Chordplay - The Chords Of Yes

Here's the next episode of Chordplay with The Chords Of Yes.
After recently creating/posting the Trevor Rabin Three-For-All lesson I fell into a Yes listening binge and I've also received countless requests for a chord-based Yes lesson - so here we go!
This lesson takes a look at a number of unique and inspiring chord-based moments hiding in the music from these pioneering masters of prog-rock. This includes examples from the classic 1970s era, along with several from Trevor Rabin's classic stints with the band during the 1980s/1990s.
Viewers should find plenty of interesting ideas in this lesson and it will surely direct those that are unfamiliar with the group to several of their greatest songs, in addition to hitting some deep cuts and fan favorites for those that are already familiar with this legendary prog-rock group.
There's a lot you can learn from studying progressive rock music and tackling some music from Yes will surely pique your interest and creativity level, along with challenging your technique and overall musical ability, as most of their catalog of music is difficult to play and rewarding to work on.
Give this episode a view, leave some comments and feedback, and please subscribe to Late Night Lessons - THANK YOU!

[@scoobystap3159]

Seeing Yes live in 1983 changed my life as a 21 year old. While working in a record store 90125 came out and it all started there.

[@davep8221]

Kind of an olde zombie thread, but it deserves resurrection. You talk about things that make Yes my favorite prog band. They use the other contrasts that make orchestral music so good. Loud/quiet, fast/slow, hard/soft, complex/simple. No songs sound the same, but everything sounds like Yes. Yes wanted to be thought of as the new Stravinsky. A worthwhile goal. BTW, Dream Theater wanted to be considered the Metal Yes. But just adding metal adds a particular focus. An often overlooked Yes album is "Going For the One." To date myself, I bought it (on physical media) driving home from school one day. After the first song, GFtO, began with that steel guitar, I actually popped the cassette (yeah, olde farte) to make sure I bought the right tape. It was Yes, and being surprised was a Good Thing(tm). I’m sure that’s why they made it the first song. Someone who is rarely mentioned in prog discussions is Mike Oldfield. And when he is, it's only "Tubular Bells." That's only his first album, written when he was 17. He's still going strong. IMO, his best is "Amarok." One 59 minute song that is over way too soon, without a single gratuitous note in it. "Amarok" is a song where you can say, "Crap! Only 18 minutes left." Well worth an initial 59 minutes of your life. And then many enjoyable chunks in your life. It can be a little hard to get into before a few listens. But many Yes songs were like that to me. *Most* recommended. Another beautiful song that has a great prog feel is one I've *never* heard brought up in prog conversations is the song "Terrapin Part 1", the entire 2nd of "Terrapin Station" by The Grateful Dead. It is a pure prog "masterpiece." It's actually called "Terrapin Pt 1" and sadly there is no Part 2. *Very* highly recommended.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

You've even done Yes! Mister David Brewster: you really are a gem. Thanks so much. ^-^

[@warrencantero]

thanks so much... i wore out the grooves on my Yessongs triple gate fold album years ago... then years later the same with 90125 live the solos.. just Brilliant

[@howlingwolf125y]

Yea.. Steve was always one my faves... one of the best.. Dave, you are definitely up there too. Thanks so much taking the time to showing us how to play these.. Especially "Changes"..

[@wtffrankreich6873]

Tkx si much . Steve is so creative , unique !!!! Yessongs was my first album (and the first album I bought ), and still listening to it often . Not so many songbooks or dvd backing tracks ...

[@wulfenii64]

I'm glad you did Wurm. So many bands play that progression wrong.

[@wulfenii64]

Hey listen, if you do a Steve Howe licks video there's a part in the beginning of The Ritual Nous Somme Du Soleil song right after the initial guitar solo that I've tried to figure out for years. It's a very cool bit. Asking for a friend....

[@paulhicks3595]

I first heard Yes at a party in 1971 where Fragile was playing and I was immediately captivated. My son, born over 30 years later in 2002, took up guitar in his teens and, walking past his room I was somewhat astounded to hear him playing the intro to Roundabout which he’d heard online somewhere. This was in 2021, fifty years after I’d first heard it!

[@Ruudis9er]

You cool as hell Dave, my music brother from another mother. How about that verse part of Owner of a lonely Heart or those triads Steve plays on Close to the Edge. Thank you for your cool channel.

