Allan Holdsworth (born August 6, 1946) is a British guitarist.
Holdsworth is felt by many to have been a significant figure in the development and evolution of guitar music and has been described as "the guitarist's guitarist". He uses a technique that borrows note flourishes associated with the saxophone playing style of Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane. Holdsworth has recorded many different styles of music over the years, including a brief flirtation with pop, in the form of a collaboration with British funk band Level 42. He is also recognized for his own compositions, which vary in musical style from progressive fusion jazz (for example, his work with Soft Machine on their album Bundles), to romantic, chordal and "spacey" guitar-synthesiser works (he utilises an instrument called 'the synthaxe' an effective example of which can be heard on the album Atavachron)
