Allan Holdsworth (1946-2017)

The British jazz-fusion/prog-rock guitar player and composer Allan Holdsworth is one of the more
influential guitar players even though he seems to be relatively unknown. His highly technical
playing style, combined with his intriguing multi modal compositions and his unique approach to
chord voicing and music theory has inspired both famous jazzers and shredders alike (Robben Ford,
Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Petrucci, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Shawn Lane, Yngwie Malmsteen,
Tosin Abasi, Frank Zappa). Robben Ford even called Allan Holdsworth “the John Coltrane of the
guitar”.

A couple of things that I found interesting about Allan Holdsworth:

Legato technique:
Allan Holdsworth didn’t actually want to play guitar – he wanted to play saxophone, but his dad
bought him a guitar. Allan decided that the guitar was as good a tool as any to create music, but he
always chased the fluid sound of the saxophone, which led him to develop his famous legato chops.
It consists primarily, but not exclusively, of hammer-ons even when playing descending lines,
which is quite unique.

Harmony and scales:

Allan Holdsworth’s approach to theory is also quite unique; he doesn’t concern himself with modes,
but instead views all the chords and modes associated with a particular scale as one big thing, eg. he
calls the C-major scale (and any mode containing those notes, so D-dorian, E-phrygian, F-lydian,
etc.) a D minor scale with a natural 6.

Recommended listening:
Allan Holdsworth’s music is quite dense and challenging to listen to. He uses a lot of dissonant
chord voicings, as well as unusual chord progressions. Add to that his lightning fast and fluid legato
style, and you end up with a daunting mountain of musical information. His discography is also
quite large with 13 studio albums as solo artist as well as a number of collaborations with other
artists, so it’s a mouthful to get through. I’ll say that “Metal Fatique” (1985) and “Secrets” (1989) is
essential listening, as they showcase all the things that made Allan Holdsworth such a big influence
on the world of guitar.

Below are links to Allan Holdsworth’s instructional video, as well as the two albums I mentioned.
Enjoy!

Allan Holdsworth Instructional Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JjBdnGDuYM

Metal Fatique (full album):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_TxIBJ7T0M

Secrets (album playlist):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=CRuyujLSkxo&list=PLccpwGk_xup8Uy2JGE0u3TeYiW2Vqu6dB