Sungha Jung: Growing up on YouTube

MANILA, Philippines – Sungha Jung – not yet a household name, so a quick Internet search for me was in order, which turns up a 19-year-old young man, a gifted musical artist hailing from Korea.

 

 

He’s a child prodigy, a whiz in a guitar technique known as finger-style. Synonymous, but not to be confused with fingerpicking, which is more of a traditional folk, blues and country technique that you’d hear in the US. This type of playing shows up in various genres of music, most often performed with an acoustic guitar, only occasionally with an electric.

Either way, it involves picking of the strings, rather than just strumming them, also many performers incorporate percussive effects by beating the body of the guitar as you would a drum or tapping the strings at the frets on the neck of the instrument.

They usually play a chord and melody simultaneously, so it lends itself to a layered sound, there’s a feeling of depth to the songs, even without the vocal aspect. It’s very interesting and requires a high level of skill, that many will never achieve, regardless the amount of time invested in practice.

What also struck me as I admired Sungha’s video catalog, was not only the skill level at which he performs, but how much he has changed.

In his earliest videos, he’s but a mere child, the guitar is as big as he is. Jung has been recording video and performing live for almost 10 years now, most viewers were simply curious but then surprised to hear such magical sound.

 

 

It’s fascinating to witness his evolution on video, from a tiny boy to a full grown man, who is now an inspiration for musical artists throughout the world.  

He’s made his way to fame via the recent phenomena in the music world, quite a YouTube sensation. His cover versions of today’s top musical artists have garnered tens of millions of views, they are performed instrumentally on guitar, no vocals.

I would even hesitate identifying them as cover songs, a closer description may be interpretations. He’s able to craft the familiar, into a version of his own, like no other. The songs seem to take on a new life, familiar yet new. Listen and watch him play and within seconds you’ll ‘feel’ why he’s something special, there’s an indescribable spark.

I had the chance to ask Sungha few question via email before his upcoming concert in Manila, and here are his answers:

What attracts you to a song? The melody, perhaps, or do you prefer to cover to a specific genre or artist? Do you look for songs that’ll interpret well for your style of guitar playing?

A: Sometimes they are from my own favorite pop singers, and I do watch for cover materials too among recent popular tunes which will nicely translate into fingerstyle.

Also, I have a lot of requests from fans for certain popular songs, then I take a look for a pick every now and then, too.

Using only three words to describe your music, what would those three words be?

A: Acoustic, fingerstyle, Sungha Jung

 

I read somewhere the first player you were inspired by was Kataro Oshio? Do you recall how you felt at the specific moment when you first you heard him? Was it on YouTube?

A: It was one of the original songs from Kotaro Oshio called “Twilight” – the very first fingerstyle tune that I heard.

My father used to play that one a lot home. That’s how I got to know of it. Of course I watched Kotaro Oshio playing it on the Internet later when I grabbed the guitar to learn the song myself.

Your version of “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme on YouTube, from almost 7 years ago now, has over 48 million views and still counting! That’s a huge number to wrap your head around. When you were younger, how did you feel about that?

 

A: I seriously had no idea my ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ cover would be so big a hit. It still seems like a miracle when you think about it. I don’t know, maybe back then, people watched YouTube more? Hahahah. Well, all I can say is that I am really really grateful for the attention and support in general, not to mention that one particular video.

Don’t miss his upcoming show, I’m certain it’ll be a unique experience. Sungha will play February 13 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Resorts World Manila.

Click here for tickets. – Rappler.com