Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 66

COLUMN Fretprints
scale with added natural
seventh, 9) harmonic minor
with added raised sixth,
and 10) a synthetic pattern
with unique tensions made
of one whole step and three
semi-tones (C-D-D # -E-F # G-G # -A # -B-C), often used
to modulate. Note that 5,
6, 7, 8 and 9 are eight-tone
scales and 10 is a nine-tone
series. He later explained
this in his instructional
video, viewable online.
Holdsworth was a master of improvisation with
a penchant for unusual,
often angular melody lines
with unpredictable leaps,
chromaticism, ranges, and
resolutions. His uncommon ideas were executed
with uncommon physical
technique, the most selfev ident ex a mple bei ng
his application of legato
phrasing using slurs, slides,
and hammer-ons sans conventional pull-offs. His
legato approach was more
a lift-off/hammer-on from
nowhere before releasing
his finger than the sideways
pulling used by most. In his
approach, he strived to keep
the string ringing between
lifted-off notes. Such are the
subtleties and nuances of his
conception. He generally
favored a slippery, linear
approach and shifted positions consistently within
long, winding lines, often
changing melodic content
in different octaves when
changing register.
Everything about Allan
was unconventional, including chords. He developed a
system of harmony heard
throughout his post-1982
repertory that was truly
unique. Chord progressions in tunes like "Three
Sheets to the Wind" or
"Where is One" exemplify
experimentation with chord
families in which he would
walk an atypical sonority
or dissonant voicing on the

Holdsworth's single-note improvisations are
characterized by his sax-like tone and execution and
use of inside and outside tonality within melodies.
This passage from "Three Sheets to the Wind" is
a case in point and offers a capsule view of his
improvising strategies. The melodic stretching and
relaxing of the harmonic fabric is an example of his
juggling of musical elements and unique approach
to playing over chord changes. It is reminiscent
of the dizzying barrages found in John Coltrane's
"sheets of sound" scale layerings. In this line are
found trademark ingredients like perfect-fourth

VINTAGE GUITAR

66

interval leaps, motivic melody (on the F chord),
unison intervals, and copious legato phrasing. The
first measure establishes the inside A major tonality.
In measure 2, he stretches the tonality and creates
a dissonant outside tension, via superimpositions
alluding to D and C melodic minors and G# diminished sounds, which demands resolution. The move
to Emaj7 finds him resolving to an inside sound
while the motion over Ab and Bb is a harmonically
active change played Holdsworth-style. Over the F
chord in measure 4, he plays very inside melodies
and thematic motifs from the related F major scale.

September 2017



Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open

Contents
Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - Cover
Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - IFC
Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 3
Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - 4
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Vintage Guitar - September 2017 - open - Contents
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