A sample of Michael Hedges’ music

Wha’s up? This is Bruno…er pimpl0r, guest posting on this crazy site. My boy, G-money (Dr. Novachord) asked me if I was interested in contributing as a guest poster on one of the off-days. Since my main creative interest is playing guitar, I’m going to share one of my biggest inspirations and influences in my acoustic playing.

The name is Michael Hedges, and his music defies many categorizations. You can often find his catalog in the pop/rock or new age section of your local record store, but his music goes to the extremes of every genre and sometimes beyond them. There’s simple finger-picking 70′s era tunes, funky-strummed uptempo songs, harp-like flowing compositions of overlapping melodies, and rhythmic performances using the guitar as a much more than just a soundhole with strings. This is what makes him so unique.

I first read about Michael’s composition style in a magazine from the public library in my highschool years. The part of the interview that jumped out at me about his music is the fact that he considers himself a composer that happens to play guitar. What this means is that he comes up with all aspects of the music in his mind and on paper long before he transcribes the guitar parts. This is what leads to his wide array of alternate tunings. Hedges’ can sometimes try up to six different tunings to play the same piece just to see if it’s physically possible (and if it’s not, he will make it possible by drastically changing his technique with unorthodox left hand fingerings or right hand tapping/slapping). This part of his playing has made transcribing his music into tab or notation extremely difficult and often requires new symbols and very in-depth performance notes.

I’ve learned a handful of Hedges’ music over the last few years and I’ve recorded a few and tossed them onto my youtube account. I’ll post five of these videos that I think showcase some of the interesting aspects of his composition, style, unorthodox techniques, and odd tunings. I apologize in advance for the some of the sound quality in the videos as these were recorded on digital camera or an old sony-DV mini-cam.

Example 1: Jitterboogie

The first video is the first song that got me into his music. it’s a piece called “Jitterboogie” and it’s little funky, upbeat, and filled with textured chords and harmonic complements. The intro has a nice gallop and hiccup to set the mood of the tempo, complemented by harmonic chords allowed by the Db Ab Db Gb Ab B tuning. Once the theme kicks in, you will notice some more harmonic spice thrown in between chords and an interesting rhythm before the turn around. This first theme demonstrates contrast between the bass and treble, letting some of the chords ring while allowing the deeper notes to establish a steady but understated rhythm. Hedges’ also uses a technique that he pretty much invented called the “explosive pull-off” which is basically pulling off a note with your left hand and dragging your fingers across the strings below to create a very “echo-y” strum. This can be seen around the 18 second mark but it’s very subtle and fast. Another great example of Michael’s composition technique is in the second theme, about 47 secs into the video, when there’s a dancing balance of three-note bass chords setting the background, mid-ranged chords complementing, and a melody played on the bottom three strings, all going on at the same time (this is why my hand is changing positions so many times but the piece is still flowing). I’m strumming nearly every string at this point and this is where everything “comes together” while not becoming overwhelming.

Example 2: Baal T’shuvah

The first time I heard this song I was amazed by how well the intro flowed while displaying ringing bass notes, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and natural harmonics. Normally, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides are used as embellishments for subtle leads, but for this song, they weave the melody directly into the ringing bass tones. You will notice that I’m hitting an open string, sometimes letting it ring through, then immediately hammering-on to a note of the melody and then pulling-off to the open tone to organically reintroduce the background notes. Hedges’ also incorporates string-stopping techniques (often only found in classical guitar and harp) to lessen dissonance of sustaining strings and maintain control of the aural ambiance behind the melody. There is also great balance between high and low harmonies. At 1:15, a bass theme is taking center stage, followed by a wide arpeggio that soon leads into a midranged and high melody. Around 1:30 there is a harsh hammering of chords while I’m holding a note. This part of Hedges’ technique evokes a pounding piano chord instead of a simple pluck or strum you might hear a regular guitarist play.

Example 3: The Funky Avocado

This one definitely is funky! The tuning is basically D A D G A D but the low E string is dropped to B which means lots of flapping and vibration (one of the main elements of this piece). A lot of people ask me for advice on how to play this one and the best thing I can tell them is just to keep your right hand loose and keep it “funky.” Aside from the dramatic vibrato and slides to embellish the funkiness of this song, Michael uses something I’ve never seen before to slightly enhance a chord. Around 39 seconds you will notice a natural harmonic chord being struck across all 6 strings. This might not seem very significant at first but you’ll notice that i’m actually fretting a note with my middle finger on the third string. This one note changes the whole dynamic of the natural harmonics and helps to balance out the high frequencies. Another advantage of having the low E string tuned way down to B is that it’s kind of a poor man’s bass guitar. The bass lines are simple but they are definately there, nice and low. You can also tell Hedges’ has a sense of humor if you notice the Rolling Stones theme woven into the middle of the song.

Example 4: The 2nd Law

This one is a bit more somber than the others but it’s probably my favorite piece to play. The tuning is A E D G B D which means for some seriously low notes on the bass end. What I love about the build up of this song is how simple and controlled it begins, then there’s a build up of notes from an arpeggio followed by a sudden collapse around the 20 second mark. It’s like Hedges is building his chord one block at a time then when he reaches the top, he smashes the structure and a new theme kicks in. I also love that this is both a finger-picking song with strumming lightly mixed in (and a slap-harmonic chord or two thrown in for good measure). Hedges’ is once again very selective in his string-stopping, letting the A string drone throughout the background without interference from the other bass strings.

Example 5: Arrowhead

You see a lot of guitarists on youtube these days playing with two-hand-tapping technique and they can all thank Michael Hedges for introducing this method. This song was a little tricky to learn because you’re doing things with your right hand that is normally reserved for your left and vice versa. The rhythm is also syncopated in certain areas and your hands never stop jumping around from neck to bridge. I think the section around 53 seconds is what seperates this song from what you see today on youtube. Hedges is able to turn this very rickety and rhythmic song into a simple and beautiful three chord progression where the tapping and slapping are now embellishments rather than the main medium. The chords also slide and give it a more organic feel to the song before turning around to the intro again. Just the fun I get in playing this song is worth the effort that went into learning it. I don’t have an acoustic amp, so this video was recorded using my electric setup which dampens a lot of the harmonics and gives it kind of a harsh clingy sound, but I’m still pleased with the results.

Finally, I will share an amazing video of the legend himself performing one of his songs. This is “Aerial Boundaries” and it showcases some of his greatest songwriting and technique. This video was recorded shortly before his death in the late 90′s (car accident after a show). Luckily there’s a wealth of video and audio of his performances to maintain his legacy. If you have the time, watch the video and then close your eyes and try to pick out all the different things going on. All the while, the average listener might think some of his songs are layered tracks of two to three guitars and various overdubs to get a full and busy sound. The truth is, it’s just one guy with two hands, one guitar.

For anyone that is interested in more info about Michael Hedges, check out nomadland.com. I also have about 30 other videos of various guitar playing (mostly electric) on www.youtube.com/mastapimp.

Adios!