Allan didn't play acoustic enough sadly. Although he hated Velvet Darkness, I enjoy that album to this day. Nice rendition by the way. We all miss Allan.
I came across this album (Velvet Darkness) in the 80s when I was craving anything that Holdsworth played on. I loved his acoustic work and found it very inspiring.
So glad you like it too Scott. I remember buying the album, possibly as long ago as the late 70s, and figuring bits out by picking up the needle and putting it back. I liked the acoustic work best but wasn’t able to get anywhere with it.
I used to play this on my old Ovation back in the late 70s. Forgot why I sold the guitar and there are a lot of other instrumental tunes that have slipped away from my brain and fingers over the years. Might have myself another New Years resolution for 2023.
A throw away track from Allah Holdsworth, becomes a classic guitar rudiment for the rest of us and generations of next guitarists. .I still barely figure out the acoustic intro to "Gorgon". .great upload.
Having listened to this album for 40 years i know this composition rather well & how it sounds. You're playing is totally authentic. Superb. Would have been nice if allan had recorded some more on acoustic guitar & violin. I love the way people are now performing his music on youtube. So we get to see how he did it. Genius
Thank you so much for your kind comments on my playing. I’m very grateful and very flattered! I couldn’t agree more that it would have been nice to hear more on acoustic from Allan.
@@Guyhart you even got his lovely tone as well as his feel & phrasing. Very nicely done. May i ask what make & model of guitar that is? So glad i got to see Allan live six times. Nucleus 1979 Southampton. IOU a London pub 1980 IOU & Turning point 1981 ish Southanpton. Atavacron material mostly 1985 ish, Bass cleff Hackney i think. Bristol 1988 ish Southampton just 2 miles from where I live The Brooke 2007 Chad drumming on that one, if a pal of mine hadn't phoned to tell me that he was coming I'd have missed it, right in my doorstep 😮
Special special occasions. Never to be repeated. Unique Allan. Genius. Never be another.
Hello again, you did better than me. I went to a workshop with him hoping to see him play but all he did was talk. As far as I remember that was the only time I saw him in person. The guitar is a Petros Ultralight with a redwood top and walnut back and sides. The makers (Bruce Petros and son) are still going in the States but no longer offer this exact model. Their guitars are made one at a time by hand and are very expensive new but I was lucky to pick this one up second hand at a reasonable price.
Fantastic work Guy. I wish Holdsworth had done more acoustic stuff. He pretty much didn't record any from the 80s on. I would have never figured out that tuning.
Wow man. Gorgeous. So many people seem to post things prematurely before they can really play them well. Like, they've got it maybe 75% and just wanna get it out there to show off or something. This sounded crisp and seasoned!
😊 Thank you so much! Here’s a link to a transcription. I’m sure you can figure it out. The tuning is the strangest I’ve encountered though. ruclips.net/video/YPHhWd57AjU/видео.html
The tuning is an Eb Major Add 4 tuning, it is NOT an Eb Sus. 4 tuning. Anytime you have both a major third and a perfect fourth at the same time in a chord it is an Add 4 tuning. The reason you can’t call it a Sus. 4 tuning is because in a Sus. 4 chord the fourth replaces the third, thus Suspended 4th.
Beautifully subtle and nuanced composition - and a lovely rendition thereof. Holdsworth's acoustic work comes as a welcome alternative to his more celebrated electric guitar oeuvre. I am by no means an unqualified admirer of Holdsworth's output. Indeed, I think it's no coincidence that he's often referred to as a 'guitarist's guitarist', inasmuch as his peers were understandably impressed by his technological abilities and innovations. So, too, his unconditional fans seem primarily taken with his sheer competency on the instrument. But for me, Holdsworth far too often sounds melodically and harmonically shallow in his own compositions. Almost every piece opens with an emotionally non-committal riff followed by an often less-than-interesting 'shred' on that theme. None doubt Holdsworth's technique, but music history is punctuated by virtuosi who were not, themselves, great composers: Paganini comes to mind, and I'd put Holdsworth in the same sort of bracket. Interestingly, I have heard Holdsworth's guitar soar beautifully in solos on other composers' work. It's as if he needs emotional direction and when he gets it he's grand indeed. Take as an example his solo on Bruford's 'Hells Bells, where the prescribed key changes push Holdsworth into some terrific places. In summary: a great musician but a mediocre composer.
Thanks for taking the trouble to post such an interesting and well explained comment James. I’m so glad you liked this particular composition too. Allan’s few acoustic tracks are my favourites.
@@Guyhart Totally agree. It's almost as if the inherently more gentle, thoughtful, acoustic instrument calls forth its emotional counterpart in Holdsworth. Thanks for the video.
