GUITAR ONE Magazine: November 2000

  "It was the aftershock of the '60s: Half the world 
seemed driven to the darkness of Black Sabbath's 
heavy metal and the relentless party-rock of Grand 
Funk Railroad; the other half sought refuge in the 
self-examing acoustic lullabies of Joni Mitchell and the 
world-weary countrified wisdom of James Taylor.  It 
was the relentless rockers versus the 
singer-songwriters, and Cat Stevens (born Steven 
Demetre Georgiou in London on July 21, 1947) 
certainly led the charge on behalf of the sensitive 
acoustic balladeers.

  Tea For The Tillerman was released in February 
1971, and its colorful collection of songs favored 
arrangements that limned Stevens' gravelly baritone 
and percussive strumming technique with surpirsing 
bursts of rock drumming, wisps of weirdly processed 
background vocals, occasional ensemble string 
orchestrations, and an array of tasteful acoustic 
instruments.  "Wild World" was the epitome of the 
album--and arguably Stevens' career--and captured 
the conflicting emotions of a time when countless 
relations were torn asunder as people left familar 
environs to "start something new."

THE STRUM AND VERSE FILLS

  "Wild World remains a wildly popular song because 
of its universal and timelss appeal, and it makes a 
great strummer.  The chords (Am, D, G, C, F, Dm and 
E) are the fundamental "must-know" chords of 
acoustic guitar, and the tempo (74bpm) is slow and 
comfortable for most players.

  To put some extra spin on "Wild World," let's sort out 
its details.  First and foremost, the strum: Arm yourself 
with a light-gauge pick and take a pass at Fig. 1.  
Begin with two eighth notes on the lowest root note 
(the note that shares the chord name), and then strum 
all the appropriate strings with the 
eighths-and-two-16ths pattern.  Since the verse chords 
change once every two beats, this pattern will repeat 
for each chord, and Fig. 1 will cover two chords worth 
of strumming.

  The first break in this pattern occurs on the E chord 
in the fourth measure of the intro.  Here, Cat begins 
with two beats from the pattern of the previous 
measures, but then adds a cool two-beat fill [Fig. 2].  It 
occurs again in the fourth measure of the verse.  
Those 16th notes may look pretty thorny, but they 
folllow the natural direction of the right-hand strumming 
rhythm (you are using a continuous down-up motion, 
aren't you?) and as long as you're holding down an E 
chord with your left hand, you won't go too far wrong.  
Add your fourth finger for the hammer-on into the 
fourth beat, then release it for the reaminder of the 
beat. 

  Another fill occurs just before the chorus.  The 
Verses' strumming pattern is again employed on the E 
chord, but Cat cleverly cuts it short and moves to a G 
chord, adding the descending pattern of Fig. 3.  To 
pick up the energy from the verse, hit this figure with 
continuous downstrokes.  If you begin each stroke 
from the fourth string (D), the desceding notes (F-E-D) 
will dominate the sound.  One could harldy imagine a 
stronger transition from the dark A minor key center of 
the verse to the brighter C major key center of the 
chorus.  

THE CHORUS FILLS

  Two fills stand out in the songs' chorus.  The first is a 
simple, descening C major scale [Fig. 4], which 
answers the songs' title.  This can be picked a number 
of ways: strict down-up picking, contious downstrokes, 
or some form of economy picking employing the least 
motion from string to string.  If single-string picking and 
scale patterns are new to you, take the time to think 
through the use of your right hand and stick with 
whatever picking pattern you choose to employ.  

  The second fill is a bass line following the lyrics "Its' 
hard to get by just upon a smile" [Fig. 5].  Try fingering 
this phrase with the  third finger of your fret hand while 
holding down the remainder of the C chord with your 
first and second fingers.   Again, picking direction is an 
open issue, so experiment and stick with your choice. 

  Cat Stevens formally became a Muslim and adopted 
the name Yusuf Islam on December 23, 1977.  After 
releasing a final album in December 1978 (Back to 
Earth) , Yusuf Islam left the wild world of the music 
industry, entered into an arranged marriage that 
eventually produced five children, auctioned off his 
possessions, and founded a muslim school near 
London.  Remarkably, with th release of The Very Best 
of Cat Stevens and remastered reissues of his Cat 
Stevens albums, Yusuf Islam undertook a promotional 
tour in the spring of 2000.  The wild new millennium will 
certainly welcome him back."