I learned how to play this song and it was by far the most challenging. Nobody could play music like him. Michael Hedges in my opinion is the greatest guitar player who ever lived and he will be missed by everyone.
I wish I could have appreciated the concert my dad took me to, all those years ago... Seeing Michael Hedges, William Akerman, George Winston, Liz Story, and all the other Windham Hill artists... I just remember the amazing music, and people laughing at some jokes I didn't understand. I'm not clear on all of the artists, as my memory is from 1982 or 83; I was young! But I've played guitar and piano ever since!
I was lucky enough to see him in a super small Venue. I have never before, nor since , seen anything Like it . There will forever be a hole in my soul.
This is my favorite...I've listened to it more than 200 times in the last 10 years...and always a joy to listen...extraordinary flow of music yet sounds so simple...
Truly awe-inspring. I'm convinced Hedges invented his playing style out of necessity. He needed to in order to get the music out. Watching this is like watching someone teeming with creativity; about to burst. One of the greats. RIP Michael Hedges
I've seen him four times here in Toronto Canada and I'll never be mezmerized again like I was at his concert's thank u michael I guess your playing for a bigger audience know
I met Michael back in the mid 70's while he was studying at Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. He played a couple nights a week at the Peabody Bookshop and Beer Stube, doing covers and some of his originals. I was a waiter/bartender there and eventually asked if he gave lessons, which we started doing when he had the time. Eventually I got bored because he wanted to teach me to read music. I told him I just wanted to learn to play like him (his style), so he gave up on me and vice versa. But I did learn some unique tuning's and some of his style, which has long been forgotten. But I still listen to his work, quite unique and it was a style of playing I never witnessed ever...and probably never will again. RIP Michael your harmonics will ring of bells up there.
CorbCorbin Corb, not that I recall, he played steel string acoustics and classical. Never saw an electric in his hand. I think with his hammer style he would have to play an electric hollow body.
David Colburn Went down the Hedges rabbit hole after asking you that. From what I watched today his only "electric" guitars are a version with a harp. He plays a black one from a performance that looks like 90s. Really cool stuff. I've listened and watched his "normal" acoustic stuff quite a few times. Today is the first time I really checked a bunch I'd vids of him playing the "harp guitar?". He was so talented and confident about his own sound and attack on the guitar. Wish I had seen him play in person.
I love Michael Hedges. He's one of my favorites along with Tommy Emmanuel. I like them because they weren't scared to go outside the box and stretch the boundaries. My favorite Musician is Stevie Wonder and I like him for the same reason.
Try joining youtube, finding these videos. Being inspired to play. Going to watch Andy Mckee live. Then Don Ross live. Then Tommy Emmanuel. THen Erik Mongrain. Then planning to watch Michael Hedges and finding out the guy was dead! It was a bitter pill to swallow indeed.
see his face. he is in a place we shall never trespass. he brought the music back for us, but we cannot go to it, one surely must be chosen for the journey.we were fortunate, and blessed. RIP MH
I can't for the life of me figure out how he makes the high c4(bottom sting)ring open while hammering/pulling the other stings above during the intro. Plus about 100 other things he does! I saw him perform probably 6 times in the day and forgot what a FORCE he was. I'm hooked...again...Thanks August Rush!
I was watching Andy McKee last year. Without a doubt, THAT guy is great, his meter is perfect, great grooves and dazzling technical ability... but I was thinking about Michael, comparing (unfairly, perhaps). So at the end, the crowd is on its feet, going wild, and Andy is completely gracious, and OUT OF THE BLUE, he says something like "Thanks to all of you, I'm so thankful I get to play music... and all I'm really doing is following what Michael Hedges did..." totally awesome, says me...
Michael, sei stato e sarai sempre una fonte di ispirazione per tutti noi. La tua musica è semplicemente fantastica, quanto di più vicino al divino ci sia capitato di ascoltare. Grazie. RIP.
infuriating that the most talented go early - really - where do i send my complaint - the most innovative, expressive, and humble virtuosa guitarist the world has seen.
Without Michael hedges there be no right direction for the modern acoustic guitar itself. I wish his music is more regularly heard and play. Compare the crap in the local radio station that's been heard and played a trillion times and makes you feel sad.