@@PeteCockcroft-oi5zs Cockcroft by name Cockcroft by nature, apparently. Keep bringing those rays of sunshine into the world Pete, don't know that we'd all do without them.
Beautiful! Did YOU figure out that tuning? Kudos for working that out! I would NEVER have thought of "oh, let's just try tuning a few of the strings down a half-step, and maybe this one UP a half-step, and...." 😁
I can’t take credit for it I’m afraid. Someone else transcribed it but they did it at my request so I can take a little bit of credit. You’ll find the transcription if you do a search on RUclips.
@@Guyhart Agreed, and his acoustic soloing on several albums is sublime too. However, he did clearly say that the percussive attack of the acoustic guitar is exactly what he spent his whole career trying to escape from, hence the scarcity of acoustic recordings
I have some Gordon Beck and Holdsy records with Allan on acoustic on some tracks... But agreed, acoustic and violin would have been lovely as solo albums. How did you work out those tunings? Man!
I didn't work out the tuning. There is a transcription you can find on RUclips but I know the person who did it got the tuning from someone else. I wonder if Allan told someone.
sounds like a Joni Mitchell tune without the marvellous poetic imagery of of her lyrics and voice. here music has to stand on it's own merit, alone in the spotlight. this is not an exact replica of that tune but it still has merit as a very good attempt at Mr Holdsworth's little ditty (Last May) just had a quick browse of the album Velvet Darkness a bit off and on but it's ok 😐👍 never was a fan but also never was a hater of A H a real Bona-fide guitar genius without a doubt. nice alternate tuning though, have to really like it as it's a gift from that awesome MAN my only hope is that those Buddhists are right and Alan can have another gig here sometime soon but until then
What a thoughtful and interesting comment! Thanks for listening. I would never have thought of the Joni Mitchell connection but I do see what you mean.
Thank you!! I learned it from a video with a transcription on RUclips that you should be able to find if you search for it. I would never have been able to figure out the weird tuning by ear.
I wish Allan had done more acoustic pieces. I know he hated the acoustic guitar. His first album has a couple of my favorites, this one and Kinder, and the reason is that they are acoustic tunes. A whole 'nother Allan Holdsworth. Beautiful guitar, by the way. Is that redwood or cedar?
@@Guyhart Good to know. I have an electric semi-hollowbody guitar mostly built (by me) with a quarter-sawn redwood top. Glad to know that it'll look that nice under a finish.
hang on!!.. there seemed to be some standard chords there that mere mortals like me could play ,,oh now I see it was in some alien tuning method ,,,,,thought Allen was being kind to the rest of us hacks,,
That was very well executed. A superb rendition of a piece that (IMO), only the master could have come up with. Bravo. Here's the transcript: ruclips.net/video/YPHhWd57AjU/видео.html
Very impressive, there are not that many players who can reproduce master Holdsworth. I once saw him perform with UK in Montreal. It was one of the best show of my life. Then I saw him in Vancouver, BC many years later. Probably the worst show of my life. I was told by one of the engineer that he was drunk and just want «to play the gig and go back home». Nonetheless, a player's player like Lenny Breau.
@@westrig180 You can say that twice...I'm pretty far from being «a great player» but I did have, decades ago, a small band and one time we played a gig in New Westminster a suburb of Vancouver, B.C. Canada. As we started to play I notice the drummer was losing its beat so I took a look at him and saw that the bass drum wasn't fix to the floor. Every time he hit it, the bass drum would move forward so the singer sat on the bass drum to stop it from moving. Still playing the first song I broke a string on my guitar and the singer forgot the lyric of the song. Someone in the audience then scream «you guys call yourselves a band?» The rest of the evening was pretty much the same.
Allan didn't play acoustic enough sadly. Although he hated Velvet Darkness, I enjoy that album to this day. Nice rendition by the way. We all miss Allan.
Thanks Andy! I couldn’t agree more that it would have been great to hear a lot more acoustic from Allan.
I came across this album (Velvet Darkness) in the 80s when I was craving anything that Holdsworth played on. I loved his acoustic work and found it very inspiring.
So glad you like it too Scott. I remember buying the album, possibly as long ago as the late 70s, and figuring bits out by picking up the needle and putting it back. I liked the acoustic work best but wasn’t able to get anywhere with it.
I used to play this on my old Ovation back in the late 70s. Forgot why I sold the guitar and there are a lot of other instrumental tunes that have slipped away from my brain and fingers over the years. Might have myself another New Years resolution for 2023.
