Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Can anybody help me out - I'm a bit stumped on a Yes progression. I'm trying to figure out the beginning acoustic 12 progession for the Preacher the Teacher in And You and I - the part that leads up and into "Sad preacher nailed upon the coloured door of time." I've been combing YouTube and have found a couple shots but I can't figure out exactly what he's doing, He appears to be tuned out a semitone and is he in DADGAD tuning? Some of the forms look like it but I can't get 'em. Can anybody help?

I've found another YouTube clip that clears this up for me mostly - it's based around an E (with an E note on the D string and an E note on the B string) and a countdown on the D, A, and E string but there is still something strange about the tone of the sustained root chord he's playing around with that I can't get - has Howe changed tuning for a string or two (I'm wondering in particular about the G string)? The chord just rings out so beautifully and full with a unique quality.

Bill, one thing I've learned about Steve Howe from MANY years of going through what you're going through is that he has a very thorough knowledge of how the guitar functions. Many of his acoustic pieces are actually quite simple, once you "break his code" so to speak. For instance, I used to tie my fingers in a knot trying to play "Dissolution" from Starship Trooper as it sounds on the Yes Album. Then I learned that he uses open strings to their maximum benefit and things got a bit easier. It's the same with that section of AYAI. I play it by keeping the E, B and G strings open, plaing the melody on the lower strings and using a Chet Atkins style of fingerpicking to lay in the top strings. As far as I know, all of AYAI is in standard tuning. Steve uses Atkins style picking very cleverly in his own style.

The other thing I've noticed about Steve when playing 12 string is that he somehow gets the very high G string to sound quite loudly, as if he is playing all notes on that string an octave higher than he really is. I don't know if it is picking technique or if he strings it backwards and uses a clever upstroke (maybe he's just better than me!) but that used to confuse me a lot on AYAI and "Your Move" (which is in a different tuning altogether).

Can you post the youtube links that you found? Good Luck!

Thanks Jim. Your comment about the louder G string is an interesting one - not sure how that's possible but you may be right, that could account for the great, slightly different sounding tone in this one.

The first here is the one I found later and, as you can see, gives a good view of what he's doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9zzIyr7 ... re=related

The others tend to be more like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkX8IafsnBM

Here's a similar one but with Howe playing a Rick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWa3UDMB ... re=related

That first link is an awesome version with all the players of Yes. Chris' bass sounds so clear, strong, deep, and Rickish! Oh, wait, we're talking about Steve's part....

Thank you for this link!

It's hard to focus on one guy's part with that bunch of players isn't it?