Leo Kottke: “The first word that comes to mind is space. His stuff was 3-D. It didn’t proceed like language, like Jimmy Raney or somebody. It proceeded as geography. Like 'Rickover’s Dream', for example: I think the first time I heard it I was going to fall down. It just gave you vertigo there’s just so much room in there.”
Wow, one of the first videos on UA-cam, really. Pretty incredible. Thanks for all the posts all these years. I didn't find Michael for a long time, but when I finally did, I got a lot of enjoyment from your posts. Peace.
Thankyou for the information on his death. He had real talent. Although I hadn't heard his music until I bacame a youtube member, I feel for all of you that were fans of his. I guess I feel the same way about John Denver's passing. Thanks again.
There will never be another. Been so long he has passed. I miss that new stuff everyday. Someone will fill that void, even if it's in 2112. Kids will one day see what I saw in the future. Mastery, Discipline, Love and outright Joy in the placing of that hollow body between you and your fingers. I did it, but not like him. My passion was not fame, but the insane sound of something new that I created or others. His new life will be better. My life falls to an end. I hope I can keep that spontaneity and youth in feeling, voice, words and song. He's famous in my heart. That is all that matters. When my heart stops, someone will continue. I so miss him.
You'll note, however, that the didgeridoo effect occurs gradually, and that it doesn't occur throughout the song, even when Hedges plucks the bass very hard. So the direction of the vibration is important too. To get that effect, I have to pluck the bass at an angle to the fretboard. The string naturally and gradually changes its angle of vibration, till it starts to hit the fretboard more and more.
That's right; the bass string is at a low tension since it's tuned to a C instead of to an E. So to get the same volume out of the string, you have to strike it harder, which makes the amplitude of the vibration larger.
@type3secretion Yep, exactly! The high E string is tuned down to C, that is two steps down, making it very loose, and so, when he pulls it more aggressively and closer to the fret board and not the hole, it vibrates like that. Cool, eh ;)
@type3secretion it's his low C string vibrating wildly after being struck very hard. Not many people can actually make it sound good, so this is a rare sound indeed.
He was driving home and he had old tires on his 9-year old BMW and lost control in rainy weather, vaulted over a cliff and fell about 120 feet to his death. He was found a few days later. It was later determined he was killed instantly or nearly instantly. Sad.
Carina, thanks so much for the site. I am a classical guitarist who has always loved Michael's playing. Do you have any other leads. I really appreciate it!
Interesting how some of the most accomplished, original artists die either accidentally, preventably or just strangely. I am not implying a conspiracy - just a pattern that is observable - to what percentage I have no information to speculate. It is as though a facet of their lives (for Hedges, a reported automobile collision that killed him) leaves some of them open to dying when they might have otherwise lived many more years.
What he does at around 3:16? Some sort of power pull-off while sliding. That very weird slipping sound (and he then slaps harmonics after it). I'd like to see somewhere about such technique. Anyhow, those sad, high pitch notes that comes up when he slaps somewhere around harmonics... Oh man thats intense and powerfull
His dream was to free submarines and surface ships from the logistical tyranny of having to break off operations to refill their tanks with fuel oil. He would use the heat released from splitting atoms to make the steam needed for propulsion, giving warships below and above the sea limitless range.
Sheet music isnt going to help you really. Hes using Admiral tuning to play this. I can understand getting frustrated at bad tabs, but most are okay by todays standards. Not sure where you can get Hedges music, sheet or tab. GL
You're right. I'm not a profession at all, but I know how to make that sound. A hard pick on a looser and heavier string makes it vibrate against the frets giving a trebley sound over the tone. If you drop a steel string guitar to D and pick the string with your thumb hard it will make that sound, though not for as long as Micheals low string, which is in C :)
I'd rather listen to Hedges tune his guitar than listen to anything that comes on the radio these days.
This statement rings true a decade later
Wonder Where the Lions Are
I haven't turned on a FM radio for years now, nothing worth listening too
2024. 15 years later. Still changing. Not sure if it got any better.
God ? ... can we have Michael back ? :(
Yes Please.
I learned how to play this song and it was by far the most challenging. Nobody could play music like him. Michael Hedges in my opinion is the greatest guitar player who ever lived and he will be missed by everyone.
