Al Di Meola - Original Charts: 1996-2006: Guitar/Piano/Bass Paperback – June 1, 2011

I am really enjoying this book. The notation is very well written and there is more than enough information to play the songs. There are also songs that are not as well known, which I am very happy to have now.

I bought this book because I love Al's music. I also wanted to gain some insight into his composition style. I definitely got that out of this book. Fair warning, this book does not have any guitar tabs, just the notes from his brain. So far, I love it!

I didn't see any reviews yet, so I thought I'd be the 1st. When I got this book, I thought it would be hand written charts and some computer charts and his actual charts, thinking Al DiMeola is probably using computers much of the time and it would be interesting to see and learn his compositional approach. What is here is all neat computer charts that appear to have been edited by someone else. The first tune I checked out was "Turquoise". I was expecting his picked chordal approach to the theme melody, but instead found only the melody which suggests he is simply playing a single note line here, which we know isn't correct from listening to the tunes and seeing the Youtube videos. I thought to myself, "great, some clown has edited this stuff for Al simply to profit from it and it's not going to be very accurate". After spending some time with the other tunes, I realized that they are very well done and very accurate for understanding his compositional approach. I don't know for sure, unless Al himself replies here, but I imagine he may have written "Turquoise" with the rhythmic line and later played it with the chordal approach. Who knows, but it's not too difficult to transcribe his chordal approach if you want to play this as he does.Many of the other songs have been notated very exact to what he is doing, but what is very useful is that you get a feel for his approach. You see how he thinks and leaves sections open for improvisation, that you may have thought were composed. He is in my opinion one of the better composers out there as he doesn't stick to traditional jazz, but blends in all kinds of ideas and still keeps things fresh with many opportunities to improvize. Additionally, you can really see how strong his rhythmic skills are and this makes it into his compositions making for some difficult sight reading.Some of these songs he has performed in a variety of ways, so what is notated may be closer to one version than another, but this forces you to learn and understand how he has rearranged songs for different band formats etc..Highly Recommended for Composers or Al DiMeola fans.

The book is just excellent. Not every song I like, but this is not a book. The book is perfect.

A really good selection of master pieces fron Al's discography. There are many rhythm changed, rhythm influence and so on. you gotta try it.