[@wolfgangcordsen504]

I remember as a child, 14 years old, going to their concerts in Roma twice. I had my little Philips Cassette Recorder and would listen to the recording that I had made over and over.

[@crisprtalk6963]

When Yes got it right they really got it right!! "And You And I" is in my top 10 all time best tunes.

[@ferrollg]

I say "Yes" to Yes. Thanks David.

[@ProPlayzz]

Seeing your channel grow makes me happy. Very well deserved! Also I appreciate paying respects to Yes and of course Howe!! There is something special with the song You and I. The riff is magically emotional

[@jasonkeith9317]

Yes and Rush were the two bands everybody wanted to be like growing up.

[@mononoaware1960]

Couldn’t be happier I found your channel man! Awesome awesome stuff instant subscription. Love how eclectic your lessons are, and your breakdowns and approaches to teaching/looking at unorthodox and complex things. Simple, to the point, and you know your stuff. Too many lessons on this stuff that just babble on about the theory behind it without giving an applicable lesson to make music with. Thank you.

[@melvinskyramirez3804]

David you’re a beast

[@jasonkeith9317]

Thanks for this lesson Yes is awesome and Steve Howe is an absolute monster guitarist very underrated imo.

[@johncase2408]

The U.S. Navy uses the opening to "Heart of the Sunrise" to jump start their C class nuclear submarines from time to time. Yes 'Fragile' was such an innovative album that broke new grounds. Great stuff! I really enjoy your breaking down technical stuff.

[@mahammack8323]

I learned the guitar by playing Steve Howe's 'Mood for a Day' and 'Meadow Rag'. Yes was a huge influence. Between Howe's guitar and Wakeman's keyboards I was hooked. Not so much after they broke up circa '81 and reformed with the Buggles. Of course, I followed Steve to Asia, and saw Anderson, Wakeman, Brufford and Howe at the Greek Theatre. Wild!! Thank you so much. Looking forward to more!

[@pavXX]

Def brings back memories. Used to listen to those "old" albums on vinyl. Great music. Way ahead of it's time for sure.

[@voronOsphere]

I was excited by the 1st Yes video and with this Yes follow up lesson, my thrill is complete! Thanks, David!

[@jasonkeith9317]

Changes is also one of my favorites 90125 was such a badass album!

[@dbsound882]

Great lesson I started listening to them in 1970-71 with close to the edge relayer and Tales are great long pieces too.Saw them 2 or 3 times too very powerful bass as Squire was the backing force.Steves 175 is cool I have one but only for Jazz since the strings are 12'

[@timjohnson7919]

Great selections & insights. This lesson is exactly why I subscribe :-) Thanks so much David!

[@yes_head]

Even going back to the Peter Banks days, a lot of the instrumental inventions in Yes music were born out of necessity because Jon Anderson was not much of an instrumentalist, but he wrote a big chunk of the songs. So the other band members had to scurry to come up with something interesting to make Jon's very basic song ideas (the E to A change in Starship Trooper, etc.) take on extra dimensions. If only to make it more interesting for themselves!

[@derekl3108]

I know that rush was heavily influenced by yes but I never noticed how similar closer to the heart was to starship trooper. On a side note I also saw yes in the round for the union tour in Oakland, it was a great time! Thanks for doing this video. :-)

[@wolfgangcordsen504]

Thank you so much for showing "those" chords that were indecipherable for me at that time...!

[@absea7918]

Excellent! Yes are other-wordly good. I loved listening to them, but as a guitar player they were so exotic, I didn't even try to learn any of the early (Steve Howe) stuff. But seeing you break down some of those parts begins to clear the fog. Thanks!

[@johnbeckert1269]

Once again you bring it Dave. Yes has been one my favorites since i was just a kid.

[@muciovasconcelos4741]

Siberian Khatru is my Yes favorite song. Everything fits together. And the Steve Howe’s guitar.....uau!

[@dennismcquoid9751]

Thank you! Just a newbie on the guitar but that opened my eyes to something new.

[@coleknight5335]

Saw yes here in PA with Asia, ELP legacy and John Lodge. It was amazing and they did Gates of Delirium!

[@johnmorrell]

On WURM he also periodically slides that 'C' shape with the low E string up an octave - the 3rd chord an octave up. On ST intro he is playing open strings on the A>G But when it goes to F>Bb>Ab its all fretted. Thanks for the great videos.

[@uncleremus5046]

🍺‘Sky Howe such a unique & interesting playing. Great band one of my favorites.

