“AMERICA” (PT. 2 OF 2)
Yes
PICKING UP WHERE we left off in part 1 of this massive transcription, at 6:11 on the recording, we continue with guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Bill Bruford getting into a funky, intimate “power trio” jam in the key of A. Again, notice Howe’s deft use of crosspicking (one note per string) in many of his licks here, which demonstrate the guitarist’s richly diverse range of musical and guitar playing influences. Notice how he combines Chuck Berry-style rock and roll double-stop licks (à la “Johnny B. Goode”) with lines that bring to mind the traditional bluegrass, country and rockabilly stylings of such legendary players as Lester Flatt, Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, James Burton and Scotty Moore. Howe brilliantly combines these elements with his classical and jazz influences (such as Andrés Segovia, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and T. Bone Walker), via his signature quick position shifts, wide-stretch fingerings and artistic use of various chord inversions up and down the fretboard, all of which give his playing its celebrated dynamic flair and unique touch.
Sections V and W recall Steve’s highly musical application of such techniques as hybrid picking (pick and fingers) and banjo-style crosspicking that he had used previously on “Starship Trooper” and his solo guitar masterpiece “Clap” (both on The Yes Album).
This epic arrangement and performance concludes with the exciting double-time jam that begins at section X, which features Squire tightly locking-in with Bruford’s fierce 16thnote drum groove and laying down a relentlessly pummeling stream of alternate-picked 16th notes on his growling, bright-toned Rickenbacker bass. Notice how Squire crafts what may be thought of as a walking bass line (moving quarter notes) with “quadruple picking” (each different note rapidly picked four times).
Throughout this transcription, and as we had done in part 1, we’ve added extra, nonguitar chord names in parentheses, in order to help convey the big-picture harmony, taking into account the accompanying chords played by keyboardist Rick Wakeman, as well as Squire’s creative use of inversions in his bass lines (such as playing the 5th of the chord instead of the root).