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IC: While many guitarists work on techniques used in soloing, many overlook the rhythm aspect of playing guitar. You are very proficient in both areas, so how would you suggest to approach working on rhythm chops?

Al Di Meola: Every guitarist needs to be able – needs to – be able to tap their foot in time as they play. And if they can’t, they usually have a very, very serious problem with time. Where most guitarists that I find, even at higher levels and maybe some times celebrity levels, I find that they set the time and it’s not as good as they think. And whenever they play syncopations, when asked that they tap the time you watch that their time actually goes off, because the syncopation influences their time, and they get thrown off. And even if it’s momentary, it’s still breaking that moment of fluidity. I find it to be a real hindrance because once you tap into finding if you actually have a good sense of time it opens a tremendous door for possibilities rhythmically.

And there are players that have this naturally. Usually it comes naturally. You either have it or you don’t have it. The guitarists have to find it. And if you’re not able to tap in time you’ll have a very difficult time I find with that door opening. It’s a whole study onto itself, one of which no school is even close to, because they don’t find it to be that important. But in reality, your tapping into the rhythm aspect is probably more important than anything. You can always learn harmony, no matter who you are. You can learn all other aspects of music, but you can’t learn rhythm. Rhythm is the ability to tap into the natural aspects of time. It’s something that you either have or you don’t. There’s a path on which to find that, but right away I think guitar players have to study when they practice, they really have to focus on tapping their foot in time so that when they play their accents and their syncopations that the foot doesn’t move a hair in terms of it going out of time. And it’s a very difficult study.