Igor Presnyakov - The Guitar Journal

Igor Presnyakov (Russian: Игорь Пресняков) is a Russian guitarist who became popular on YouTube in 2007, for his unique song covers and virtuoso playing style. Born in Moscow, Russia, Igor Presnyakov studied classical music at a nearby academy and would eventually graduate as both a guitarist and a conductor for ensembles. He relocated to the Netherlands to further his career, which has now spanned over 35 years. His unique acoustic guitar-style is influenced by various musical genres from Reggae, Rock and Roll, R&B, Country-western, Jazz and Heavy Metal.

His most noticeable attribute is his creative style of “beating” the percussion of the song, onto the body of his acoustic guitar while playing. This replicates the sound of multiple musicians, while only Igor is playing. He also rarely sings any of the lyrics to any kind of song that he covers, and instead translates them into a guitar melody, having his instrument sing the words.

Igor’s popularity has risen since he debuted on YouTube in 2007. Currently the videos uploaded by him have over 300 million total views, in addition to over 850,000 subscribers. He is officially endorsed by both Takamine guitars and Fender Amplification. Igor’s first concert was on 5 April 2013 in Moscow, “B2” club.

One of my personal favorites is his cover of “Beat It“.