Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 64

COLUMN Fretprints
Henderson, and Bill Evans
in None Too Soon ('96), and
revisit his jazz-rock roots
in a live tribute to Tony
Williams in Blues for Tony
(2010).
It's ironic that one of the
most influential and studied
guitarists on the planet
was never particularly enamored of the guitar. For
Holdsworth, the objective
was to make music - the
instrument was secondary.
And while he is one of the
leading jazz players of his
generation, he calculated
jazz differently; where most
players pursue the standards
or bebop heads, Holdsworth
looked for different approaches to playing chord
changes and delved deeply
into post-bop, modal, and
avant-garde realms. Early
on, he explored mathematica l ly-ordered pitch
collections and scales for
improvising. In the process,
he developed a system of
scales, melodic organization, and permutation. In
1986, I spent a day with Allan, playing and discussing
his systems. He shared two
favorite devices - six-note
scales such as C-C # -E-F # G-A # made by combining
a C major triad with an F #
major triad, and synthetic
pentatonic scales made by
removing steps from con"Tokyo Dream" remains a landmark moment
parallel wide-interval sonorities Abmaj13/G and
ventional scales and modes
in the Holdsworth catalog. In the impressionistic
Bbmaj9#11/A (note the use of fourth intervals in
such as F-G-A # -B-C # made
theme Allan extends the sonorities by tapping adthese shapes) that lead to a temporary I chord,
by removing A b, D, and E
ditional tones into chords with his right hand. The
Ebmaj13#11/G. Check out Allan's clever metric
tones from a diminished
effect is one of pianistic polychords and orchestral
shift to 5/4 time and purposeful syncopations in
sca le played over a G7
voice-leading rendered on the electric guitar. Allan
measure 4. In the final two bars he returns to 4/4
chord. The latter is a useful
varies his chordal fingerpicking approach to arpegand expounds on the initial techniques by using
principle when a melody
giate left-hand fingered chords with his right thumb
right-hand tapped slurs on Amaj13#11/G# and a
with wider intervals or more
and tap independent notes and chord partials with
tapped dyad (F# and Eb) on A6add2b5. Exotic chord
tonal color is desired, as is
his right index and middle fingers (indicated by T in
labels and technical aspects notwithstanding,
common in Allan's playing.
the music). Note the uncommon modal/post-bop
Allan viewed these harmonies and articulations as
Here, the same scale would
chord motion of Gm11/D-Dadd4b9-Ebmaj7sus2/D,
expressions of his musical personality as a comcontain an augmented secforming
a
pedal-point
effect,
contrasted
by
poser to depict the mood of a far-off dreamscape.
ond (G-A #) and a diminished fourth (C # -F) for an
exotic result. Moreover, he boiled the basics raised 4th (used in "Letters of Marque"), 5) note between fifth and sixth steps of a major
down to 10 frequently used scales: 1) major "double diminished" half-step/whole-step scale), 7) dominant bebop scale (adding a
scale/Dorian minor mode, 2) melodic minor, used as an altered dominant seventh sound, chromatic note between seventh step and
3) harmonic minor, 4) melodic minor with 6) major bebop scale (adding a chromatic root of a Mixolydian mode, 8) melodic minor

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