Tom Yoder

TCG: Hi Tom. How would
you describe your own
playing and are there
other guitarists you could
mention that inspired your
Playing?
TY: I would describe my
playing ing the context of
Eat This It!s Safe and The
Moment the Apple Falls as
American fingerstyle
guitar. Through the
framework of those
recordings, that!s the
image I!ve created.
However, as a guitarist I
am more than that. I have
played and love to play
loud, fast electric guitar. I
try, well actually I can!t
help but bring some of that
abandon into the acoustic
guitar realm. I think my
playing is far more
influenced by electric
guitarists than acoustic.
As far as other influential
and/or inspiring guitarists
are concerned, everyone
has been and is. Well,
anyone that!s any good.
Eddie Van Halen, I owe
my living to him...and Mick
Ralphs. Those guys own
my two favorite guitar
tones of all time.
Obviously I!m talking
electric here. Also, Greg
Howe, Tony MacAlpine,
Jeff Beck and Robin
Trower would be my other
biggest inspirations. Oh,
and Les Paul too. Leo
Kottke and Michael
Hedges would be my two
and really only acoustic
influences.
TCG: You started off
playing electric guitar, so
how did you make the
transition to acoustic
guitar?
TY: Well, I!ve always
played acoustic guitar. It!s
always been around for
me. So I didn!t have to
work on acquiring a feel
for it at some point in my
A guitarist who spent time listening to Fair Warning by Van Halen as well
as Six and Twelve String Guitar by Leo Kottke and Aerial Boundaries by
Michael Hedges, North Carolina-based Tom Yoder is on a mission to
bring his remarkable acoustic guitar sound further into the public ear.
He!s equally schooled on electric guitar yet, more recently Yoder!s
impeccable fretboard skills on acoustic guitar has taken center stage,
earning him a 2003 Independent Music Awards, for the title track of his
second solo CD The Moment the Apple Falls, in the New Age category.
In an interview with 20th Century Guitar editor Robert Silverstein, Tom
had quite a lot to say about his noteworthy approach to guitar
performance.
As Is...
An interview with Acoustic Guitarist
Tom Yoder
By Robert Silverstein
development. I!ve always
gone back and forth
between the two. I have
always played fingerstyle as
well. I decided to seriously
pursue the acoustic route
several years ago when yet
another band I was in didn!t
work out.
TCG: Could you compare
the sound and making of
your two CDs?
TY: Both my CDs were
recorded in Raleigh, North
Carolina at Mike Gardner
Studios and mastered at
The Kitchen Mastering by
Brent Lambert in Chapel Hill,
North Carolina. I say that
because the expertise of
those two guys is
spectacular! I!m nowhere
without them. Mike is just
the greatest. Mike comes
from the George Martin
school of thought: Use a
good mic and a good
musician. That!s what he
told me. It!s one of the
greatest compliments I!ve
ever been given. Overall, I
prefer the sound of the
second CD.
TCG: Twenty two years ago,
you attended the Guitar
Institute of Technology in LA.
How did your experiences at
GIT affect your playing and
compositional style?
TY: You!re making me feel
old! I don!t know that my
GIT experience helped me
that much with composition,
at least at that point in time.
I!m sure everything I learned
there has had a tremendous
residual effect on my
compositional style through
the years. It was absolutely
the best time of my life to
this point. The biggest and
greatest thing I learned there
was how to learn. That may
sound funny or weird, but it!s
true. I got an understanding
of the learning process that
has been invaluable to me.
Also being around such high
caliber players at every moment
was, and still is, completely
inspiring. I mean, I went to school
with Frank Gambale! Need I say
more?
TCG: You play mostly Taylor
guitars. What attracted you to
Taylor guitars?
TY: Taylor!s play great and sound
great too. They are very consistent
from one instrument to the next.
The problem with them is they
won!t put big frets (Dunlop 6100) in
their guitars. They don!t even give
you the option! They should. I think
it!s just insane that they don!t. I
tried to convince them to do it for
me but it was like talking to a brick
wall. Now, I know that big frets
aren!t for everyone. But they should
be available. Not everyone can
deal with them, but I can and so
can lots of other people. So every
Taylor I!ve bought I!ve had to throw
another $250-$300 into it for the
frets. That!s a drag. Make no
mistake about it, I must have and
will have big 6100!s. They say it!s
because of intonation problems,
but you know what? That!s a word
I!m not going to use here. I!ve
never had a problem with
intonation because of big frets. But
I do like Taylor guitars. Even after
that rant I think the new Expression
System is excellent. I don!t like the
Fishman stuff they used to have. I
disconnected mine and put in a
McIntyre Acoustic Feather.
.
TCG: Are there other guitars you enjoy
playing?
TY: I am open to playing most any guitar if
the people that make it will listen to what I
want or more correctly, need. I guess I!m
addicted to big frets, cutaways and low
action. Of course I love my electrics, a
Jackson Dinky Reverse, Charvel San Dimas
III, a couple of Fender HM Strats and an
Ibanez Saber. Well I guess it!s not called a
Saber anymore, the S series...whatever.
TCG: You teach guitar down in the Myrtle
Beach, South Carolina area.
TY: I!ve been teaching for a while now. I
teach privately and at Coastal Carolina
University. I love teaching, but would like to
teach less and play more. I will, it just takes
time. It!s fun to teach people who are into
learning.
But the thing I always remember is, “You can
lead a horse to water, but you can!t make
him drink”. It!s a beautiful thing. It helps me
too. Teaching is the last step in the learning
process. You must know what you!re talking
about from all the angles.
TCG: Could you mention how different
tunings affect the sounds of your songs?
TY: Wow, how long do you have? Different
tunings sound better on different guitars. I
felt going in to record that I knew which
tunings would sound best on particular
guitars. And for the most part I think I was
right. I used three different Taylor guitars, two
814-C!s and a 710. My touch is light but firm.
That!s why I can use the big frets. I think the
guitars sound good, nice and big. My 814C!s seem to love DADGAD. I don!t know
why. It seems to come across in the
recording, at least to me it does.
TCG: How did you develop your unique
finger-style guitar technique?
TY: It is very kind of you to say I have a
unique fingerstyle technique. Thank you. I!ve
worked very hard on it. I studied classical
guitar with a great friend Tom Foster. I didn!t
want to play exclusively classical though. I
wanted to use the technique as a
springboard to end up somewhere between
Manuel Barrueco and Leo Kottke. Also, I!ve
got great nails. I just file them as needed
every day and go from there.
TCG: How would you compare your work on
the nylon string with that of the steel string
guitar?
TY: First of all, I love the sound of both. And
in the hands of a master the music is
transcendental. It!s much harder to make a
great sound on nylon string guitar without a
doubt. So if you can get it to the point of
making a great sound consistently, and that!s
the key, achieving that level of consistency
on nylon string, you!ll adjust well to the steel
string. Remember, a good sound is in your
fingers.
TCG: In your opinion, what is it about the
guitar that makes it so suitable for so much
musical exploration?
TY: Portability. You can take it anywhere.
And through the years people have. Also
standard tuning on the guitar is an ingenious
evolution. You know, Beethoven called the
guitar a miniature orchestra after hearing his
friend Mauro Giuliani play. He was right. Next
to the piano, can you think of an instrument
that you can do or imply as much with? I
can!t. Also, one can retune the guitar quickly
and with relative ease to create different
sonorities. So just by a particular tuning you
can imply a genre or a culture.
20th Century Guitar
March 2004 Volume 15 Number 3