Alexandr Misko – New-Age Experimental Percussive Fingerstyle Guitar

Redefining how an Acoustic Guitar Can be played

Alexandr Misko – New-Age Experimental Percussive Fingerstyle Guitarist

Meet Alexandr Misko

Alexandr Misko is a self-described "New-age experimental percussive fingerstyle Guitar player" from Russia who has developed a remarkably distinctive approach to the acoustic guitar.

His musical journey began at the age of 12 when his parents gave him his first classical guitar on New Year's Eve. Before that, Alexandr admits that much of his time was spent playing video games on his PlayStation. But the arrival of that guitar changed everything.

Alexandr began taking classical guitar lessons and spent three years studying the instrument. However, after discovering the world of fingerstyle guitar, he eventually left his formal lessons behind and began developing his own sound through independent exploration and experimentation.

By the age of 20, Alexandr had already become one of the most exciting young percussive fingerstyle guitarists in the world. His playing combines fingerstyle, tapping, percussion, rhythm, unusual time signatures, polyrhythms and innovative techniques that push the acoustic guitar far beyond traditional expectations.

With millions of views on YouTube and a growing international audience, Alexandr's music demonstrates that technical ability and emotional songwriting do not have to exist separately. His goal is not simply to show what he can do with a guitar. Instead, he wants to create music that makes people feel something.

An Interview With Alexandr Misko

Alexandr's music is difficult to place into a single category. His influences stretch from American hip-hop and old-school rap to deathcore, progressive metal and doom metal. At the same time, he draws inspiration from minimalist and avant-garde composers including Steve Reich, Erik Satie, Philip Glass, Graham Fitkin and John Cage.

His guitar influences include some of the most respected names in modern fingerstyle guitar, including Don Ross, Mike Dawes, Jon Gomm, Pino Forastiere, Thomas Leeb and Preston Reed.

However, Alexandr is careful not to simply imitate the artists who inspire him. He believes that drawing inspiration from many different genres allows him to create something that is uniquely his own.

Rather than defining himself solely by his technical abilities, Alexandr describes the genre of his music as "Progressive Pop." His goal is to create music that remains melodic and accessible while incorporating progressive elements such as complicated structures, unusual time signatures and polyrhythms.

STAGE PASS was recently able to pry Alexandr away from writing his university exams to tell us more about himself.

The Interview

So tell us, what age did you first start playing guitar?

Alexandr: I started playing guitar at the age of 12. My parents presented me my first classical guitar on the New Year’s Eve. Before that I was doing nothing and just playing videogames all day long. So now I’m 20 and I’m so glad that I gave up playing playstation back then ha-ha!

What first interested you in playing the guitar?

Alexandr: I have never asked anybody to buy me a guitar or any other musical instrument, but it was obvious that I have always shown interest in music since early childhood. I was really into American hip-hop and rap music of East & West coast! Moreover, I tried to find biographies and lyrics, and sometimes I used to record some of my raps on my phone along with my friend. We were mimicking American slang that we had been hearing on those songs and tried to come up with something similar to be cool. That was fun! I guess that at the age of 10-12 was the first spark.

Were you self taught or did you take lessons?

Alexandr: When I got my first guitar I decided to take private lessons with a tutor straight away. We were studying classical guitar for 3 years and to be honest I have never been an excellent student. But when I finally got acquainted with “fingerstyle”, I completely abandoned my lessons and started to learn it on my own.

Your guitar playing covers a variety of styles including fingerstyle and tapping yet also incorporates rhythm. I don't think I've seen people use the tuning peg to make note adjustments while playing a song before. What were your influences and how did you end up with the style that seems to be uniquely yours?

Alexandr: Basically everything that I can do now is a blend of other guitarists’ styles combined. I know one thing for sure - I couldn't do anything decent without learning songs and gaining experience from such great composers as Don Ross, Mike Dawes, Jon Gomm, Pino Forastiere, Thomas Leeb, Preston Reed, Steve Reich and many others. They are all my heroes and have been inspiring me since then.

But of course I get inspiration not only from other guitarists because it can make you sound exactly like your idol, and for sure you don’t want to be someone’s musical clone. That’s why I’m always trying to find something new and interesting in other genres that can be really far away from guitar playing and to use it to make my own tunes unique.

For example, I’m fond of heavy genres like Deathcore, Prog metal, Doom Metal. Also I love minimalistic avant-garde music of 19th and 20th centuries, for example such composers as Steve Reich, Erik Satie, Philip Glass, Graham Fitkin, John Cage. I still love American old school rap and write some lyrics in Russian…

Eventually I will be able to name at least one favorite artist in every existing genre of music. At least that's my goal 🙂

What do you personally call your style of guitar playing?

Alexandr: There are so many things in my style of playing so an appropriate name would be long and boring like “New-age experimental percussive fingerstyle”, but it roughly describes only technical side of my music.

I try to write music, not a technique, so in terms of genre I would call it “Progressive Pop” because I’m trying to write melodic and accessible music with some progressive flavor that means the use of complicated structures, unusual time signatures, polyrhythms and other stuff.

Thank you Alexandr for taking the time to do this.

About Alexandr Misko

Alexandr Misko's story is a fascinating example of how a musician can take inspiration from seemingly unrelated places and transform it into something completely original.

His foundation in classical guitar gave him the technical discipline to understand the instrument, while his discovery of fingerstyle opened the door to a much broader creative world. From there, he began incorporating influences from hip-hop, rap, metal, minimalist composition and experimental music.

The result is a style that turns the acoustic guitar into something far more than a traditional melodic instrument. Alexandr uses the guitar's body as percussion, incorporates tapping and rhythm into his playing, and even manipulates tuning during performances to create sounds that are both surprising and musical.

Perhaps most importantly, Alexandr's philosophy remains focused on songwriting. For him, the technique is simply a tool. The ultimate goal is to create music that is melodic, accessible and capable of provoking emotion and vivid imagery in the listener.