Join Guitar World for an exclusive interview and lesson with legendary guitarist Steve Howe from Yes. For more of this interview and lesson, check out guitarworld.com
I saw him about 8 years ago sipping a tea at Heathrow all by himself. No one recognized him. Went up and introduced myself and told him I was a huge fan. He smiled, asked me to have a seat and bought me a coffee. Sweetheart of a guy...didn’t want to talk about himself, but kept asking me about my guitar playing, my family etc. Great memory I’ll have until I die.
So many people trash Steve as being some sort of grump but I met him back in the 70's and the man spent almost AN HOUR speaking with me and my guitar instructor and he's TOTALLY COOL, I absolutely love the guy - greatest prog rock guitarist EVER, yeah he gets mad once in awhile... welcome to life cupcakes! If people have an issue with him, more often than not it turns out they were likely assholes or fools - that is one thing, Steve does not suffer fools gladly, nor should he have to!
I agree. It is amazing how people think of him as a grouch. Whenever I've seen him in ANY interview setting, he seems like the nicest guy. Like a "going out of his way to be accommodating and cool to people" kind of nice. I guess everybody who's famous has to suffer the public making up stories about them or exaggerating a time when they did get onto a minor scrape, like we all do at one time or another. He's entitled to have bad days and not be happy about it, just like the rest of us.
Yeah he seems lovely, I think mainly its when Chris Squire fools about round him on stage and Steve doesn't even smile or acknowledge, even when Chris is putting his face in his lol, but I love it, Steve's that much in his zone, nothing around him fazes him
Part of people's mistaken notion that SH is a grump comes from his clowning around onstage during his solo bit. I've seen Yes about 20 times, and I've been up close most of the times. Steve loves to tease the front rows and gets them yelling, then he says, "don't yell at me", pretending to be all serious even though it's his game. Then he eggs them on even more so they will keep yelling at him. It's a running gag from many years back. Gotta love it. People who aren't paying close attention only see the part when he seriously scolds those front rows who are playing along with him.
For a great example, you can see him clowning around with the crowd during this solo. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lSA6_a0dauI.html When Jon Davison is getting ready to sing "Leaves of Green", Steve acts like he is shocked by the screams from the crowd, and he does the first two notes of the intro, stops, and restarts three times while Jon is standing there just smiling at the whole thing. What a character that Steve is!
It's so cool to see how enthusiastic he is about his instrument. Look how animated he gets when he gets to talk about it, even after so many years! We should all be so lucky.
Luc Bergeron Oh, I heard about that one two, although I never saw anyone playing. Wich is the exact difference between it and the Warr guitar? And I think of maybe buying one of those to try and learn to play it or just "playing with it" instead if I don't manage to learn how to play it correctly. haha
SuperTortilhaDeMorango Well, I don't know much about Warr guitars, but I can tell you that the Chapman Stick is the original fretboard tapping instrument. I've seen Warrs in action with Trey Gunn, and he is a great musician and brings a lot of music out of them. Sticks are less complicated, not as heavy, the fretboard is not as wide, and they can be easily adjusted by the user to accommodate different tunings and string gauges. From what I know from Stick players who have also owned Warr guitars, the customer service from Stick Enterprises is a thousand times better. I have had spectacular service from them myself. You should check out www.stick.com.
Two of my favorite guitar players, Steve Hackett and Steve Howe. I'm so glad for them and sad that they're hardly ever mentioned on the top of most mainstream lists. What makes it even sadder is the inability for others to discover them.
Now that you mentioned it, there needs to be a band with Steve Howe, Steve Hackett and Steven Stills (or Steve Morse). They can call themselves the Three Steves.
At 3:08 "Thinking about something, sometimes can bring you into the wrong kind of headspace." That's a lesson not just in guitar, but in life coming straight from the progressive guitar master himself.
Playing songs on this level has to be muscle memory. Thinking about it puts 1 too many things to think about in your head. Guys like him usually make more mistakes on simply songs because they are boring and the mind drfts. I bet you understand what I'm talking about.
I was so lucky to have discovered Steve Howe's playing back in 1973 when I was just 14 years old. It's so sad to hear what youngsters are growing up listening to these days.
I totally agree with Steve's idea about 'not thinking' about how you're playing something. If I get in that mindset, especially when I'm trying to play something complex, over-analysing what I'm doing makes me go wrong.
Steve Howe has always been my favorite guitarist. Yes - I have a fan since 1971 when I was a sophomore in High School. Nothing ever like them no matter how many bands try to mimic their sound.
A mad scientist, a technician and a soulful from-the-gut-and-the-heart player all at the same time. He's been in my head a lot lately, especially the Close to the Edge album.
When I hear the name Steve Howe, I think of magic, brilliance, monumental playing and truly inspiring songs. Here's a guy that could burn up the fretboard one second and play the most beautifully haunting melody the next. "We're not worthy!"
Steve, so sorry to hear about Chris! No One will ever do what YES has done for the music world. When I was 16 I heard Mood, then Clap, learned to play from a gifted teacher thank you so much for this video. I am 54 now and the gift still gives. ThanKs!
