Sam Holdsworth: Difference between revisions
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[[File:sam_h.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Sam Holdsworth]]This article is about Allan's father, Sam Holdsworth. It consists of quotes made by Allan about his father in interviews from 1978 onwards. The words "father" and "dad" are highlighted in bold. Please note that Allan was adopted and raised by his maternal grandparents, and consistently referred to them as his father, his mother and his parents. This is detailed in the quotes below. | |||
This page is dedicated to Lynne, Louise, Emily and "Mr. Berwell". | |||
==[[Any Key In The U.K. (Unknown publication 1978)]]== | ==[[Any Key In The U.K. (Unknown publication 1978)]]== | ||
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AH: When I was about 15 or 16, I thought it might be interesting to try the horn, because I found myself listening to a lot of saxophone players. I was really drawn to the idea that you could shape the notes after they were sounded, as opposed to the guitar which was basically a percussive instrument. Saxophones were pretty expensive and we couldn’t afford one, so I ended up with a guitar that I got from my uncle. I wasn’t really that interested in this instrument. I wasn’t particularly drawn to it. I soon took an interest in some local Skiffle music which sort of lit the torch. My '''father''' realized this and started helping me with my musical education. Interestingly, even though he was a pianist, he realized that playing scales and such with open strings on the guitar was counterproductive to playing in different keys. So I learned and still use lots of fingers to accomplish my musical ideas. | AH: When I was about 15 or 16, I thought it might be interesting to try the horn, because I found myself listening to a lot of saxophone players. I was really drawn to the idea that you could shape the notes after they were sounded, as opposed to the guitar which was basically a percussive instrument. Saxophones were pretty expensive and we couldn’t afford one, so I ended up with a guitar that I got from my uncle. I wasn’t really that interested in this instrument. I wasn’t particularly drawn to it. I soon took an interest in some local Skiffle music which sort of lit the torch. My '''father''' realized this and started helping me with my musical education. Interestingly, even though he was a pianist, he realized that playing scales and such with open strings on the guitar was counterproductive to playing in different keys. So I learned and still use lots of fingers to accomplish my musical ideas. | ||
==[[One Man Of | ==''[[One Man Of 'Trane (Jazz Times 2000)]]''== | ||
His '''father''', Sam, was a piano player who taught his son chords and scales. "But since he wasn’t a guitar player, he couldn’t tell me how it was supposed to be done on the guitar," says Allan. "And I guess that’s how I developed such an unorthodox technique. I learned things from the piano and figured out on my own how to transpose those ideas onto the guitar. And I just acquired this dexterity through constant repetition and practice. I didn’t know it wasn’t supposed to be done that way, it just seemed perfectly logical to me. | His '''father''', Sam, was a piano player who taught his son chords and scales. "But since he wasn’t a guitar player, he couldn’t tell me how it was supposed to be done on the guitar," says Allan. "And I guess that’s how I developed such an unorthodox technique. I learned things from the piano and figured out on my own how to transpose those ideas onto the guitar. And I just acquired this dexterity through constant repetition and practice. I didn’t know it wasn’t supposed to be done that way, it just seemed perfectly logical to me. | ||
==[[Allan Holdsworth in exclusive LMS interview (tlms.co.uk 2000)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth in exclusive LMS interview (tlms.co.uk 2000)]]== | ||
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Particularly these days, when people think of Kenny G. as jazz. Smooth jazz. Those guys need to grow a beard, man. There’s a five-o-clock shadow on that stuff. | Particularly these days, when people think of Kenny G. as jazz. Smooth jazz. Those guys need to grow a beard, man. There’s a five-o-clock shadow on that stuff. | ||
==[[Allan Holdsworth - Jazz Fusion Guitarist (Musicguy247 2017)]]== | ==''[[Allan Holdsworth - Jazz/Fusion Guitarist (Musicguy247 2017)]]''== | ||
R.V.B. - I glad you made out ok. Thank you for taking this time to speak with me. The guitar... you brought it to a new level. Was there any incident in your youth that made you want to become a guitar player? | R.V.B. - I glad you made out ok. Thank you for taking this time to speak with me. The guitar... you brought it to a new level. Was there any incident in your youth that made you want to become a guitar player? | ||
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A.H. - Apparently not. (Hahaha) | A.H. - Apparently not. (Hahaha) | ||
==''[[In Memoriam: DownBeat’s Final Interview with Allan Holdsworth (Downbeat 2017)]]''== | |||
==[[DownBeat’s Final Interview with Allan Holdsworth (Downbeat 2017)]]== | |||
You wanted to take up a horn rather than guitar when you were younger. You really didn’t think of yourself as a guitar player. Do you still feel that way and why? | You wanted to take up a horn rather than guitar when you were younger. You really didn’t think of yourself as a guitar player. Do you still feel that way and why? | ||
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But eventually I fell in love with the guitar for other reasons. I played the violin for a couple years too but I missed playing chords. So I went back to the guitar and used distortion to sustain notes and make it do things it wouldn’t normally do. So, here I am playing the guitar… or trying to! | But eventually I fell in love with the guitar for other reasons. I played the violin for a couple years too but I missed playing chords. So I went back to the guitar and used distortion to sustain notes and make it do things it wouldn’t normally do. So, here I am playing the guitar… or trying to! | ||
==[[The Allan Holdsworth Interview | ==''[[The Allan Holdsworth Interview (Musoscribe 2017)]]''== | ||
Your early influences were the ambitious end of classical music: Stravinsky, Bartok, and the like. When you were young, did pop music filter its way into your musical sensibility? | Your early influences were the ambitious end of classical music: Stravinsky, Bartok, and the like. When you were young, did pop music filter its way into your musical sensibility? | ||
My '''dad''' was a piano player, a really good pianist. He had lots of records around; they were mostly jazz records. But you don’t wake up one day and sound like Django Reinhardt, so I decided to learn to play some of the pop music that I could play. And once I could, my interest in that music faded away. So pop music was just a starting point, although I still listen to all kinds of music. | My '''dad''' was a piano player, a really good pianist. He had lots of records around; they were mostly jazz records. But you don’t wake up one day and sound like Django Reinhardt, so I decided to learn to play some of the pop music that I could play. And once I could, my interest in that music faded away. So pop music was just a starting point, although I still listen to all kinds of music. | ||
==[[Interview_with_Allan_Holdsworth_(Jazz_Italia_2005)]]== | |||
ALLAN: I took a lot of cues from my father who is a pianist. He was truly an excellent pianist. He could not play the guitar, even if he was good! He knew where all the notes on the guitar were, but simply could not play it. So, he could tell me where to put his hands on the guitar, but he could not do it, so he did not have any preconceptions about how the guitarists do things. It was more open! I think it opened my mind a bit. Then I studied alone, working on scales, etc. ... As you know, all the necessary information is available, you just have to look for it. When you study music, you realize that there is a certain logic, therefore I have only tried to use my own logic in the study. [Machine back translated.] | |||
[[Category:Themes]] | |||
