Guitar Player (1998)

Allan Holdsworth's joy of intervals.(Sessions)(Brief Article)(Interview) 1 April 1998

FEW GUITARISTS HAVE AS

identifiable a sound as Allan Holdsworth.

In our Dec. '82 cover story, he

shared his sonic secrets.

How did you develop your wide

hand stretches?

Most of the time when guitarists

play scales, they fret the notes

consecutively I wanted to avoid that by

playing intervals that were spaced

further apart. I use the same scales

and chords, I'm just juggling the

tones. I don't like conventional

guitar voicings. I love listening to jazz

guitar, for example, but I quickly tire

of the chord voicings. I decided that

if I was going to get some chord

things together I might as well play

something other than the Jazz Book

One or even jazz Book Ten types of

chords, listening to piano players,

I heard much more inventiveness

in the voicings.

Do you relate your solos to chord

changes?

I break a solo down to see the

chord progression, find out what

scales I can use, and see if I can

superimpose harmony--such as a

triad on top of another triad. To

play something, I need to see it in

my mind's eye. I don't make any

rules and I don't divide the neck up.

It's all one.

How do you get your trademark

legato sound?

I use a lot of hammers and

puns. My pull-offs aren't conventional,

though. I never pull my finger

sideways, because when you do,

you get a meowing sound. I detest

that sound. I've practiced hard not

to play like that. Instead of coming

off sideways, my fingers drop

directly on and off the strings like I'm

tapping them.

Do you ever fall into slumps?

I'm sure everyone falls into

slumps where no matter how hard

you try, you fall back on things you've

already learned. Keep going. You

have to persist, and out of sheer

frustration come out the other side.