A throw away track from Allah Holdsworth, becomes a classic guitar rudiment for the rest of us and generations of next guitarists. .I still barely figure out the acoustic intro to "Gorgon". .great upload.
So glad you like it!
Thanks for share this Man, its remind me when first time listening Holdsworth in 70's
Thank you! I first had this album in the 70s so I know how you feel.
@@Guyhart and you play so good 👍
Beautifully played! Holdsworth's advanced sense of chordal harmony lends itself so nicely to acoustic guitar.
Thank you! I do wish he’d done a lot more on the acoustic.
Beautiful Guy. There's a natural rhythm going on there. Nice.
Thanks David!
I had to come back to listen again….Thank you.🍻
I’m flattered. Thanks!
Wow, love this Guy!
Delighted to hear it Henry! Thanks 😊
Beautiful Composition by God !!!!
Glad you like it too Harry!
I'll tell you what Bye G-D.
Captures the spirit of it.
Thanks! Much appreciated 🙏
Dude! Beautifully executed! Never would have got the tuning...I just figured "ehh...it's Holdsworth!" Nicely done.
Thanks David! Much appreciated!
Having listened to this album for 40 years i know this composition rather well & how it sounds. You're playing is totally authentic. Superb.
Would have been nice if allan had recorded some more on acoustic guitar & violin.
I love the way people are now performing his music on youtube. So we get to see how he did it. Genius
Thank you so much for your kind comments on my playing. I’m very grateful and very flattered! I couldn’t agree more that it would have been nice to hear more on acoustic from Allan.
@@Guyhart you even got his lovely tone as well as his feel & phrasing. Very nicely done. May i ask what make & model of guitar that is?
So glad i got to see Allan live six times.
Nucleus 1979 Southampton.
IOU a London pub 1980
IOU & Turning point 1981 ish Southanpton.
Atavacron material mostly 1985 ish, Bass cleff Hackney i think.
Bristol 1988 ish
Southampton just 2 miles from where I live The Brooke 2007
Chad drumming on that one, if a pal of mine hadn't phoned to tell me that he was coming I'd have missed it, right in my doorstep 😮
Special special occasions. Never to be repeated. Unique Allan. Genius. Never be another.
Hello again, you did better than me. I went to a workshop with him hoping to see him play but all he did was talk. As far as I remember that was the only time I saw him in person. The guitar is a Petros Ultralight with a redwood top and walnut back and sides. The makers (Bruce Petros and son) are still going in the States but no longer offer this exact model. Their guitars are made one at a time by hand and are very expensive new but I was lucky to pick this one up second hand at a reasonable price.
@@Guyhart beautiful guitar. I dont see one coming my way any time soon, guess i was lucky to see him 6 times ☺️
Such an interesting piece, like nothing else. And very wired tuning indeed
lovely
Thanks Ethan!
really beautiful
Thanks for making my day Ray. I’m really delighted with all the nice comments I’ve had about this video.
well its made my day too hearing it :) @@Guyhart
VERY VERY BEAUTIFUL
Thank you so much Anselmo! 🙏💖
Beautiful and beautifully played - Thank you for sharing Guy - Cheers - John
Thank you John! Much appreciated. So glad you like it.
Bravo so sweet and unusual
Beautiful
Great choice. Excellent performance!
Thank you!
Excellent!
Thank you!
Superb. Thank you.😊
Thank you. Much appreciated!!!
Very nice. I remember trying to learn this in standard tuning back in the day, heh.
Me too!
Hats off! Great job!! Brilliant! :) I wished that Allan would just make a few acoustic albums. :)
Thank you so much! I couldn’t agree more about wishing he’d done some acoustic albums.
Fantastic work Guy. I wish Holdsworth had done more acoustic stuff. He pretty much didn't record any from the 80s on. I would have never figured out that tuning.
Thanks. I’m really pleased you like it. I wish he’d done lots more acoustic stuff too.
Gorgeous!
Thank you!👍🙏😀
Heartwarming. This is beautiful.
🙏 Thanks. So glad you like it 😊
Those Classic Allen fret stretches Nice job!
Thank you!
Bravo. Thank you.
Thank you too
Beautiful, thank you.
Thank you!
Last may be Allan Holdswort.... :9
Enjoying your music so much! (very good indeed, fellow alive)
Thank you very much indeed! It means a lot to get encouraging comments like that. 🤗
Great job, man! Thanks for sharing! 🙏👍🙂
Thank you. I really appreciate it!
Very nice playing
Thanks!!!
I would have loved to hear more of his acoustic playing.
Me too!
Fabulous!
Thank you!
Awesome
Thank you!
