In the 1970s, Steve Howe became a hugely influential figure as the guitarist for progressive rock giants Yes.
His jazz sensibility and musical curiosity shaped a sound that continues to evolve.
Now on his third stint with the band, Steve also records as a solo artist.
His latest conceptual album, Guitarscape, comprises a diverse array of chordal-driven guitar instrumentals, recorded with his son, Dylan, on drums.
Here, he talks about all things guitars - from his very first instrument to his latest acquisition…
What guitar did you learn on?
“I think it cost £14, bought it in King’s Cross, London. It was just a brownish archtop kind of guitar, two f-holes and a bridge. Nothing fancy. It wasn’t a Framus but it was like that kind of guitar, and that was the first instrument that I owned. I was very grateful my Dad bought it for me. That was in 1959, and I really started in 1960.”
How much did you practise in the early days, and how much do you practice now?
“The answer is simple. I don’t practice, because I don’t think that practicing in itself is necessary unless I haven’t played for a long time and I want to do some warming up, then yeah, I might do some scales, and I have got an interesting kind of run-up thing that starts quite steady and then gets faster where you go through every note on the guitar.
“I love doing those but I don’t do them very often and usually because I am in touch with my guitar. My hands have been playing for sixty years, so basically they do know where the frets are. Sometimes I like to play something I wrote to make sure I can still play it. I hadn’t played Clap [his instrumental track from 1971’s The Yes Album] for about two months and I sat down and picked up a Martin and I played the whole thing. That is my confirmation, periodically, if I need it, because I don’t play it quite a lot.”
Who was your biggest influence as a young player?
“When I heard Chet Atkins, everything changed. I became more personalised in my ambitions, not just to become a guitarist but a particular kind of guitarist, free to do lots of things.
“Chet could manage nice things on just about anything, and also he had this marvellous backstory of being associated with other great people. It took me a bit of time to realise that I had read about him on the Everly Brothers records, in the liner notes [Atkins produced the Everly Brothers]. There was more to the man than you see. But playing was the central thing. He was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
“Initially, I didn’t realise how much two guitarists influenced me before I had even picked up the guitar, because I loved the sound they got. That was a guy called Jimmy Bryant, who played on the records my parents had, sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford, and of course Les Paul!
“My parents had Les Paul records with Mary Ford, so I played those and I thought, ‘That’s pretty wonderful!’ They may have encouraged me towards the guitar. There was this interest in music in the house generally and I got into pop when it came out, Hank Marvin… guitar instrumentals.”
What are your guitar non-negotiables?
“What is very crucial now is that I’m playing guitars that I’m very familiar with. I won’t accept being unfamiliar with a guitar, and how it feels has become much more important. It has to feel absolutely right. I perform on performance-level guitars because I need that so much, and I won’t have a hindrance from the guitar. The guitars have to be very well maintained and well-strung, and Simon Thorn is doing that for me now. Simon’s doing great. The setup of the guitar is important.”
In terms of technique, what was the last new trick you learned?
“Most of what I think up has something new about it to me, although it maybe in the chords or something that I hear. I don’t know that I think about new tricks. There is a lot that you can do on a guitar that sounds really wonderful but is actually quite easy, so in a way the guitar is a very tempting instrument to explore.”
In your early days, what guitar was the game changer for you?
“My heart was set on a [Gibson ES-] 175, and in ’64 for Dad help me buy that, and that is the most important guitar in the world to me, and that’s why it is heavily protected! I bought that only four years after starting the guitar, so it was very ambitious of me. But in that time I’d had two other electric guitars; a Guyatone LG-40, sometimes called an Antoria LG-40, and also a Burns jazz guitar which had two pickups.”
What new instruments have you acquired recently?
“I got a new pedal steel by Williams and that is brilliant. That’s quite inspiring, too. Last year I bought a Gibson Tennessean which is once again a big wave to Chet Atkins because he designed this guitar, and he always sounded wonderful playing them. I mean, I had to get one, inevitably, and I find it wonderful, too. It is the featured guitar on a new track, Secret Mission.”
As a player, do you have any bad habits that you worry about?
“Well, the lightness of touch that Chet plays electric with - I’m getting there a little bit on the Tennessean, but I could play lighter. I would almost confess that when I hear the original Mood For A Day [his instrumental from another Yes album from 1971, Fragile], I think I am thrashing that guitar to pieces, and I don’t play like that at all anymore, so some of the things I’ve done I don’t do the same, because I get more from playing it beautifully and respectfully. And that goes for all that area of performing it, making it right for the moment.”
Which is the song or performance that is you’re most proud of?
“I would probably say Clap to be honest. Because that is only me, and if I get it right then I am pretty happy. That’s good to have that pressure. I take it for granted that I can perform anything that I have recorded but some things are easier than others.”
What do you play when you are relaxing and just playing for the fun of it?
“Basically, I don’t like to feel like there is any reason why I should play anything in particular. I do like to pull out a solo piece and play that, if it is the appropriate guitar to do that on. There might be something musically that I am thinking about, something I played last week. I’ve got my little voice recorder and I might check back.
"But I don’t need inspiration from outside. I just sit and play, but what I play… it might be improvised. I might just improvise. That’s what I replaced practising with. Just improvise. It doesn’t matter if you are playing chords or a single line, and you can hear the sort of music that you would hear background, imagining it was there, and jam if you like on a 12 bar. I think that’s the freedom I like – just to have fun.”
Is there a piece of music that you wish you could play but can’t?
“Loads of things! Thousands of things! I admire other people’s music. When I hear Tal Farlow playing Chuckles, this is just sheer heavenly delightful jazz guitar – why would I even think I could do that? But there again, I have been influenced by jazz and it has a way of showing me that doesn’t require me going to the extent of specialising in it.”
And after all these years, is it still a challenge to play live?
“A performer can really beat themselves up. If they did something wrong, that’s rather apparent, that is dreadful. You can spend days trying to forget it, because just that one moment. That happens often. It’s not never. That happens periodically with something you do, you come off and feel hurt. But yeah, you have to remember – and one does – that this is live performance and you don’t know what’s going to happen when the show starts. All sorts of things can distract you. What we want to do is the most electrifying shows that we can, but then again we are not robots. We won’t be the same as the other show. I think that’s why most people come to shows - it’s to see what happens!”
