Michael Hedges Guitar Tunings

Many people are not aware of the great acoustic guitar player Michael Hedges. His  wonderful groundbreaking playing  has influenced  many guitar players.

His first two albums Breakfast in the Field and Aerial Boundaries  were milestones for the acoustic guitar and continue to inspire and influence.

He attended Phillips University, then Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore studying composition and classical guitar

Classical and jazz musicians quickly took note of his complex compositional abilities while the rockers appreciated his sense of rhythm and driving melodies.   

He wrote nearly exclusively in open tunings (all listed here) Some of the techniques he used include slap harmonics (created by slapping the strings over a harmonic node), use of right hand hammer-ons (particularly on bass notes), use of the left hand for melodic or rhythmic hammer-ons and pull offs, percussive slapping on the guitar body.

He was also a master on the harp guitar an instrument with additional bass strings (see picture), and the Trans-Trem Guitar. He was a multi-instrumentalist  playing piano, percussion, tin whistle, harmonica, and flute, among others.
   

Tragically he died in a car accident in 1993, he was 43 years old.