A New Practice Regimen (Al Di Meola Month)

[la szum]

Oh man! I just found out Al is touring this Summer.

 

[la szum]

Lots of Phrygian with Al.

4 flats. Flat 2nd, flat 3rd, flat 6th, and flat 7th.

Phrygian mode - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[JasonE]

Lots of Phrygian with Al.

4 flats. Flat 2nd, flat 3rd, flat 6th, and flat 7th.

Phrygian mode - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I have a few things I have to get done before I can start but I have been gearing up to do a more in depth study on Dorian and Phrygian in the near future. I have been digging my books out and trying to make everything available to me so I have no excuses. I plan on sticking with it until I can apply these modes effectively. I have no idea how long that will take. I feel like I am missing one small thing that will make the puzzle fit together. If that is the case, this could be a short study if I find that missing piece. If not, it could be a very long journey until I figure out what I am missing.

 

[la szum]

That's awesome! I love Modes.

For me, once I get the tonality down (be it Phrygian or Lydian, Mixolydian or Dorian) it is
easier for me to hear what is being used, and then how to use that tonality in other ways.
Lots of people can pick out a minor tonality versus a major one. The different Modes are
just different variations on major and minor tonalities.

Al's been a very enriching deep dive for me. Hope you enjoy your journey.

 

[metropolis_4]

I have to share this. It is new to me. I know. Where the F have I been?

This is pure and utter insanity. Who does something like this? How does
someone do something like this? This is video game shit before video games
where the shit. It blows my mind that someone could be this prescient.

Legend!


1980. WTF Al! It doesn't even sound human, or humanly possible.

I told you! Splendido Hotel might be my favorite album of his.


I just learned yesterday that Anthony Jackson played bass on all of those early electric albums. I can’t believe I didn’t know that before!

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

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.

I'm fairly certain Paul got it from Don Mock

 

[la szum]

I told you! Splendido Hotel might be my favorite album of his.


I just learned yesterday that Anthony Jackson played bass on all of those early electric albums. I can’t believe I didn’t know that before!

And Steve Gadd on Drums.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I have a few things I have to get done before I can start but I have been gearing up to do a more in depth study on Dorian and Phrygian in the near future.

Especially dorian should be absolutely no issue as there's lotsa tunes based on it. "Oye Como Va" possibly being the most wellknown in guitar player circles. "The Ghetto" (Donny Hathaway) being another one.
Same goes for mixolydian, ionian and aolian.
Phrygian and lydian however are usually in fact more of a "purely modal" thing, as in: you likely won't find them used within much of a functional harmonic context (they're kinda too weak, so establishing them needs a modal context).
As far as locrian goes, while I remember someone at TOP posting a song that apparently could really be described as being locrian centered (which I found astonishing, too bad I don't remember which song it was), there's usually hardly anything locrian in most music (it's most often a kind of inversion of a Dom7/9 chord built on the third, but we don't need to examine that now...).

Whatever, IMO the best thing to get used to modes is to not try to grasp the modes of one tonality (as in "all modes deriving from C major") but to rather compare the modes from one common root note (as in "C ionian vs. C dorian").

I always found this to be good way to harmonically "describe" modes (sort of a mixture between harmonically functional and modal): Grab a low root note as a pedal/drone (or whatever suitable pattern) and play the IV and V triads of the corresponding major scale on top.
Example: C dorian is using the notes of the Bb major scale. IV and V triads would be Eb and F. So, play a C bass note and Eb and F triads on top.
Here's a cheesy example knocked together in 2 minutes:


Following the same principle, C phrygian is a derivative of the Ab major tonality. So the IV and V chords of that key would be Db and Eb.
Another quick mockup:


Same thing works for all modes of the major scale.

 

[la szum]

I told you! Splendido Hotel might be my favorite album of his.


I just learned yesterday that Anthony Jackson played bass on all of those early electric albums. I can’t believe I didn’t know that before!

I've been wearing out Casino this week. Splendido Hotel is great, but has more Acoustic playing on it,
and Al foregoes some of the exotic tonalities and minor key signatures for a somewhat contemporary
vibe and more major tonalities.

Elegant Gypsy is up there for me right now, too.

This is the kind of stuff on Splendido Hotel that makes me go....

 

[la szum]

I need someone to hold me back from buying another Les Paul so I can Di Meola it.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Especially dorian should be absolutely no issue as there's lotsa tunes based on it. "Oye Como Va" possibly being the most wellknown in guitar player circles. "The Ghetto" (Donny Hathaway) being another one.
Same goes for mixolydian, ionian and aolian.
Phrygian and lydian however are usually in fact more of a "purely modal" thing, as in: you likely won't find them used within much of a functional harmonic context (they're kinda too weak, so establishing them needs a modal context).
As far as locrian goes, while I remember someone at TOP posting a song that apparently could really be described as being locrian centered (which I found astonishing, too bad I don't remember which song it was), there's usually hardly anything locrian in most music (it's most often a kind of inversion of a Dom7/9 chord built on the third, but we don't need to examine that now...).

Whatever, IMO the best thing to get used to modes is to not try to grasp the modes of one tonality (as in "all modes deriving from C major") but to rather compare the modes from one common root note (as in "C ionian vs. C dorian").

I always found this to be good way to harmonically "describe" modes (sort of a mixture between harmonically functional and modal): Grab a low root note as a pedal/drone (or whatever suitable pattern) and play the IV and V triads of the corresponding major scale on top.
Example: C dorian is using the notes of the Bb major scale. IV and V triads would be Eb and F. So, play a C bass note and Eb and F triads on top.
Here's a cheesy example knocked together in 2 minutes:


Following the same principle, C phrygian is a derivative of the Ab major tonality. So the IV and V chords of that key would be Db and Eb.
Another quick mockup:


Same thing works for all modes of the major scale.

It even works for the altered major modes...
Melodic minor IV V off the minor root
Harmonic minor IV- V or V bVI off the minor root.
Harmonic major V and vi- off the major root.

 

[metropolis_4]

I've been wearing out Casino this week. Splendido Hotel is great, but has more Acoustic playing on it,
and Al foregoes some of the exotic tonalities and minor key signatures for a somewhat contemporary
vibe and more major tonalities.

Elegant Gypsy is up there for me right now, too.

This is the kind of stuff on Splendido Hotel that makes me go....

That’s true, he did go a little more contemporary vibe on that album. Love Casino too

That song has almost a Hawaiian vibe to me

 

[la szum]

That’s true, he did go a little more contemporary vibe on that album. Love Casino too

That song has almost a Hawaiian vibe to me

I believe Spanish Eyes is an instrumental take of a popular 1950's ballad.

 

[la szum]

So excited to finish up an errand or two so I can spend the rest of
the evening hanging at home getting my percussive passages on.

 

[Warmart]

So excited to finish up an errand or two so I can spend the rest of
the evening hanging at home getting my percussive passages on.

Ahhh, going to stop at that ladies house you worked for and didn't sleep with, 'eh?

 

[la szum]

Ahhh, going to stop at that ladies house you worked for and didn't sleep with, 'eh?

She died nearly 20 years ago. Thanks for making it weirder than it already was, Dave.

 

[Warmart]

She died nearly 20 years ago. Thanks for making it weirder than it already was, Dave.