Al Di Meola – HuffPost 4.21.11

Mike Ragogna: What is your advice for new artists?

Al Di Meola: It’s a difficult time right now because CD sales are not what they used to be, so you have to work the internet quite a lot, and there are some advantages there. I tell guitar players listen to your favorite players and try to copy what they do. In the course of trying to copy them, you’ll eventually develop your own voice. You’re never going to sound just like them, but you’re going to learn as you try to imitate the licks they’re doing and the style in which they play. Also, combine that with some formal education, some books, and go to a lot of shows. It’s a combination of all these factors that are going to shape you, so don’t ever feel weird about copying people because that’s how you eventually learn stuff.

MR: Who did you try to copy…what other influences did you have early on in your career?

AD: Well, I was very fortunate to have started with a guitar teacher who was really versed in jazz, which wasn’t something I was looking for at all, I just wanted to learn how to play guitar. So, my training was a mixture of music that I wanted to learn, and also the fundamental aspects and theory of jazz. I had the best of both worlds, which obviously pointed me in the direction of playing with Return To Forever because it required the knowledge of both styles. I also learned how to read music very early on, which is another thing I would encourage music students to do, and stay away from tablature. It really depends on what you want to play though. If you want to stick to simple pop tunes–there have been plenty of successes in pop and country music, where there is no need to read music–but if you want to become a serious player in the music that we do, there is so much composition that you really need to know how to read music. So, I encourage reading music if you want to take your instrument further than those three to five chords.