[@kevinmusso2397]

STEVE HOWE...love him. Love THIS

[@giovannicerva5522]

Hey thanks! That was great. I’ve followed yes since the end of the seventies. I think my first live yes show was the close to edge tour at New York’s Madison square garden. They definitely set the bar high for live shows, that’s for sure. Steve Howe will always be one of my all time favorite guitar players. Anyway, great presentation and demeanor. It was very enjoyable. Subscribing to your channel as we speak. Thanks again!

[@spareplanet]

Who else is about to go on a binge of listening to Yes?

[@btu45nh]

Great vid and playing Dave. Steve Howe is a true guitar genius!🎸

[@coleknight5335]

Saw yes here in PA with Asia, ELP legacy and John Lodge. It was amazing !

[@BillLarkinmusic]

Starship Trooper. :) 'An E cowboy chord?" Loooool rothf. Cool lesson you made my day thanks.

[@patrickkish6662]

Man, David. This YES lesson was a real ringer👍✊

[@georgecaraballo]

DRAMA is MY favorite YES album ....... it's amazing

[@lancesheffield1212]

Really enjoyed the video...Yes is an all time favorite. I have seen them live 4 times and have always wanted to learn the parts (and more ) that you just performed. Thank you!

[@tminus5]

I feel like i knew you in high school. Something very familiar about you. Way beyond my skills, just got the F bar chord down, lol. You are the Bob Ross of guitar only handsome. Making it look very easy.

[@evertonmedrado7508]

Your videos are always surprising ones. Thank you for all the knowledge. PS: I'm waiting for a Chordplay for XYZ (Marc Diglio)

[@slapwagon]

Marc Diglio yesss!

[@roderickhager8154]

Thanks Brewski bro!..🤘💪🎸👂🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@patrickkeenan6331]

THANK YOU! I have been trying to figure out that arpeggiated sequence in Life Seeker for months! You broke it down perfectly!

[@eleintblood]

You are a gentleman and a scholar

[@MisterPoppy-sc1sj]

Very cool video, I love Yes Thank you !

[@MattCrill]

Sounds so good. Thanks for sharing!

[@johncase2408]

YES is my all time favorite band.

[@Jasonfurrofficial]

I love Trevor Rabin! 90215 is in my top 5 of top albums in the '80's

[@pumpkinsfan25]

I’m pretty new to your channel but I absolutely love it!! I binge watched all your videos one day lol. The harmonic minor video help me a ton. Not sure if you’re a smashing pumpkins fan but I’ll love to see a video on some of there riffs. Keep it up man. Good shit!

[@PaulDuggan]

Awesome. Thank you.

[@eelliott74]

Also a big Yes fan. I use a lot of open chords up and down the neck in my own songs. Didn’t realize that it was a Yes influence coming through.

[@ZalMoxis]

I love Starship Trooper, and And you and I, The Rhythm of Love, Love , etc..... major Yes fan here..... they were a cut above everything else IMO... Hey man, I've been following your posts for a while now....really love what you're doing .... but can you please tell me how you get your usual smooth lead tone (like in the Uli, Vinne Moore and Dan Huff demos as examples) at low volume like that.... what pickups are in your trusty strat and what emulation are you using.... sounds great btw....

[@johncecilia4517]

Great lesson!

[@syncopatedbox]

Badass cobra Kai shirt, can't wait for the S3

[@mountain_girl]

I just caught...or more accurately I just missed most of Starship Trooper on the 35 year anniversary concert (was on TV, like axs channel or something). So I just put "Chordplay of Yes" in to a youtube search hoping for the best, and, sure enough... David has covered that.

[@wittwfiii]

Awesome!!!!

[@wadecooler7496]

Yes!

[@Nobody92421]

I saw yes live on the Union Tour. I felt bad for Trevor.... Steve is not even human. He's a monster... My favorite guitar player. His hands must be HUGE! I subscribed BTW. I figured out some of Steve's stuff, but not at your level. I'm a fan...

[@darylm.stephens9603]

Always good vids thank you.

[@arnoudvaes2658]

Great lesson. Mood for a Day was one of the first pieces I played.

[@Justin_Kipper]

Another great video! New to the channel (the BOC video brought me here), and I find it fascinating that you really know the music and the interesting, sometimes obscure songs of these bands. The only thing I could possibly ask is for you to add some tab here and there to help those of us (like me) that suck at learning these things.

