Brad Conroy

Brad Conroy is a versatile guitarist, performer, educator, scholar, and music journalist.

The 10-string World of Marina Krupkina - Decacorde

By: Brad Conroy

Russian born guitarist Marina Krupkina has been forging a new path within the world of classical guitar. She brings with her a stylish approach and an air of cool while carving out her own very unique sound. Marina has made arrangements of monumental works like Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, she improvises around themes by Vivaldi, and composes her own music which makes use of interesting harmonies, rhythms, grooves, and extended techniques like percussive tapping and harmonics.

Marina has two full length albums to her credit, a large catalog of finely produced YouTube videos that not only showcase her talent for playing, but for composing, recording and producing as well. She works extremely close with the esteemed classical guitar composer Nikita Koshkin, re-envisioning many of his works, and whether you’re following her on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, Marina has been bringing much deserved attention to the decacorde and showing the world just what 10-strings can do.

Marina recently sat down with us to discuss how she found the decacorde, what a day in the life is like for her, what it is like to work so close with Nikita Koshkin, her eclectic influences, recording, and more.

Marina Krupkina and her decacorde

Marina Krupkina and her decacorde

Brad: How would you describe your musical style? 

Marina: I see my musical style as a mix of classical guitar tradition, classical music tradition, and my many rock music influences. Even though on occasion I don’t like to admit it, but after studying it so intensely for most of my life, the classical guitar, its technique, and its music have become very important to me, and especially in the past ten years. Classical music really does mean the most to me, it is the most expressive and challenging music for me to study, and I truly do love it more than any other style. I've spent roughly three years of my life playing the electric guitar before I switched focus to the bass, and this has definitely influenced my approach and sound. In recent years I have been listening to finger-style guitarists who in a way have been re-imagining the instrument, and who have been doing some really interesting things that I like to borrow from as well. There are so many ways to approach this instrument while still respecting the long traditions of the past, and there is a whole world of ideas and possibilities that are just too hard to ignore.

Brad: How did you transition from playing the classical guitar in your younger years, to the bass, then back to playing the classical guitar, and then to finally settling on the decacorde? 

Marina: The real story is quite complicated, but before playing bass guitar, I finished primary music school as a classical guitarist, but I did not practice enough. Maybe because I was too young to understand how much work goes into this, and partly because as a teenager I really wanted to play and compose rock music. I saved up all of my money to buy an electric guitar, and after one year of playing I was invited to join the most famous rock band in our city, not as a guitarist, but as the bass player. It was by coincidence that I became a bass guitarist, and I totally fell in love with it; the low sounds, the firm rhythms, grooves, and I just felt that this was more my cup of tea. 

I played for two years with this band, but began to understand that to develop my own style, and compose my own music I needed to continue my formal classical music education and turned my focus back to the classical guitar. 

I practiced like crazy during college, partly because I felt like I had missed out on so much while I was gone, also because it is such a competitive field, and there is just something about the instrument that keeps me going after it. 

After college I entered the Maimonide's Music Academy in Moscow to further my studies, and also because I really wanted to become a student of Nikita Koshkin. It was such an honor for me because Koshkin was serious about me coming to study with him after hearing me play too.

After the first year of studying with Koshkin, he let me use his decacorde to play Mertz's Fantasia so that I could make use of the original basses that exist in his writing for the 10-string guitar, and this is how my decacorde journey began. 

Brad: Take us through a day in the life of Marina Krupkina. 

Marina: There are three variants for me in the way that I spend my days. The first is my favorite; I wake up, do the morning routine – eating and taking a shower, and after that I practice or compose almost all day long. I obviously take a few breaks to drink coffee, talk briefly on the phone, or check my social media, but the day usually comes to the end with me playing until midnight, and then I will unwind and relax in bed reading until I fall asleep. 

The second variant is “recording day.” I will record something, then begin the editing, mixing and mastering of the tracks and videos too. This can be a very tedious and frustrating process which usually takes up an entire day. Once I commit to a recording day, I won’t stop until the complete process is finished. 

The 3rd variant is my least favorite of the three. It is the day that I go and make money by teaching at the music school. I sometimes teach students for 6-9 hours, and after that if I have any more energy I will come home and try to practice for a few hours. 

Brad: What was the first Koshkin piece that inspired your interest in his music? 

