Allan Holdsworth Schille Reshaping Harmony
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BJØRN ALLAN HOLDSWORTH SCHILLE RESHAPING HARMONY Master Thesis in Musicology - February 2011 Institute of Musicology| University of Oslo 3001 2 2 Acknowledgment Writing this master thesis has been an incredible rewarding process, and I would like to use this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to those who have assisted me in my work. Most importantly I would like to thank my wonderful supervisors, Odd Skårberg and Eckhard Baur, for their good advice and guidance. Their continued encouragement and confidence in my work has been a source of strength and motivation throughout these last few years. My thanks to Steve Hunt for his transcription of the chord changes to “Pud Wud” and helpful information regarding his experience of playing with Allan Holdsworth. I also wish to thank Jeremy Poparad for generously providing me with the chord changes to “The Sixteen Men of Tain”. Furthermore I would like to thank Gaute Hellås for his incredible effort of reviewing the text and providing helpful comments where my spelling or formulations was off. His hard work was beyond what any friend could ask for. (I owe you one!) Big thanks to friends and family: Your love, support and patience through the years has always been, and will always be, a source of strength. And finally I wish to acknowledge Arne Torvik for introducing me to the music of Allan Holdsworth so many years ago in a practicing room at the Grieg Academy of Music in Bergen. Looking back, it is obvious that this was one of those life-changing moments; a moment I am sincerely grateful for. Bjørn Schille Oslo, January 24th, 2011 3 Contents Acknowledgment........................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction: ........................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: The musician ............................................................................................................. 9 1.1 The Allan Holdsworth story .............................................................................................. 9 Chapter 2: The principles ......................................................................................................... 22 2.1 Jazz in theory .................................................................................................................. 22 2.2 The traditional concept of scales and chords ................................................................. 25 2.2.1 Basic structures in music .......................................................................................... 25 2.2.2 Playing chromatic ..................................................................................................... 30 2.2.3 Playing modal ........................................................................................................... 31 2.3 Holdsworths theoretical approach ................................................................................. 33 2.3.1 His view on musical structures ................................................................................ 33 2.3.2 Scales ........................................................................................................................ 35 2.3.3 Chords ...................................................................................................................... 39 2.3.4 Rhythm ..................................................................................................................... 41 2.4 Making a different sound: .............................................................................................. 43 2.4.1 Legato ....................................................................................................................... 43 2.4.2 Equipment ................................................................................................................ 44 2.5 Videos and litterature ..................................................................................................... 47 Chapter 3: The music ................................................................................................................ 49 3.1 The objects of analysis: ................................................................................................... 49 3.2 Pud Wud ......................................................................................................................... 51 3.2.1 Sand .......................................................................................................................... 51 3.2.2 “Pud Wud” ............................................................................................................... 54 3.2.3 Head ......................................................................................................................... 56 3.2.4 The solo .................................................................................................................... 58 3.2.5 Summary .................................................................................................................. 70 3.3 The Sixteen Men of Tain ................................................................................................. 73 3.3.1 A jazz album ............................................................................................................. 73 3.3.2 The Sixteen Men of Tain .......................................................................................... 76 3.3.3 Head ......................................................................................................................... 77 4 3.3.4 The solo .................................................................................................................... 79 3.3.5 Summary .................................................................................................................. 88 3.4 Countdown ..................................................................................................................... 90 3.4.1 In an unfamiliar setting ............................................................................................ 90 3.4.2 The background and structure of Coltrane’s composition ...................................... 91 3.4.3 Holdsworth’s Countdown ........................................................................................ 96 3.4.4 Intro .......................................................................................................................... 97 3.4.5 The second solo ..................................................................................................... 105 3.4.6 The head................................................................................................................. 117 3.4.7 Summary ................................................................................................................ 120 Chapter 4: Thoughts of review ............................................................................................... 121 4.1 Seeing the whole picture? ............................................................................................ 121 4.2 Sound ............................................................................................................................ 122 4.3 Harmony ....................................................................................................................... 126 4.4 Roots to the impressionism .......................................................................................... 132 4.4.1 Giving the music the appropriate context ............................................................. 132 4.4.2 Harmony ................................................................................................................. 134 4.4.3 Chords, Melody and Rhythm ................................................................................. 136 4.4.4 Putting it in perspective ......................................................................................... 138 4.5 Words of conclusion ..................................................................................................... 138 Bilbliograpy ............................................................................................................................. 142 CD track list: ............................................................................................................................ 145 Appendix 1: ............................................................................................................................. 147 Appendix 2 .............................................................................................................................. 148 Appendix 3: ............................................................................................................................. 149 Appendix 4: ............................................................................................................................. 154 Appendix 5: ............................................................................................................................. 158 5 Introduction: What is it that makes a musician sound like no-one else? Is it a conscious choice and a desire to do something unique? A deliberate process of tearing down the familiar and putting the pieces together again in a new way? Or can it sometimes simply be a natural result of a musician striving for excellence without