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Posted by lawlietta3 pts Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Hallyutube Hits: jwcfree, the guitar-playing wunderkind

For our third edition of our Hallyutube Hit series, allkpop interviewed a certain musician that you've more than likely encountered at least a few times on Youtube. This young Korean focuses more on music outside of kpop, but after watching his videos, I'm sure you'll agree that he's too great to pass up. He's an acoustic fingerstyle guitarist who's held his own tour in Finland and hit over 100 million hits on Youtube, all at the age of thirteen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2xwD-tKyjg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmBZPHAZT_U Sungha Jung (jwcfree), who claims the title of #1 Most Subscribed on Youtube (Korea), may still be a kid, but he's already been hailed by many as Korea's August Rush and a true guitar prodigy.�You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who isn't impressed by this young boy's work;�Yoko Ono Lennon (wife of the legendary�John Lennon) and Wolfgang Vrecun (arranged music for the Pirates of the Caribbean) are two among many that have expressed support for this young musician. He started playing the guitar in 2006 back when he was nine years old, and has only been picking up momentum since. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvMAycU5bLE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IXa2pNGVj8 "There aren't many professional fingerstyle players compared to other styles, but it's definitely not new," Jung's tour manager recently told us in an interview. "Fingerstyle is a technique where you play rhythm, bass and melody at the same time all on one guitar so it sometimes sounds like there area more than two guitars." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5WB-p-QBJc Sungha also revealed that his father had always been a guitar lover; after watching his father play for a few years, Sungha also decided to pick it up as well. "When I first started, I mostly learned by watching videos of other guitarists on the Internet," Sungha said. Long before Youtube, Sungha posted his videos on an online fingerstyle community in Korea for a few months. After a while, people began to suggest posting videos on Youtube as well, so he eventually expanded his audience to an international level. "I still learn most songs by ear, but I've made friends with a lot of them [over the] last couple years and they sometimes send me their tabs these days." A while back, Sungha also performed on the ever-popular Star King, which spread his popularity across Korean fans. "I never imagined any of this when I first started playing and posting videos on Youtube. It's been great. Most of all, I'm very happy that I got ot meet my favorite guitarists and play together with them on stage." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlNU4EPqF8s&feature=related Speaking of meeting people onstage, Sungha has already visited his fans in the United States, Finland and other countries through his international tours. "It's always very exciting to meet new audience members and find out what they're like, because each country has [a] different culture. Sometimes they're loud and cheery, sometimes very gentle and quiet. It's great that I can meet my Youtube viewers from all over the world in person." Also, if you're in China, Japan, Bangkok or the States, make sure to be in town this summer - Sungha's got plans for tours in these areas, starting in July! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjm1-fHeUQ8 Currently, Sungha is at his role model & friend Ulli B�gershausen's home studio in Germany, working on his very first record (which will be a cover album), which is scheduled for released within the next few months. We've also been informed that they're in the final stage of this recording, and it's definitely going to be something people will enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUUJhr0icHs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-C9C50Q9Xg "We're actually invited to this guitar festival that's to be held in July at Beijing University," Dee informed us, "so if you by any chance live in Beijing or nearby, please come to see Sungha's live performance." A big thanks to Sungha Jung & Dee for all of their help with this feature. [gallery] Check out Sungha on... Official website Youtube

  1. YOUTUBE
  2. GUITAR
  3. SPECIAL FEATURE
  4. HALLYUTUBE HITS
  5. SUNGHA JUNG
  6. JWCFREE
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