Linda harmonia
Beautifully executed, looks like a bit of a handful! Great work.
Thank you. That means a lot!
At :53 seconds into the video…. A great Eb add #11 chord voicing!
Wow man. Gorgeous. So many people seem to post things prematurely before they can really play them well. Like, they've got it maybe 75% and just wanna get it out there to show off or something. This sounded crisp and seasoned!
Thank you so much. I’m very flattered. It’s probably because I’ve been listening to it since the 70s!
Nice song
Thanks!
@@Guyhart welcome
Man you are amazing! Please consider making a lesson of it. Thanks.
😊 Thank you so much! Here’s a link to a transcription. I’m sure you can figure it out. The tuning is the strangest I’ve encountered though. ruclips.net/video/YPHhWd57AjU/видео.html
The tuning is an Eb Major Add 4 tuning, it is NOT an Eb Sus. 4 tuning. Anytime you have both a major third and a perfect fourth at the same time in a chord it is an Add 4 tuning. The reason you can’t call it a Sus. 4 tuning is because in a Sus. 4 chord the fourth replaces the third, thus Suspended 4th.
Thanks!
Beautifully subtle and nuanced composition - and a lovely rendition thereof. Holdsworth's acoustic work comes as a welcome alternative to his more celebrated electric guitar oeuvre. I am by no means an unqualified admirer of Holdsworth's output. Indeed, I think it's no coincidence that he's often referred to as a 'guitarist's guitarist', inasmuch as his peers were understandably impressed by his technological abilities and innovations. So, too, his unconditional fans seem primarily taken with his sheer competency on the instrument. But for me, Holdsworth far too often sounds melodically and harmonically shallow in his own compositions. Almost every piece opens with an emotionally non-committal riff followed by an often less-than-interesting 'shred' on that theme. None doubt Holdsworth's technique, but music history is punctuated by virtuosi who were not, themselves, great composers: Paganini comes to mind, and I'd put Holdsworth in the same sort of bracket. Interestingly, I have heard Holdsworth's guitar soar beautifully in solos on other composers' work. It's as if he needs emotional direction and when he gets it he's grand indeed. Take as an example his solo on Bruford's 'Hells Bells, where the prescribed key changes push Holdsworth into some terrific places. In summary: a great musician but a mediocre composer.
Thanks for taking the trouble to post such an interesting and well explained comment James. I’m so glad you liked this particular composition too. Allan’s few acoustic tracks are my favourites.
@@Guyhart Totally agree. It's almost as if the inherently more gentle, thoughtful, acoustic instrument calls forth its emotional counterpart in Holdsworth. Thanks for the video.
@@PeteCockcroft-oi5zs Cockcroft by name Cockcroft by nature, apparently. Keep bringing those rays of sunshine into the world Pete, don't know that we'd all do without them.
Beautiful! Did YOU figure out that tuning? Kudos for working that out! I would NEVER have thought of "oh, let's just try tuning a few of the strings down a half-step, and maybe this one UP a half-step, and...." 😁
I can’t take credit for it I’m afraid. Someone else transcribed it but they did it at my request so I can take a little bit of credit. You’ll find the transcription if you do a search on RUclips.
That Bbmaj9 is an incredible stretch for me, impossible to get it clean
@@thechiccospillo95 By Holdsworth standards that’s barely a stretch. I don’t know how he did it.
@@Guyhart you did tho, that was clean
It feels very similar to Gone Sailing', from Soft Machine's Bundles, I think he may have used this tuning on both
Oh yes! Good point. Another lovely piece. I wish he’d done a lot more on acoustic.
@@Guyhart Agreed, and his acoustic soloing on several albums is sublime too. However, he did clearly say that the percussive attack of the acoustic guitar is exactly what he spent his whole career trying to escape from, hence the scarcity of acoustic recordings
The tuning used on “Gone Sailing” is completely different and that song was played on a specially tuned 12-string guitar.
@@indigosoundsstudio You're probably right! I learnt it a couple years ago (just on 6 string) and the tuning is an open sus4 voicing of some kind
Damn nice job. Don't know if I could do those stretch chords
Thanks!
That IS a weird tuning. Lovely nonetheless.
Thanks Sandy!
Hard as F.! Hope you are well God loves you deeply Shalom 🤗🐼❤️✝️💐 Philippians 4:8
I’m delighted you liked it Brad! Thank you so much 🙏
Wonder what happened last may…
Thanks. Good Question!
Beautiful ..
Is there any chance of tab for this?
Thanks! Here you are ruclips.net/video/YPHhWd57AjU/видео.html
I have some Gordon Beck and Holdsy records with Allan on acoustic on some tracks... But agreed, acoustic and violin would have been lovely as solo albums.
