hear some stuff vinnie moore has done
@@knightfall9394 John was as fast as Al but was playing way more complicated and interesting stuff than diminished and minor harmonic scales.
Now we are talking my Language!😅
he is blaing
Sorry, only had eyes for the bass player
No he's not. The father of alternate picking shred is John McLaughlin
What was Chick thinking !!
Great guitarist, but when it comes to shredding, John Mclaughlin was there a few years earlier....and there's a lot more to him than shredding.
Ah ! ;)
Strangely cold and lifeless. Even his bandmates are like, meh. Good playing but boring notes.
Every video I’ve seen of Return to Forever the band mates seem to look the same as this video.
If you really want to delve into Al’s unbelievable improv skills check out the concert he did in the early 80s in Germany with John, and Paco. He improvises over “Spain”. It is absolutely jaw dropping.
I agree but he's like 20 something here not bad 😅 ....but yeah it's not as melodic as I wished too ,but for the monsters playing with him they 're more focused than bored I think.. could be many reasons.
At this point I'd almost suspect him of being bipolar... I'll always remember seeing him live at the Montreal Jazz Festival -- it wasn't a free concert, it was inside and quite expensive. It was as usual technically perfect and, I mean, the music was good also as expected, but me and my friend definitely felt the same coldness and lifelessness. Al and the band played for 1:30h ON THE DOT, then just up and left and didn't come back no matter the applause...
@@kafkapharnaum2690 He’s a professional. He showed up, did his job and went home.
@@guthrie_1 That is definitely one way to put it. But even in the business world, there's different kinds of services, with one that compels a bit more to come back. Anyway, it's long gone now, it's just that comment that brought back this memory
This Guy?!?!?!WTF???THIS IS AL DI MEOLA man!!!!
Stanley Clarke on Bass !!
AL !!
Al Di Meola!!!!!
Al doesn’t play jazz lines, he plays scales. There’s more music in one measure of Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, or Django than there is in Al’s entire career. Django was just as good at picking as Al, but Django put *WAY* better content in his lines. Di Meola is a clown. All his fans are rock guitar players. No jazz players listen to him.
Toilet's backed up again, I see. Cut down on the Taco Bell. Treat yourself.
A lot of guitar players aren't Jazz musicians, Jazz isn't the only form of music that exists. I am glad that Al didn't become a Jazz guitarist because there are plenty of Jazz guitarists to listen to, but only Al plays the kind of music he plays.
Yes and his music is filed under jazz but he sucks really bad at jazz.