Cesar Huesca

This is my official myspace page.

Current works

Hi this is César Huesca, I play guitar since I was 9 years old in 1994 and I work as a guitarist with several bands and projects, currently playing with a covers band, a jazz/fusion band, in two original projects with singers/songwriters and recording sessions. I'm also working on my own music and teaching guitar at a local music school.

Background

Music has been a big passion to me since I was 3 or 4 years old, I used to sing and play drums until 9, I never took any formal guitar lessons, but I learned a lot from some players, songs and bands that I like, one day my teacher was Slash, then Phil Collen, then Joe Perry or even Santana or Chamin Correa.

In 1997 I started to play with local bands. When I've done with my highschool studies in 2000-2001 I started to play gigs full time all around my town knowing some other fellow musicians and making some money to get some nice gear pieces.

I've found that playing as much music and with as much people, brings all the spark and enthusiasm I'm looking for, playing today in a small club or bar with my covers band or the next week with the jazz/fusion band in a big outdoors gig, or having a recording session, I enjoy everything at the same level and try to do my best.

Talking about gear

One important fact is always the gear, the right guitar, the right amp, the right effects etc, I would say that essentially what matters the most is what I call the guitar/amp factor, having a decent guitar and a great amp is better than having a Gibson Les Paul Custom plugged in a cheap 15 watt amp, so before thinking in the greatest guitar, think about a really good amp.

Remember that the best rig in the world won't play instead of you, having an Ibanez JEM won't make you play like Steve Vai, having a Jimi Hendrix wah pedal won't make you sound like him, first of all and most important; practice, develop chops, dynamics, clear musical ideas and... strong well calloused fingers, I'm talking about a good connection between your fingers and the strings. The tone comes from the way your fingers fret the notes and the way your pick attacks the strings, from there you can tweak the final sound with all your arsenal, shaping your amp EQ or adding the effects you want, delays, chorus, reverbs etc.

Many times when we talk about guitarists sounds we focus on the gear they have and we don't go deeper into the facts that really make them have their own sound, things like phrasing, feel, note choice, harmony voicings etc. That indicates the difference between the sound of a guitarplayer and the sound of his/her devices.

Try to go simple! be able to play only with your guitar plugged to your amp or even an acoustic guitar, you can do lots of things and create many different sounds only with the guitar pickup switching and the volume pot. Try all different kinds of guitars, tube and solid state amps, pedals, rack units, all-in-all effect processors, there's a lot of things on the market these days, do a research about all the products you can, be informed! then you decide what to use.

Practice and composing method

Some years ago, when I invested great amounts of time learning scales/modes, harmony concepts, all the notes across the fretboard on all the strings, chord voicings, progressions and overall chops, licks and dynamics to improvise, at this time I focus more on playing whatever comes to my head than playing scales from head to feet for hours and hours.

What I generally do while practicing is to play always in time to some sort of inner beat or a metronome if I have one at hand, let say a riff or a progression or a lick, when some of that "resonates" I keep playing it until it becomes a little piece, then I write it or record it at the moment and if I'm on the right mood I keep developing that idea until merging it with another one, then it can become a theme and possibly a structure for a full song.

Knowing all the notes across the fretboard is crucial and its the only way to know exactly what you're playing, it doesn't work at all playing lots of licks and patterns if you don't even know what they are, in what are they based or where you can employ them.

Philosophy

Talent doesn't matter if there's no honesty, people should demonstrate what they are and what they do without false pretentions, people will know if you're ofering your talent with sincerity or if you're cheating them trying to be something that you are not, if you are convinced that music is your life, go for it and take it as it is, no matter what people think about your vision or perspective, you don't have to please and like to everybody. Follow your ideas, plans and what your heart and mind tells to you. Be diverse, don't get wrapped in just one genre, style, band, proyect or whatsoever, if something doesn't work, doesn't yield anything or simply doesn't like to you, move on for some other options.

It's always good to be patient and not try to run before learning to walk, go little by little, keep the pace that works for you being totally confident on what you do and your possibilities. It's all about to keep close to the instrument and being constant, if you trust and be passionate with it something will happen.

There should be no haste, there should be just fun, being glad doing what you love, always with humility to everybody, don't forget we're human beings before musicians or whatever.

Regards and thank you for stopping by in myspace.

Cesar.

César Huesca empieza a tocar la guitarra de manera autodidacta a los 9 años de edad y comienza a tocar con diversas bandas locales de la ciudad de Pachuca a los 14 años. Posteriormente, él es invitado en el año 2000 a formar parte de la alineación de Natya, banda con la cuál comienza a proyectarse y darse a conocer alrededor del estado de Hidalgo.

A princípios del 2001 entra a formar parte de una de las bandas locales con más auge en aquel tiempo, Chocolate Sexual, banda que tuvo proyección en Hidalgo y otros estados de la república participando en eventos de diversa índole como presentaciones en foros de exposisiones artísticas, varios eventos organizados por Gobierno del Estado y algunas aperturas a conciertos de artístas como Benny Ibarra, Nicho Hinojosa, Azúl Violeta entre otros.

A mediados del 2002 César ingresa a la Academia De Música Fermatta donde cursa los primeros dos semestres de la carrera en ejecución.

Tiempo después deja la carrera en segundo plano, pues comienza a trabajar con Piloto(OT), acompañandolo en numerosas presentaciones al rededor del país y en los Estados Unidos hasta finales del 2004. A principios del 2006 vuelve a colaborar con él para grabar "Cadaver Exquisito", tema que viene en el CD compilatorio "Homenaje A Fito Páez" producido y dirigido por Vladimir Suárez Arredondo.

Actualmente César contribuye en varias actividades tanto en escenarios como en estudios de grabación fuera de Hidalgo, ha trabajado en sesiones de grabación con productores reconocidos como Jorge Avendaño para el proyecto musical de Fernando Lima, Jorge Dalessio para opening del Evento Sedal 2005, es miembro de las bandas Oxes(rock/pop), Naima(jazz/fusion), es guitarrista en la banda de Darina ganadora de Operación Triunfo México y colaboró con Fantabulaztics grabando algunos temas de su primera producción discográfica. A su vez imparte instrucción instrumental de guitarra en una escuela de música en Pachuca Hidalgo.

Recientemente recibió una Mención Honorífica por parte del guitarrista Greg Howe en el concurso "Play For Me" convocado por el mismo, siendo César el único mexicano logrando el cuarto lugar entre guitarristas de Rusia, Estados Unidos, Alemania, Reino Unido y Suecia.