HW 40th Anniversary Show - Huw

John Majka jmajk at INDY.RR.COM
Fri Apr 17 10:35:50 EDT 2009


Whereas most guitar players exclusively use the pentatonic minor (blues) 
scale when soloing, Huw seems to use all the modes of the major scale, 
especially the mixolydian, which adds a lot more flavor, as there is more of 
an exotic feel as "outer" notes are included that don't strictly belong in 
the key of the song.  It's a much more advanced and jazzy approach to 
things.
John Majka


> On Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 08:15:26PM -0400, John Majka typed out:
>> As a guitar player myself, I've always been hugely impressed with Huw. 
>> He
>> does indeed have a unique signature style quite unlike that of anyone 
>> else
>> I've ever heard.  I am always completely mesmerized listening to his 
>> leads
>> in Hawkwind and on his solo albums.  Others may speak of Simon's skills,
>> but for me, Huw is definitely Hawkwind's most musically gifted member. 
>> I'd
>> love for him to join up with the rest of the hawks for another musical
>> journey....
>
> I once made an ex of mine who didn't care much for the treble
> register listen to one of Huw's breaks, possibly the _Live '79_
> `Brainstorm' or maybe even live with Litmus once, and she actually paid
> some attention and then said, "he's not even in the same key as the rest
> of them". And I listened and thought, he's not, is he? He's cutting
> across them in a minor key in some way that fits perfectly but sounds
> really affecting. And since I noticed that I've found that this is, for
> me, Huw's big trick, he's really good at playing across the band. This
> is why Jerry Richards, despite being very good too, never really
> replaced Huw as lead for me, because he just sounds like Brock on speed
> and without as chunky an amp set-up. Huw sounds like no-one else (much
> like Dave himself), but I'm not sure that it's particularly because of
> his technical skill, which does vary somewhat in performance these days,
> but because of his ear for the best route across the rest of the music.
> And of course, doing that makes him stand out in a way that Jerry
> doesn't.
>
> I don't know if that actually has much musical basis, but maybe
> someone who can speak to such things will tell me if I'm wrong. Yours,
>
> Jon
>
> -- 
> "When fortune wanes, of what assistance are quantities of elephants?"
>     (Juvaini, Afghan Muslim chronicler, c. 1206)
> Jon Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum, jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk 



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