Humble Korean kid rocks YouTube and the world

September 01, 2006

The identity of a mysterious Korean guitarist has been finally revealed to the world. His name is Lim Jeong-hyun. The Korean guitarist has drawn attention around the world as a mysterious guitarist since last October, when he posted his video on the website “YouTube.” The video of him playing Johann Pachelbel’s "Canon" has been gaining huge popularity on the Internet.

A great number of music commentators, who listened to Lim’s guitar performance are treating him as if he were the second coming of world-renowned guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

The New York Times recently ran a story titled “Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last.” In it, the reporter wrote, “Lim had chosen to perform a difficult rock arrangement of Johann Pachelbel’s "Canon" for his video after the Taiwanese guitarist Jerry Chang did the same last year, and Lim’s version eventually found its way onto YouTube under the name funtwo."

As for the writer’s take on the quality of the performance: “Over and over the guitarist’s left hand articulated strings with barely perceptible movements, sounding and muting notes almost simultaneously, and playing complete arpeggios through a single stroke with his right hand. Funtwo’s accuracy and velocity seemed record-breaking, but his mouth and jawline – to the extent that they were visible – looked impassive, with none of the exaggerated grimaces of heavy metal guitar heroes.”

The contrast between the soaring bravado of the undertaking and the reticence of the guitarist gave the 5-minute, 20-second video a gorgeous solemnity, the American newspaper said.

Since Lim posted the video of himself playing guitar on YouTube eight months ago, curiosity over his true identity has swelled on the Internet due to the musical talent he revealed in the 5-minute, 20-second video, the newspaper added.

“While Lim has been the subject of much Internet chatter regarding his guitar prowess based on his now famous video,” it explained, “the 23-year-old has remained quite modest.”

Lim was quoted as saying to the newspaper, “Some said my vibrato is quite sloppy. These days I’m doing my best to improve my vibrato skill.”

Source: Korea.net

http://www.korea.net/news/news/newsView.asp?serial_no=20060831004&part=106&SearchDay=&page=1