He was the best and he was playing his best for us.
Absolute genius. I wish I could’ve had the chance to see him live
I wish I could have appreciated the concert my dad took me to, all those years ago...
Seeing Michael Hedges, William Akerman, George Winston, Liz Story, and all the other Windham Hill artists...
I just remember the amazing music, and people laughing at some jokes I didn't understand.
I'm not clear on all of the artists, as my memory is from 1982 or 83; I was young!
But I've played guitar and piano ever since!
who is still listening to this in 2019?
Listening in 2020 :)
@@AndyDavid1970 timeless!!!
Only people with good taste.
missing you from all over the world, Michael!
I was lucky enough to see him in a super small
Venue. I have never before, nor since , seen anything
Like it . There will forever be a hole in my soul.
I miss seeing him live... it was the most amazing, transcendent experience...
There will never be anyone like Hedges. I dare to say, no one close to him
Aerial Boundaries is now 40 years old and there's still nobody in the music world who can replace Michael or fill the gap he left behind.
This is my favorite...I've listened to it more than 200 times in the last 10 years...and always a joy to listen...extraordinary flow of music yet sounds so simple...
I would not have believed it if I had not heard it. Absolutely incredible. Music from heaven.
Utterly magical. Wow.
Truly awe-inspring. I'm convinced Hedges invented his playing style out of necessity. He needed to in order to get the music out. Watching this is like watching someone teeming with creativity; about to burst. One of the greats. RIP Michael Hedges
I've seen him four times here in Toronto Canada and I'll never be mezmerized again like I was at his concert's thank u michael
I guess your playing for a bigger audience know
I met Michael back in the mid 70's while he was studying at Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. He played a couple nights a week at the Peabody Bookshop and Beer Stube, doing covers and some of his originals. I was a waiter/bartender there and eventually asked if he gave lessons, which we started doing when he had the time. Eventually I got bored because he wanted to teach me to read music. I told him I just wanted to learn to play like him (his style), so he gave up on me and vice versa. But I did learn some unique tuning's and some of his style, which has long been forgotten. But I still listen to his work, quite unique and it was a style of playing I never witnessed ever...and probably never will again. RIP Michael your harmonics will ring of bells up there.
Thats a true player one who starts teaching others haha
David Colburn Did he ever play an electric?
CorbCorbin Corb, not that I recall, he played steel string acoustics and classical. Never saw an electric in his hand. I think with his hammer style he would have to play an electric hollow body.
David Colburn Went down the Hedges rabbit hole after asking you that. From what I watched today his only "electric" guitars are a version with a harp. He plays a black one from a performance that looks like 90s. Really cool stuff. I've listened and watched his "normal" acoustic stuff quite a few times. Today is the first time I really checked a bunch I'd vids of him playing the "harp guitar?". He was so talented and confident about his own sound and attack on the guitar. Wish I had seen him play in person.
In case you're interested, Stanley Jordan plays some great jazz on electric (tapping style, I mean). Not exactly like Michael, but great stuff.
The world is a poorer place without Michael Hedges in it. Simply stunning.
I love Michael Hedges. He's one of my favorites along with Tommy Emmanuel. I like them because they weren't scared to go outside the box and stretch the boundaries. My favorite Musician is Stevie Wonder and I like him for the same reason.
Try joining youtube, finding these videos. Being inspired to play. Going to watch Andy Mckee live. Then Don Ross live. Then Tommy Emmanuel. THen Erik Mongrain. Then planning to watch Michael Hedges and finding out the guy was dead! It was a bitter pill to swallow indeed.
I could just watch him tune his guitar all day.
Genius!
Michael is the father of modern fingerstyle guitar, no question.
So incredibly creative
Feel fortunate to have seen him a few times live before his passing. So much charge and energy comes through his playing!!
haha so true. theres a comment some few pages back that says hed rather listen to hedges tune than anything on the radio these days
see his face. he is in a place we shall never trespass. he brought the music back for us, but we cannot go to it, one surely must be chosen for the journey.we were fortunate, and blessed. RIP MH
Lighten up Francis.
A moving song from a gifted man. Thanks...
