Is it easier to stay in one position or move to another.

[ragman1]

Of course, there is another reason one 's reluctant to move beyond, say, the 5th or 7th fret. Because all the notes up there are a mystery :-)

[GuyBoden]

Of course, there is another reason one 's reluctant to move beyond, say, the 5th or 7th fret. Because all the notes up there are a mystery :-)

And, very dusty. :-)

[Christian Miller]

I believe we've been here before but I'm not sure what you say here is correct - that Allan was a failed picker, forced to cultivate his legato of necessity. Maybe he just preferred the sound of legato?

Sure, I don't know, I've heard stories.

It doesn't actually matter either way - he chose to specialise. Sometimes these decisions are not made for conscious reasons.

[GuyBoden]

It doesn't actually matter either way - he chose to specialise. Sometimes these decisions are not made for conscious reasons.

What is very difficult is the way Allan Holdsworth accents a note using his fretting hand:

1990 Guitar Player magazine interview

"You can say, ‘I’m going to play four notes and accent the second note, but I’m only picking the first note.’ So you make the first a really gentle touch, and then you have to whack the string with your finger on the second. For the third you can be a little slower when it hits the fret, and so on, so that eventually you can put the accent where you want it.”"

Personally, I don't think he accents enough notes.

[fep]

I never really thought about it, it just happened over time that I play up and down the neck for the most part.

[bako]

An aside: I played at a club one night in a band alternating sets and bassist Ratso Harris played in the other band.
He was playing a 6 string upright and in discussing it with me made the joking comment “I guess my mother was correct when she called me shiftless”. For the record, even with all those strings he still played all over the instrument.

Any 5 fret position has 2 1/3 octaves of the chromatic scale plus one unison. The 7th string adds 5 more notes so 2 3/4 octaves of range. It is great to be able to play everything in every position. Being able to do so involves both efficient and awkward fingerings. The technical skill to navigate awkward fingerings smoothly is admirable. A guitarist with these skill sets is also aware of where to play the same content in a more cooperative location. If you prefer to stay in a position, that’s cool in my opinion as long as you are able to achieve your intended musical result.