Marina: The first Koshkin's piece I played was Three Stations on one Road. I was a student in college and my teacher gave me the score and I was immediately interested in his music after this. 

I then began to listen to other pieces composed by him, and around this time I also really liked his Prelude and Fugue in F Minor from his famous cycle 24 preludes and fugues for guitar. 

Marina Krupkina

Marina Krupkina

Brad: What is it about his music that you connect with so well? 

Marina: I think it is the strict sense of rhythm, and his very special Koshkin-style harmony. For me Koshkin's music is exquisite, and very emotional. Often his music can be dark, assertive, or fervently mocking, but the emotion is always strong, and there is just so much that I like about it.  

Brad: What is the hardest thing, and the best thing about being so close to an esteemed composer like Koshkin? 

Marina: Nikita Koshkin is really a very nice and caring person. He was kind enough and firm enough to help me realize that my dream of becoming a concert classical guitarist wasn’t my true path. He really encouraged me to find my own voice and to push myself more as a composer. I first showed him my music after about four years of communication and friendship. Up until this point I was just too shy to share with him what I was writing at the time. I know it sounds funny but he encouraged me to stop taking part in competitions and to begin concentrating on my talent as a composer. This was a very important step in my development and career. 

Another great aspect of being so close with him is that I get to observe his composing process, from the first chord all the way to the last chord, and with all of the little finishing touches along the way. 

The hardest thing for me is when I hear people often say as a compliment; Wow, your new piece is so good, I feel Koshkin's music influence!  Even though this is usually meant to be a compliment, I always compose as I like and feel. I am walking my own composing path, and I can feel discouraged or even depressed when someone assumes that I am just copying or trying to become the” Second Koshkin.” 

Brad: Your original music has so many influences in it, what are some of the artists you are currently listening to? 

Marina: Ooh, right now I am listening to; Primus, The Omnific, Mr. Bungle, Beethoven, Gesualdo, Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Manhattan Transfer, Aphex Twin, Alexandr Misko, Orlando Di Lasso, Mozart, and on and on. 

Marina Krupkina

Marina Krupkina

Brad: Who are some of the guitarists that have helped inspire your personal style? 

Marina: There are just so many guitarists who have inspired me, but a few names are Artyom Dervoed, Lorenzo Micheli, Thomas Viloteau, Gabriel Bianco, Jon Gomm, Tommy Emmanuel, Les Claypool (he's not a guitarist, but he's my huge inspiration), Nikita Koshkin, and also a young talent Marcin Petrzalek has greatly inspired me within last couple of months. 

Brad: Is the classical guitar a lonely instrument, does it leave much room for a social life? 

Marina: I see my friends 2-3 times a year. They call me a “ghost” if that answers your question! 

Brad: Tell us about your latest album; Decacorde Stories

Marina: In this album I try to show different sides of the decacorde, and the many different techniques that I have been exploring. The album includes five original compositions, my arrangement of Nikita Koshkin's, Sonata for guitar and piano (after my arrangement it's become, Chamber Sonata) and my Beethoven 7th Symphony arrangement. The special thing about this album is that I not only composed and performed, but also recorded, edited, mixed and mastered by myself as well. 

Brad: The Beethoven transcription sounds like a real handful, was there a time during the process that you thought it was impossible? 

Marina: Honestly, I was always sure that it was possible, because I believe in the decacorde, even though other people were skeptical when I was beginning to work on the arrangement, I just kept moving it forward.

Brad: What is the process of composing a new piece, do you score your pieces out, and are there editions available yet? 

Marina: It's different for every piece. Sometimes the piece just comes right out of me, like Rainbow Bridge Trip. I composed it within one day while being filled with the strong emotions of a friend passing away. Other times I just catch a few ideas and then work on developing them over time, but a common theme is that I am always trying to innovate something new into the decacorde vernacular, and trying to make each piece an important step forward in the decacorde repertoire development. 

I do have scores for my music, but they aren’t published yet. 

Brad: What do you plan to accomplish over the next five years? 

Marina:  I really don't think that far ahead because life always brings little surprises for you. Five years ago, I would never have imagined that I would become a decacorde composer and player, and that I will have two albums released. So, I'm going to continue composing and making my music better, and the only real plan is to have many more concerts. 



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