Peter, do you really realize how amazing this kid is??!!
Honestly, at first I wondered if the entire thing was a gimmick! Even if he was a 50-year-old guitarist, what he did with Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” on his classical guitar would have been technically brilliant. The fact that he’s obviously a kid puts him, in my honest opinion, in the “genius” league!
“No Woman No Cry” is actually a very simple song comprising four chords (G, D, Em, C), but in this Asian kid’s hands, the song becomes a complex masterpiece. And look how he ended the song!
He has mastered the percussive style of playing the acoustic guitar, a method popular with classical as well as Spanish guitarists. So, what we find him doing is playing percussion with harmonics, with deadened strings and also on the body of the guitar! This kid’s use of harmonics in particular really amazes me (reminiscent of rock guitarists like Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen), and the reach of his left hand is eye-opening (he has long fingers)!!
But not only does this youngster give a percussive effect with his use of harmonics, his tapping and with those swift hits on the string and the body of the guitar with both his left and right hands, but during all this time he’s playing both the harmony (chords) and melody as well!! Then, he ends everything on what sounds to me like a major 7th chord!!
If this is not sheer genius, then I don’t know what is!! Amazing and absolutely impressive !
Man, his fingers are moving like he is playing a combo of piano and drums!
Willi, quite simply this what we mean by the phrase “musical genius” !!
As I was watching for the eighth or ninth time just now this kid’s amazing interpretation of that Bob Marley classic, I started thinking that there are so many musical prodigies around the world!
Here are five such incredible kids (see YouTube link from the 2000 Grammy Awards ceremony below):
I was able to find this link because I’ve never forgotten these five youngsters, whose ages range from 11 to around 14 or 15. This was the ceremony at which Carlos Santana won around eight Grammys for his album, “Supernatural.”
My wife was saying the same thing, that maybe he is a fake...when you type his name, Sungha Jung, into youtube he has a bag of songs up...plus there are clips of him from Korean TV, him plying with other guitarists and he was a special guest at the Korean Jazz festival, don't know which year.
Whether the guy is fake or not (and I don't think he is) the music is brilliant!
My wife was saying the same thing, that maybe he is a fake...when you type his name, Sungha Jung, into youtube he has a bag of songs up...plus there are clips of him from Korean TV, him plying with other guitarists and he was a special guest at the Korean Jazz festival, don't know which year.
Whether the guy is fake or not (and I don't think he is) the music is brilliant!
Peter, I did some online checking, and this kid seems to be the real thing indeed! Trust me, though, we’re not going to see many 12-year-old children with this depth of technique!!
By the way, check out the YouTube link that I posted above with the five youngsters at the 2000 Grammy Awards ceremony. Those children at that Grammy Awards show have technique that you expect to find in an adult, professional, trained musician! They are just incredible for their age!!
I also recall a music video by Wyclef. I think I saw it last year. On that recording (I cannot remember the name of it) Wyclef performed with some youngsters from Harlem. The young choir and the kids who played the music as backup, especially the drummer, were extraordinary!!
Serious question! I would appreciate an answer that's simple enough for people like me.
Thanks!
Mo, glad to help out here.
“Melody” refers to single notes; for example, when one person is singing. So, melody would be the tune. “Harmony” occurs when two or more notes are played or sung simultaneously (for example, when two or more people are singing the same thing together at the same time).
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