Peter Kiebooms: Allan Holdsworth - 'Day of the Dead' SOLO! take 1

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  H O L D S Y.....Still The Greatest Guitarist in The Universe...!!! Amidst a sea of ugly-ass keyboard sounds on this Derek Sherinian album suddenly emerge those first heavenly sounding and instantly recognizable whammy bar notes from Allan...like a phoenix rising from the ashes !! This was a guest solo Holdsworth did and he's improvising over a more rock/metal like pedal tone heavy dirge and although Allan himself often expressed his regret of having done these kind of rock guest sessions I love hearing him in a different context! And far from feeling like a fish out of the water he performs the task at hand better than any hardrock guitarist ever could....and of course he does, he's friggin' Allan Holdsworth !! We're starting off in D Phrygian dominant and although Allan infuses his solo with some extra scalar notes he manages to stay well within that Eastern sounding mode. At
  0:54 there is the long-awaited solution to G but instead of the expected G minor it resolves to a G major chord functioning as the I chord in G Phrygian dominant. At the
  At the
  1:03 time mark there is another modulation, this time to D with decisively Lydian chords in the background over which Allan chooses to play the D Lydian Dominant scale (= A melodic minor or a D Lydian scale with a b7 if you will) with heavy emphasis on the #4. At
  At
  1:15 there is a final modulation to E Phrygian dominant moving via a C chord back to D Lydian after which the keyboard solo starts....Whew !!! Still, besides the velvet tone, his inhuman technique and otherworldly phrasing it's all about the notes he plays because in the end that's all that really counts. And he does make it count..... Boy, does he ever !! And yes, for the very first time in a clip I adapted the classical guitar posture: anything to be able to play those Holdsworth monster stretches ! I'm always weary of posting a Allan Holdsworth video. The fear of getting ridiculed by his purist fans community is palpable and although I know I can never attain his level of excellence I did try my stinkin' best to do this solo justice. Well, let's see what the comments bring ! ;-) Allan Holdsworth - best albums (in order of personal preference) : 1. Hard hat area 2. Wardenclyffe tower
  3. Secrets
  Still, besides the velvet tone, his inhuman technique and otherworldly phrasing it's all about the notes he plays because in the end that's all that really counts. And he does make it count.....
  Boy, does he ever !! And yes, for the very first time in a clip I adapted the classical guitar posture: anything to be able to play those Holdsworth monster stretches ! I'm always weary of posting a Allan Holdsworth video. The fear of getting ridiculed by his purist fans community is palpable and although I know I can never attain his level of excellence I did try my stinkin' best to do this solo justice. Well, let's see what the comments bring ! ;-) Allan Holdsworth - best albums (in order of personal preference) : 1. Hard hat area 2. Wardenclyffe tower 3. Secrets

Allan Holdsworth - 'Day of the Dead' SOLO! take 1