Is it possible to improvise in a "Holdsworth" style of legato on tbe stick while still providing harmonic and rhythmic support with your left hand?

I think it absolutely is check out this video about 2:14

I played both bass and solo live. I wasn't completely going for Holdsworth but it might give you some idea of my legato.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jP2AV4l1B0[/youtube]

Brett, you totally just really blow on this!!! WOW!! really enjoyed this!!

I saw in ananalysis that Holdsy often plays inside for two measures before playing outside for two measures and back again, the "inside" usually based on the melodic minor or other similar esoteric scale. The outside being sideslipping or something else.

The harmony has to support that though in some way. ii V I's with normal guitar voicings will clash hard with that. Altering your ii V I's helps, though making them to conform to the melodic minor scale is too rigid (ii-7 V7 i-Maj7) Also, playing linear progressions using non third chords instead really does the trick. C FGA. D GABG, E ABC. As does altering them. Chords can have the fourth of the chord in the lowest note of the guitar voicing, the 5th in the lowest note, and/or root on top.

Ok Check this out:



Holdsworth states very clearly in both the instructional book and the video with it (see below at 22:55)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JjBdnGDuYM[/youtube]


he states that he thinks of scales in the context of the whole instrument and that he sees the notes light up and shift. Looking at the book and video he provides 10 usable scales and a chart for where they are on the guitar. Using this I created the first scale, the C major / D Minor / G7 for Baritone Melody Stick tuning and then using color coding labels mapped it out on the melody side.




After doing this I strapped on my Stick and plugged in "Autumn Leaves" in iRealbook:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKqiNPWvlWk[/youtube]


I took the "Juggling" approach and found for the first time that I wasn't boxed in by a single scale shape. While I know that Allan said that be premutates the steps in mathematical combinations the more I played on this the more I could hear lines popping into my head, especially when I landed on a chord tones! The next step would be to memorize this pattern and move it around in all 12 keys which I realize now is very easy if you can see the shapes of all modes in the great Major harmony shape. I also need to figure out how I can groove with my left hand as I ran up and down the board with my right.

Is any of this ringing a bell with anyone else???

Oh Brett, that's the stuff...killin!


How are you keeping both sides going with those licks?

Just practice. I start with playing quarter notes over the baselines scales and arpeggios, and the slowly add more complex harmonies altered scale diminished b9 arpeggios etc. I've been playing that tune for 8 years so the baseline is solid I'm very free to add melodic variety. It take time but independence is my style so I still try to work on this stuff everyday. I have long term tunes which I work on until they are good enough to play out (2 hour on giant steps today) and then when they are ready I put them into my hour 2 rotation to keep improving. So 2 hours every day of very intense practicing and more when I can. I try to have a roadmap for success, what tonalities do I want to incorporate and I transcribe as much as I can to understand more and more with my ears. To get some holds worth type stuff knowing what altered harmonies to play helps and adding glissando and wide leaps.

I would be happy to get a video chat with you if you want free of charge and show you my pathway......which is ever expanding.

Brett

Hey Brett. Do you mean you play the quarter notes in the bass(left hand) while doing the arpeggios, harmonies, and scales in the melody(right hand)? Or do you mean starting with quarter notes in the right over what ever bass line you are playing in the left? Then expanding to arpeggios, scales and such.

Thanks, Mike

The second. If I have a baseline already I just practice everything I can think of over it. Then I expand the bassline and do it all again

Putting those dots on the fingerboard really works well to learn scales. I got the major/minor in every position plus the harmonic, melodic, double harmonic, etc... by doing that. I used three different colored dots on a classical and it worked great.