How did you work out those tunings? Man!
I didn't work out the tuning. There is a transcription you can find on RUclips but I know the person who did it got the tuning from someone else. I wonder if Allan told someone.
@@Guyhart well you did a great job on playing that piece, regardless.......cheers!
This is off of Velvet Darkness? I have that one and I don't recall this song
Yes! Listen again. Happy Christmas
So beautiful.... well done! Allan was a genius. What guitar is that? Sorry if you already mentioned it in the comments.
Thank you very much! The guitar is a Petros Ultralight made of redwood and walnut.
sounds like a Joni Mitchell tune without the marvellous poetic imagery of of her lyrics and voice.
here music has to stand on it's own merit, alone in the spotlight. this is not an exact replica
of that tune but it still has merit as a very good attempt at Mr Holdsworth's little ditty (Last May)
just had a quick browse of the album Velvet Darkness a bit off and on but it's ok 😐👍
never was a fan but also never was a hater of A H a real Bona-fide guitar genius without a doubt.
nice alternate tuning though, have to really like it as it's a gift from that awesome MAN
my only hope is that those Buddhists are right and Alan can have another gig here
sometime soon but until then
What a thoughtful and interesting comment! Thanks for listening. I would never have thought of the Joni Mitchell connection but I do see what you mean.
wow interesting
Thanks! Yes, it’s very unusual
Thats lovely! What is the tuning?
Thanks. It’s in the video description but you’ll find a whole transcription here. ruclips.net/video/YPHhWd57AjU/видео.html
that sound really good, well done! Did you learn it by ear?
Thank you!! I learned it from a video with a transcription on RUclips that you should be able to find if you search for it. I would never have been able to figure out the weird tuning by ear.
I wish Allan had done more acoustic pieces. I know he hated the acoustic guitar. His first album has a couple of my favorites, this one and Kinder, and the reason is that they are acoustic tunes. A whole 'nother Allan Holdsworth.
Beautiful guitar, by the way. Is that redwood or cedar?
Couldn’t agree more about Allan and acoustic pieces. Glad you like the guitar. It’s redwood.
@@Guyhart Good to know. I have an electric semi-hollowbody guitar mostly built (by me) with a quarter-sawn redwood top. Glad to know that it'll look that nice under a finish.
@@totallyunmemorable Wow! Hope you enjoy it. Redwood is great for tone.
hang on!!.. there seemed to be some standard chords there that mere mortals like me could play ,,oh now I see it was in some alien tuning method ,,,,,thought Allen was being kind to the rest of us hacks,,
“Tendinitis”
Is the first string tuned down to Bb from E or up to Bb?
Down
That was very well executed. A superb rendition of a piece that (IMO), only the master could have come up with. Bravo. Here's the transcript: ruclips.net/video/YPHhWd57AjU/видео.html
Thanks! That transcription was made at my request. I’d wanted to play it since discovering it as a teenager.
@@Guyhart You are the Man! Best to you.
Creed Taylor Allen hated that album wasn’t supposed to be put out it was just rehearsals ..But I always thought it sounded great nevertheless
I heard that. So glad you like it
too.
Atonal
What is the tuning for this piece? 🤔
Hi, it’s in the video description. Very weird but doable.
Very impressive, there are not that many players who can reproduce master Holdsworth. I once saw him perform with UK in Montreal. It was one of the best show of my life. Then I saw him in Vancouver, BC many years later. Probably the worst show of my life. I was told by one of the engineer that he was drunk and just want «to play the gig and go back home». Nonetheless, a player's player like Lenny Breau.
Thanks for your kind words! I had a similar experience with Frank Zappa. Once absolutely brilliant, once really dreadful.
Everybody has a bad day, even the greats .
@@westrig180 You can say that twice...I'm pretty far from being «a great player» but I did have, decades ago, a small band and one time we played a gig in New Westminster a suburb of Vancouver, B.C. Canada. As we started to play I notice the drummer was losing its beat so I took a look at him and saw that the bass drum wasn't fix to the floor. Every time he hit it, the bass drum would move forward so the singer sat on the bass drum to stop it from moving. Still playing the first song I broke a string on my guitar and the singer forgot the lyric of the song. Someone in the audience then scream «you guys call yourselves a band?» The rest of the evening was pretty much the same.
Hello Guy, this was wonderful! I was hoping you would be willing to reveal what the tuning actually is.
My pleasure!
Sorry. Didn’t come back on the tuning. Here’s a link that will help a lot ruclips.net/video/YPHhWd57AjU/видео.html
Tune?