My first year at Musiversal as a Session Guitarist

Hi, I’m Vitaliy Tkachuk, a professional session guitarist from Ukraine. 👋

I hope you enjoy reading about my musical story and my life at Musiversal 🎶

My music background

I started becoming interested in music when I first heard the Beatles. I had this strange feeling that I’d already heard these beautiful songs and knew them intimately. But that was way before the internet even existed in the Soviet Union, where this type of music wasn’t even played on radio or TV, so there was zero chance that I had heard the Beatles before. I just felt some kind of universal beauty in their songs. I wanted to know how they created it. And it made me want to learn how to play guitar!

I started taking guitar lessons and after a bit of time I was good enough to play some classical guitar pieces. I became interested in classical music, because I heard so many intriguing pieces and I really wanted to learn them. Whilst I was studying classical guitar, I was in my teens and all my friends were listening to rock. That’s when I first heard Deep Purple. It was in another dimension, rock-solid riffs and virtuosic solos in which I heard some classical music influence but played with such a drive and loudness… electrifying! At one point I went through all of the history of rock and it got heavier and still more and more interesting.

I finished my high school and decided that I wanted to study Classical Guitar at Music College, in my home city Krivoy Rog in Ukraine. However, I applied too late and they had no places left 😥 so they proposed that instead I study Jazz Guitar and transfer to Classical guitar after the first semester. So that’s what I planned to do, but that was also the first time I’d really heard jazz, and very quickly I fell in love with it and after 4 years I finished my degree in Jazz guitar!

Although I never stopped playing Classical music, and still being interested in rock music (and actually every other type of music) I went on to play gigs as a Jazz guitarist, leading my own bands and playing international Jazz festivals in Ukraine and abroad. At the same time, I played pop and rock music in various cover bands, and was teaching guitar a lot.

Some years later, my interest in World Music brought me to India, where I had the fortune and privilege to study Bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) and Indian Classical Music under the guidance of the great Hariprasad Chaurasia, who is well-known as one of the greatest Bansuri exponents, not only in India but all around the world.

I also became interested in Oud, Arabian lute, mostly because it is a Spanish guitar predecessor and it’s fretless, therefore it allows playing quarter tones and natural scale music. So, as you can tell, I was pretty much fascinated by many music styles.

Besides playing music, I also love traveling, and that was one of the reasons that I worked as a guitar player in bands on various cruise ships, doing short contracts. I loved flying a lot and seeing the world. I’ve been in many places but when Covid struck, the cruise industry ceased to exist. And just at that time Musiversal entered my life.

Musiversal and me

When I met Musiversal I was so happy that I was able to apply all of my music skills and experience.

My typical working day with Musiversal can be like this: a session of country music on acoustic guitar, a loud and expressive rock solo, funky strumming on my Fender stratocaster guitar, a movie soundtrack with nylon string Classical guitar and finishing the day with Arabian influenced oud track, also recording some Bansuri when the customer realizes that I can play one and they decide to add it to the track.

Besides being a great musical experience playing different music, working for Musiversal is a lot like traveling and meeting new people: talking to my clients and getting to know them closer, listening to them telling stories about the place they live in, I can get around the world in one day!

Of course, one of the benefits of Musiversal is its revolutionary approach to remote recording. Again, since the pandemic started and like all other musicians, I’ve lost all  gigs. I realized that I can not depend on being solely a gigging musician. So, working from home with Musiversal has been pure bliss.

Modern times demand new ways of making music and Musiversal is one of the most professional and top notch of them all. With Musiversal, I feel like I couldn’t be more happy than being a musician, in these not easy but interesting times!

Showing our support

During these extremely difficult times, the Musiversal team are in regular contact with Vitaliy and supporting him wherever we can. Vitaliy has decided to keep doing his session work, recording guitar for Musiversal subscribers from his home studio in Odessa, Ukraine, which is both touching and highly admirable, to say the least.

In recent days, many people in the community have reached out and asked how they can support Vitaliy. After speaking and agreeing with Vitaliy, we have decided to share a payment link where you are able to send donations in support. These donations will be sent to Vitaliy and used by him to support his daughter, who has left Ukraine and is now resettling in a new country, and also to support the war effort.

If you would like to support Vitaliy by sending a donation, you can find the details here.

If instead you would like to send messages of support, you can connect with Vitaliy on Instagram here and Musiversal's Instagram here.

Thank you for your support.