Role of the Performer - Marcin Patrzalek

    There are musicians who only compose music, and there are musicians who only perform music. They are also many instances where musicians can do both. However, we will be exploring musicians who mostly perform. Recently, due to this massive influx of media platforms like Youtube, TikTok, and Instagram, many new performers are coming into the spotlight for their ability to cover popular songs in their own, unique way. We will be discussing a popular fingerstyle guitarist named Marcin Patrzalek who primarily covers many different kinds of music to millions of his viewers.

Marcin Patrzalek

Biography

    Marcin Patrzalek is a 22-year-old polish acoustic guitarist who started playing the classical guitar when he was about 10 years old. He is known for his fingerstyle and percussive guitar techniques. Throughout the years, he continued to practice and improve his guitar-playing skills through two teachers and self-teaching.

    When Marcin was 15 years old, he won a Polish TV Talent Show called "Must Be The Music" Additionally, he started creating electronic music with his guitar at this time, which resulted in his debut record called "HUSH".  However, he found the most success in his covers of popular music on Youtube and Facebook. One of his first popular covers was "Toxicity" by System of a Down, gaining millions of views on Youtube and Facebook. 

Listen to Marcin's cover below:

Marcin Patzalek - Toxicity by System of a Down (Acoustic Cover) - 2016, Poland

    In 2018, it was announced that Marcin had become an official endorser with Ibanez when he was 17 years old. He says he prefers their flagship models called AE900-NT and AVD80-NT. Then in 2019, he reached mainstream audiences through his performances in American's Got Talent. Ever since, he has become a popular fingerstyle guitarist around the world. 

    Although he started his guitar journey as a classical guitarist, he covers many different genres of music, from pop, metal, rock, hip-hop, and much more. In January 2020, Marcin got signed with Sony Music, making him one of the first percussive guitarists to sign with a major label. His most popular cover is a video on Youtube with over 8 million views covering Moonlight Sonata.

Listen to Marcin's cover of Moonlight Sonata.

Marcin Patzalek - Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven (Acoustic Cover) - 2020, Poland

Musical Elements of Marcin's Toxicity Cover

    The main musical element he uses is his use of dynamics throughout his percussive playing and volume changes in the song. He uses various parts of his acoustic guitar to generate different sounds to create that drum-like playstyle. He imitates the drum's rhythm by creating similar sounds to the kick-drum, snare, cymbals, and toms.

    Additionally, he uses many different guitar articulations in his playing. To add to his percussive element, he typically uses accents throughout the song to give a larger impact on different sections of the song. He also utilizes legato by using hammer-ons and pull-offs on his left hand because his right hand is occupied by his percussion.

Musical Elements of Marcin's Moonlight Sonata Cover

    The unique part of this cover is his way of approaching the form from the original movements. He combines both the 1st and 3rd movements from the original Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. Therefore, these changes result in multiple tempo changes throughout his cover.

    Other than the similar elements present in his Toxicity cover, like dynamics and articulation, he also approaches chords and melody differently than other musicians. Covering piano songs on guitar is difficult due to the limited range and the use of your hands. However, Marcin often uses tapping and harmonics to emphasize the melody of the song while also playing the chords at the same time. This is also displayed in his other covers where it seems like he plays the part of two guitars in one playthrough.

Role of the Performer

    Musicians who interpret the compositions of others are important to the music industry. It allows people to share other's people's music uniquely, while also sharing their own skills and talents. These covers influence many people to play a new instrument and to listen to different genres of music that they wouldn't have listened to before. Performers who cover other people's music benefit in their own way in that they gain popularity and possibly even start their own careers. 

    At times, these performers have their own interpretation of these original songs. Either they replicate the song entirely and imitate single detail, or they put their own twist on it by changing the form, tempo, rhythm, or even the instruments. Sometimes, people even enjoy these covers of these songs more rather than the originals!

My Opinion On Marcin Patrzalek

    Marcin is an incredibly talented finger-style guitarist. Many guitarists cover the same songs as he does, but his unique percussive playing style is what grabs my attention the most. The way he plays these complex rhythms and melodies on the guitar looks effortless. I also like the way he changes the original songs into his own sound. Sometimes, he changes the tempo or form of certain songs depending on his personal taste.

    Other than his percussive playing style, I like how he incorporates other guitar techniques into his playing, like harmonics, legato, tremolo picking, tapping, and much more. He can use and combine these techniques in these songs that weren't originally there in the first place. Additionally, in some songs, he usually adds a vocal melody to add another layer to his playing. The way he combines these elements is what makes him sound like a one-man band!

    Another reason why people like Marcin is the variety of music he plays. For example, in the songs previously mentioned, he covers metal songs like Toxicity and Master of Puppets to classical songs like Moonlight Sonata and Fur Elise.

To check out more of his covers, click here.

Sources

Marcin. “Marcin - YouTube.” Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/@MarcinGuitar/about. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

KLOTZ. “Marcin Patrzalek.” KLOTZ AIS COM, www.klotz-ais.com/klotzfamily/marcin-patrzalek/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

Ibanez. “Marcin Patrzałek | Ibanez Guitars.” Web.archive.org, 4 Oct. 2018, web.archive.org/web/20181004225816/www.ibanez.com/artist/u_artist_detail.php?cat_id=3&artist_id=1383. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

Matt Owen. “This Mind-Blowing Fingerstyle Reimagining of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir Has Guitar Heroes Raving.” Guitarworld, 15 Feb. 2021, www.guitarworld.com/news/this-mind-blowing-fingerstyle-reimagining-of-led-zeppelins-kashmir-has-guitar-heroes-raving. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Marcin Patrzalek.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcin_Patrzalek. Accessed 26 July 2019.