Madly In Love With Guitar

Playing guitar is back on its trend in Korea, thanks to IU (아이유). When she posted a short video of her playing and singing along to the acoustic version of SNSD’s Gee, she received rather sensationally positive feedbacks from people. A 15-years-old girl singer playing an acoustic guitar- it was a fresh, authentic breeze to the Korean Pop, when almost every Korean girl groups sang and danced to the identical type of music. It was after the video hit the millions of views that people started to find the guitar an awesome instrument. They have begun to realise the hidden beauty in playing a guitar, and singing along to the song at the same time, adding an acoustic guitar to many other Korean girls’ wish list. In fact, acoustic guitar was popularly used in the 1960’s Korean music, which was influenced by the Western music. Perhaps this is why the younger Korean generation has thought of playing a guitar as a trend out of fashion. But the trend is always subject to change, is it not? A greater awareness was raised about the guitar with IU’s fabulous performances, where she would hold tightly to her guitar, singing with it, and lead the crowd in a professional manner. More people are purchasing guitar now, for coolness’ sake, if not for the Korean’s revived interest toward this instrument, which seemed to be forgotten for a long time.

I have grown with guitar. From the earliest memories of my childhood, I can recall my dad wonderfully playing his Spanish guitar. So has my dad, with Grand-dad playing guitar, too. I guess it runs in the family. But it was not until when I was fifteen that I had begun to truly appreciate the beauty of being able to play such instrument. Just like any other beginner, I started with the basic chords of C, D, E, and so on. When I mastered these, I was making my first attempts to sing along with the chords. And I realised that, by every chance, that guitar and I would be best friends for many years. I became madly in love with the Spanish guitar in particular. A gradual process it was, to take in new skills, and chords – it was just like getting to know someone.

Today, there are a number of types of guitar available to choose from. The Flamenco (also called “Spanish”), acoustic, and electronic guitar are main ones. Each type has its something of its own, that makes it unique from the other types. Each varies greatly in the ways of playing, the genres handled, and the construction of the guitar itself.  The material from which the guitar is made is totally different from one type of guitar to another, too. I am excited to explore about these various guitar types. Each and every type of guitar fascinates me, and the magic of playing guitar and creating melodies out of a simple, wooden Classic guitar has captured me ever since I stroked those six strings in awe and curiosity for the first time.

IU playing live acoutic covers of Gee, Sorry Sorry, etc, in a Korean TV programme "Yoo's Sketchbook"