I was fortunate to see him twice in Atlanta. We won't get another one of him...
great.
thanx for up this video.
i saw his guitar play 17years ago.
it was so great....
I can't for the life of me figure out how he makes the high c4(bottom sting)ring open while hammering/pulling the other stings above during the intro. Plus about 100 other things he does! I saw him perform probably 6 times in the day and forgot what a FORCE he was. I'm hooked...again...Thanks August Rush!
I was watching Andy McKee last year. Without a doubt, THAT guy is great, his meter is perfect, great grooves and dazzling technical ability... but I was thinking about Michael, comparing (unfairly, perhaps).
So at the end, the crowd is on its feet, going wild, and Andy is completely gracious, and OUT OF THE BLUE, he says something like "Thanks to all of you, I'm so thankful I get to play music... and all I'm really doing is following what Michael Hedges did..." totally awesome, says me...
Its nice to find great music time to time
it actually even sounds amazing when he's tuning his guitar :p
Lindo! Não há comparação! Eu nunca me canso de ouvir essa música.
Michael, sei stato e sarai sempre una fonte di ispirazione per tutti noi. La tua musica è semplicemente fantastica, quanto di più vicino al divino ci sia capitato di ascoltare. Grazie. RIP.
Words cant explain..........
This guy was great, takes me back to the eighties with all the Windham Hill artist, too bad he's gone:(
The guitar man absolutely connect with the soul of guitar
infuriating that the most talented go early - really - where do i send my complaint - the most innovative, expressive, and humble virtuosa guitarist the world has seen.
Where the heck was I when this amazing gift was laid out like new light !
Thanks for posting this.
Wow
Brilliant!
never heard play before
Without Michael hedges there be no right direction for the modern acoustic guitar itself. I wish his music is more regularly heard and play. Compare the crap in the local radio station that's been heard and played a trillion times and makes you feel sad.
Leo Kottke: “The first word that comes to mind is space. His stuff was 3-D. It didn’t proceed like language, like Jimmy Raney or somebody. It proceeded as geography. Like 'Rickover’s Dream', for example: I think the first time I heard it I was going to fall down. It just gave you vertigo there’s just so much room in there.”
Wow, one of the first videos on UA-cam, really. Pretty incredible. Thanks for all the posts all these years. I didn't find Michael for a long time, but when I finally did, I got a lot of enjoyment from your posts. Peace.
I love that stroke he gets at 4:30 it's so intense, I've been coming back for years to see it
Thankyou for the information on his death. He had real talent. Although I hadn't heard his music until I bacame a youtube member, I feel for all of you that were fans of his. I guess I feel the same way about John Denver's passing. Thanks again.
Someone recommended this video to me great watch
I hate the thought of me living in a world that Michael Hedges doesn't live in.
Josh Tedder I heard he's dead so bye bye
the man imitated no one and heard everyone , and Then ! ...
i'm humbled to have heard him at the Town Crier .
There will never be another. Been so long he has passed. I miss that new stuff everyday. Someone will fill that void, even if it's in 2112. Kids will one day see what I saw in the future. Mastery, Discipline, Love and outright Joy in the placing of that hollow body between you and your fingers. I did it, but not like him. My passion was not fame, but the insane sound of something new that I created or others. His new life will be better. My life falls to an end. I hope I can keep that spontaneity and youth in feeling, voice, words and song. He's famous in my heart. That is all that matters. When my heart stops, someone will continue. I so miss him.
Wow!! Very nice!!!
the tuning of the song is (low to high) CGDGBE. Basically tune your low E to C and tune your A string down a step to G.
You'll note, however, that the didgeridoo effect occurs gradually, and that it doesn't occur throughout the song, even when Hedges plucks the bass very hard. So the direction of the vibration is important too. To get that effect, I have to pluck the bass at an angle to the fretboard. The string naturally and gradually changes its angle of vibration, till it starts to hit the fretboard more and more.
That's right; the bass string is at a low tension since it's tuned to a C instead of to an E. So to get the same volume out of the string, you have to strike it harder, which makes the amplitude of the vibration larger.
Thanks out to Nels!! I love Michael!! What a great guitarist!!!!!
Crazy. I never thought to play harmonics above. Official relevation!
