Alexandr Misko - “161.214” is a slow atmospheric melodic ballad from my debut album and it’s about pure love that you keep in your heart even if a person doesn’t love you back. There is a simple DGCFAC tuning, easy chord structures and melodies, but all together it creates this airy and dreamy vibe that provides vivid images in listener’s mind. That’s a very good song to start learning my style of playing since there is no percussion and other fancy tricks at all, just straight melodic traditional fingerstyle.

I have always loved this song though it’s definitely not the most popular one by Three Days Grace. This rock song is heavy and beautiful at the same time and my “rock” CGCGGC tuning helps a lot to create that huge guitar sound. There are lots of harmonics, tapping and percussion involved so it can be tricky but still very fun and rewarding to play!

This arrangement is very special to me because it’s been a one of my first viral FB hits back in 2016 and that’s why I still play that song on every show since then. It’s very complicated and sophisticated because of a weird BECFG#C tuning, a partial capo, a hair tie wrapped around bass strings and lots of unorthodox techniques, but it’s worth taking time to learn it anyways! Recently I’ve done a very detailed tutorial for that song at the Tobias Rauscher’s Guitar Academy, so check that out, it will surely help you to learn the tune.

Alexandr Misko - “Cold Hands” is a sorrowful progressive metal song from my debut album and it’s about departing with someone you love. It was inspired by music of some progressive and math metal bands, so there are polyrhythms, unorthodox rhythms and complicated riffs going on in 5/4 all along. There is a CGCFG#C tuning, a partial capo, lots of harmonics and percussion so I would considered that an intermediate level difficulty song.

Alexandr Misko - “Foretaste” is from my second album and it’s dedicated to my first lovely guitar named Larisa (yes, that small one with a red scratch plate on it!). I really like this song because it has an interesting and diverse development and a catchy melodic chorus. There are lots of unusual techniques in DGBF#BD tuning but it’s not that hard in general. The melodies keep going throughtout the song and it’s very satisfying to play and to listen to.

Alexandr Misko - “Forsaken” is another progressive metalcore acoustic song from my first album and it has been a concert staple for years. It’s fast, full of drive, catchy rock riffs and percussion so it’s always a good idea to start a show with that one. There is a standard tuning all along, lots of slap harmonics, two handed tapping and body percussion all over the place which all make it very fun not only to play, but also to watch.

This simple tune became viral on YouTube in Russia back in 2015 and has helped me a lot in my career. it looks pretty complicated because of an advanced guitar tapping in standard tuning, but in fact It’s not as hard, though it takes some practice to get all the notes sound properly. The only issue is that you would have to learn how to pen tap first haha! Though it’s very easy, just look up for tutorials on YouTube to get some basics.

Alexandr Misko - “Imprisoned (Dubstep Guitar)” is one of my favorites to play live and it’s about being stuck in some place or situation without any way out of there despite any of your efforts. Also I explore a cool technique invented by British guitarist Haythem Mohammed which he calls “Dubstep Wobble”. It sounds very huge and electronic, especially if you use a delay pedal. This song is in relatively simple tuning CGCFAD with a partial capo and I guess it requires intermediate level skills to perform.

Alexandr Misko - “Recovery” is from my debut album and it’s pretty old but I still find it very decent. It’s about getting over hurt and pain and moving forward enjoying your life. There is a standard tuning but millions of different types of harmonics require very precise and focused playing. It can be hard to perform at first, but it’s a very rewarding piece, so just take your time to get it down. Don’t forget to check a trio version of that song on my YT channel. It’s ethnic nature truly shines through that collaboration.

When I was arranging that beautiful tune I tried to add lots of my ideas into it because that’s simething I don’t usually do when I arrange other people’s songs. So that was an experiment but I liked the result and recently I’ve recorded a new upgraded version of it which the tab represents. There is an accessible DFCFAD tuning, relaxed tempo and lots of melodies based around harmonics all over the place which all create that dreamy vibe. There are some detuning too, but you can easily avoid that by checking my older cover version of that song.

This traditional song is known only in Russia but it’s so uplifting, melodic and beautiful I couldn’t stand creating my version of it. I’ve got an idea of sticking an African traditional thumb piano called Kalimba on my guitar from my friend and a fantastic player Trevor Gordon Hall. The melody is very simple here so feel free to try it out on piano, second guitar or anything else that can produce some notes haha! The tuning here is A#FCFAC and you can tune your kalimba in any tuning that would help you to get all the required notes as close to each other as possible. It’s much easier to play that way.

Alexandr Misko - “Shifting Winds” is definitely a fan favorite from my debut album. I wrote this melodic ballad when I was 16 and it’s about love in your heart and all the good feelings it brings to you. The tuning is D#GCFA#D which is not far from standard but opens many cool chord voicings and harmonic possibilities. There is no percussion or fancy tricks, but lots of different melodic lines, harmonics and also a very catchy chorus. I’m sure that’s a very appropriate song to play to your crush haha!

Nirvana - “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the first arrangement I ever made on a guitar back in 2014 and I still play that live because it’s one of the best songs ever written. That’s a very heavy rock tune which is great for running across a stage headbanging and pretending to be a rockstar! The open C5 tuning CGCGGC makes your guitar sound huge and powerful so you can have lots of fun with that one. There are some advanced percussive techniques going on throughout a song, but they are quite basic for modern fingerstyle so I’m sure you wouldn’t have any big problems with those.

Alexandr Misko - “Soap Opera Theme” is from my debut album and that’s basically a parody song mimicking all those melodic and cheesy intros that soap operas have, especially here in Russia on TV. It sounds pretty sweet and simple but requires lots of skill to play all that properly. There are thousands of harmonics produced in different ways plus a constant percussive click that makes everything much harder. A good thing that it’s in standard tuning so if you focus closely on practice you surely get it all down quickly.

Alexandr Misko - “SpongeBob SquarePants Ending Theme” is a cover I made just for fun. It’s only 40 seconds long, but there are lots of unorthodox techniques involved like tapping, percussion and palm muting along with a weird EA#D#F#BD# tuning and a deliberate use of partial capos. Despite those sophisticated things it’s still very fun to perform so that’s a great way to bring your nostalgic feelings out!

Alexandr Misko - “Thunderstorm” is my favourite song to play live from my second album. It’s about nature itself and I tried to portray heavy clouds, lightings and heavy rain by using different techniques and approaches to a composition. There is a two-handed over-the-neck tapping technique in C#G#CFG#C tuning throughout pioneered by one of my biggest inspirations Preston Reed, also there are lots of percussion, slap harmonics and even some detuning! That’s is a very driving and powerful piece but despite all the technical diversity it still has a very simple underlying melody.

Queen - “We Will Rock You” is another old arrangement of mine and that’s a very simple one. The original version of that tune by Queen is very catchy but also pretty minimalistic, so tried to keep that vibe all along by using a droning open “rock” tuning CGCGGC and melodies created by plucking mostly open strings. It’s also very fun to play since you can clap in between guitar playing and do lots of variations since it’s very repetitive in its nature. The guitar solo is where the cover gets really interesting, so take your time with that and don’t forget to put some distortion on there too haha!