I was realy blessed when I had a chance to see Steve playing live, there is no words to explain the fellings. Wish so hard meet him in person once just to thanks all the wonderfull art he did to the universe. Thanks a lot Steve!!👏👏👏👏👏
Genius on many instruments, the heart that became YES. Without Steve Howe in Yes, we wouldn't have great albums like Fragile, Close to the Edge and Going for the One.
+Jim Luschen He sure is, but what a ugly one. Hell, when i had al the money he has and looked like him, i would have spend some money on plastic surgery and some hair implants and a tooth job. Not that i'm the prettiest guy in the world, but i'm nowhere near as ugly as he is.
I'm so way late on this thread but I grew up with Steve Howe, Chris Squire and the music of Yes. Such an incredible band and as we're allowed to catch glimpses along the way; we see what a beautiful human being Steve is. I've never read a comment that wasn't Steve wanting to share with others. It was never about him. I've heard very few guitarists who played with such variation. One of the first difficult songs I learned when I first started playing was Mood for a Day. Taught to me by a Filipino friend of mine. Even then, All nationalities were in on this guy's Virtuosity. His time on this planet was not wasted and we're so lucky to still have Him with us.
Ive always liked Steve Howes ideas and style since i was a teenager 50 years ago. And as a guitarist myself, I respect his talent and skills, and his most melodic contribution to music and performance. Steve is amongst the elite. The finest of musicians in the world yesterday and today.
Wow! This is great! I remember sitting in my bedroom with my cheepo acoustic in the 70's listening to those Yes records over and over trying to work out those guitar parts! I'm amazed how close I got! The hardest one was "Mood For A Day", man that took me a whole week solid graft just to get the bare bones of that tune down! And a whole lifetime to perfect it! The young guitar players staring out today don't know how lucky they are to have all the resources at their fingertips on the internet. I'd have killed for just a day of that type of insight back then. It would have saved to much time.
LOVE how he put the 5th on the bottom and top of the C shaped chord, taking it from Em/G, Em Maj7(no 5)/D#, C to straight up G, D#, C. Brilliant. Such subtlety. Genius! What a sweet chord progression.
what he is doing with his right hand is just as complex as what he is doing with his left. If you cant mimic the right hand with a pick and also finger picking at the same time, you cannot copy him. and he makes it look so frigging effortless. GENIUS!!!!
The relentless curiosity and creativity, the childlike joy of fooling around with the instrument. I imagine all the greats have that. Wonderful to see.
I'm so happy I found this video! A few years back I fell in love with the Würm chord progression before I even heard Starship Trooper or even the band itself for that matter. Glad to hear he tries not to think too hard about his guitar work though lol
Steve takes me to another universe, one filled with intense sublime emotion, and is a reminder of what is good and wholesome for the mind, body and soul. Yes, I Love ‘Steve’ soul spirit entity!
Brilliant musician and guitarist, my favorite since first hearing Yes in the early '70s. Imaginative, compelling, beautiful phrasing and absolutely on the edge. God bless you and thank you! I'm 62 and still very much a fan.
This is the rare "rock" guitarist who has authentic jazz chops--post Bird melodic lines and a real sense of "swing" (sadly, the word itself has all but disappeared from the lexicon of listeners). His 2008 album (titled after the Roland Kirk tune in the program) is a winner. I rarely find guys--incl lots of jazz guitarists, who give Kenny Burrell credit for anything. It's always Wes, Wes and Wes (occasionally Joe Pass or Metheny). I heard Kenny before any of these other guys and found I could listen to him for long, repeated stretches withour fatigue. Beautiful lines, right in the pocket of the pulse created by Art Blakey and the great Doug Watkins. Next, Kenny made an album with Coltrane (on Prestige, not Blue Note). Next, he became Jimmy Smith's favorite guitarist. In recent years Kenny has been head of Duke Ellington Studies at UCLA (Duke hated guitarists--never used them). But Howe definitely gives a tip of his hat to Burrell on the above record and references his melodic style and understated but lovely tone. And no prcoessing or pedals (thinking of Frisell). It's a great organ trio album by Steve Howe.
I saw Steve at a spot in Orangevale, CA, probably 25 years ago. What a great, personable, everyday guy. It was as great to hear him converse with the small group of people as it is to hear him play, as if possible
It's amazing how articulate many of the rock musicians are from the 60s and 70s: Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Paul McCartney, Robert Fripp, Peter Gabrielle, Pete Townsend, Roger Waters, David Gilmore, Jon Anderson. etc. Listen to any one of them - not just how they play their instruments - but how they speak of music. Real musicianship. Too bad music has devolved into something more self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing, cookie-cutter-driven songs about humping and visual image.
I am so grateful Steve Howe has made himself so accessible and shared so much over the years. Watching him demonstrate and explain his masterful guitar work from Yes music I grew up with is nothing short of incredible.
I have seen that one, isnt that where they played Soundchaser? One of my favs. He seems to be so focused and I think he closed his eyes. Loved Yes with Moraz
He is a genius. Nobody can play "the clap". The lyrics of "starship trooper" is very revealing, but I don't think he wrote those lyrics. Great songs recorded in 1971. I was 13 to 14. I enjoyed those songs, but did not understand their meaning. I wish I could have kept my innocence.
I used to sit in my back room put on YES lps and practise my butt off to learn Steve Howe guitar parts all day it was better than learning scales more musical thanks for the Best Guitar solos Steve