4:30...Incredible!!! The king of harmonics.
@type3secretion Yep, exactly! The high E string is tuned down to C, that is two steps down, making it very loose, and so, when he pulls it more aggressively and closer to the fret board and not the hole, it vibrates like that. Cool, eh ;)
he even makes retuning sound beautiful
As the last poster said. I cannot imagine someone sounding that good just tuning.
hedges is crazily amazing!
Im trying to learn how to play this just by watching him!!
how does he do it???
I need help!!
Still amazed by the talent!! Huge loss!!
@type3secretion Exactly what it is. He's hitting the low (I think he tuned it to C) string hard and it is vibrating against the frets.
It's simply connection
I bet he LOVED the martin tuners, they're so fast and accurate.
He's now playing in the Kingdom of God
I have no words ………...
@type3secretion you're right, it's just hit harder so that it vibrates against the fretboard.
@type3secretion it's because of the CGDGBC tuning. Much lower bass string and much lower melody string
the guy was great.. the tuning of the guitar itself is somwhat of a composition :P
@type3secretion That's pretty much spot on - tuned down to C so that's quite low and the string will get a bit flabby.
Man I just love the way he tunes his guitar before each song. I would've bought a ticket just to watch him tune his guitar!
@type3secretion it's his low C string vibrating wildly after being struck very hard. Not many people can actually make it sound good, so this is a rare sound indeed.
He was driving home and he had old tires on his 9-year old BMW and lost control in rainy weather, vaulted over a cliff and fell about 120 feet to his death. He was found a few days later. It was later determined he was killed instantly or nearly instantly. Sad.
@type3secretion Correct!
I picture him playing by the pearly gates welcoming people into heaven
REAL MUSIC :)
Carina, thanks so much for the site. I am a classical guitarist who has always loved Michael's playing. Do you have any other leads. I really appreciate it!
what an original player he was ..
@Aetherius88 amen
Mozart of the acoustic guitar!
that thing at 4:30 is probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen him do
Why is every video of him really poor quality ? I would love to watch a high end show of this man
He died back in the 90’s so his content is restricted a little bit by the technology of the time.
Interesting how some of the most accomplished, original artists die either accidentally, preventably or just strangely. I am not implying a conspiracy - just a pattern that is observable - to what percentage I have no information to speculate. It is as though a facet of their lives (for Hedges, a reported automobile collision that killed him) leaves some of them open to dying when they might have otherwise lived many more years.
Their minds are up in the air
Indeed. It seems so many truly great artists died far too young. Just imagine the music if a Hendrix or a Duane Allman had lived a few more years...
@Aetherius88 right on
What he does at around 3:16? Some sort of power pull-off while sliding. That very weird slipping sound (and he then slaps harmonics after it). I'd like to see somewhere about such technique.
Anyhow, those sad, high pitch notes that comes up when he slaps somewhere around harmonics... Oh man thats intense and powerfull
@type3secretion thats correct, that bass string is in C and we all know how hard michael plays his guitars
Yes, I'd say that's what it is.
yeah thats it.
@type3secretion Yeah, it's fretbuzz alright.
His dream was to free submarines and surface ships from the logistical tyranny of having to break off operations to refill their tanks with fuel oil. He would use the heat released from splitting atoms to make the steam needed for propulsion, giving warships below and above the sea limitless range.
I hope so.
So I know now that you need to skip 2 minutes into these live recordings to hear the magic
Your loss
I would call those braids, they look like it
hehe, no I mean old martin guitars from about 1965-1975 had these really fast tuning keys... half a turn gets you two whole steps
I didn't know he was gone, what happened?
Where can i find Michael Hedges sheet music... no tabs!
?
Please help.
Sheet music isnt going to help you really. Hes using Admiral tuning to play this. I can understand getting frustrated at bad tabs, but most are okay by todays standards. Not sure where you can get Hedges music, sheet or tab. GL
You're right. I'm not a profession at all, but I know how to make that sound. A hard pick on a looser and heavier string makes it vibrate against the frets giving a trebley sound over the tone. If you drop a steel string guitar to D and pick the string with your thumb hard it will make that sound, though not for as long as Micheals low string, which is in C :)