[@kevmet84]

Even though I never studied/learned Howe's guitar works from Yes beyond perhaps the 'Roundabout' intro (who didn't back in the day, right?), I was always a fan of Yes from early on and so between Howe's direct inspiration for me to learn guitar to surely some subconscious influences in my development of my own style, Yes is one I have to include on my influence list. I definitely have come to spend more time with studying Howe's work as I've progressed over the years little by little. Just to learn fingerings I'd not otherwise come by own my own and place me out of the comfort zone.

[@manitheman0806]

i love Yes and Steve Howe....great Lesson....

[@jusevibes3969]

Unique and authentic music👍🏽🤟🏽

[@215Gallagher]

Tried Starship Trooper and ended up playing the theme to Top Gear! Oh well Jessica ain't a bad tune.

[@jasonkeith9317]

Fragile was a great album no question.

[@svogender]

I just love Yes...!!

[@josephguitarist925]

i love your chanel, i m A pro prog rock musician guitarist from greece

[@Jasonfurrofficial]

I would like to do a chord play of Greg Howe. Greg is a fantastic fusion player that has played for Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake and Enrique Iglesias. As a solo player he was included in Shrapnel Records stable.

[@davedecker1725]

Greg Howe is a BADASS!!

[@timbacon1074]

So well done! You could do a whole lesson just on Steve Howe's work with Asia. Or just his acoustic stuff. Looking forward to you continuing this series.

[@MyGuitartime]

Great look at these chords and progressions! I really like the way the chords in a lot of these "flow" together even though they are arppegiated. Very cool video once again! (i'm not a Yes fan) lol I can dig it ;)

[@snacklofter]

Excellent! Thanks.

[@stringbender11672]

Excellence!!!

[@outtathyme5679]

Yes was awesome

[@clusterstudios]

He was using a couple of Fender Dual Showman amps. Cranked

[@HeadbangersLocal]

Great lesson. How about some AC/DC? Don’t think I’ve seen one of those from ya. 👍🏻🤘🏻

[@johnnyd63]

Great content! I really think Yes lost their way not after Howe replaced Peter Banks,but when Wakeman replaced Tony Kaye. Steve Howe and Kaye were amazing together on The Yes Album.

[@marcjordan29]

Straight up awesomeness! But hey... You didn't mention the album drama.... 😛

[@anthonyfisher5076]

steve howe was/is fusion to me.

[@Reddro.]

Will you consider doing 'The chords of Judas Priest'?

[@seanhayes2998]

NB. For those unable to read the screenshot :) the article on Steve Howe's fretboard geometry in GP can be found here : www.guitarplayer.com/technique/steve-howe-fretboard-geometry.

[@Shredsofeden]

Hi David I love the sound of your Strat bridge pickup.Is a JB and is it a 500k or a 250k Volume pot and a 500k or 250k tone pot on the bridge?

[@larryhoomes9034]

That guy from Mahogany Rush would be interesting to hear your thoughts on.

[@jimmyhalvardsson1489]

Nice. Now do the chords of Genesis! That would be appreciated. : )

[@em-dashman4404]

Just noticed how bent your guitar neck looks on the video, and now I can’t unsee it 😂😂😂

[@johncecilia4517]

Love the Yes songs from 80's! What pick ups are you using? Sounds great!

[@mikeburstein1146]

Starship Trooper

[@thecandlebombs]

David! is there anything u can't play? Fantastic! mate

[@samkupper]

I’ll still request Harry K. Cody (Shotgun Messiah)

[@angelobranford1029]

How about doing the chords of Robert Fripp/King Crimson?

[@ricardocastillo5485]

Do "Cinema"!

[@davidandrews3237]

Professor Brewster.... I wasn't able to find the TAB sheets in the Patreon page.. Cuing in "Yes" generates nothing and "Jan 2020" everything that month but Chords of Yes... Any search hints?Need to do a tutorial on search skills? :-) Hey... There's plenty of other great TABs to peruse regardless and thank you so much for your devotion to the art... D-Tuned Dave A.

[@perseapina]

How about The chords of King Crimson?

[@huxleymiller8438]

Can you do a chord play of the cure and new wave like tears 4 fears, flock seagulls?

[@huxleymiller8438]

why does this around 9:00 remind me of Cure?

[@hangemhigh63]

Go back to that seesaw two.......lol