It’s a risky assumption to some degree, but chances are most of you have seen or heard of one of YouTube’s biggest ‘indie’ hits – the guitar video by South Korean teenager Lim Jeong-Hyun (aka, funtwo).
In the self-made video, viewed on YouTube alone over 52 million times since its December 2005 debut, all you see at first is a guy with a guitar and a hat covering his face as bright light shines through a window behind him.
Then you see and hear the first few seconds and realize something rare and sensational is happening. Immediately recognizable as one of classical music’s masterpiece works – “Canon” by Pachelbel – Hyun does it justice by playing guitar along with a pre-recorded up-tempo rock rendition.
It’s electrifying, for sure. The style played by Hyun is reminiscent of 1970’s and 80’s guitarists like Dwanye Allman, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen and Jason Becker.
There’s an interesting revival in recent years of a classical music inclusion in modern rock music. Bands such as Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend and many others are integrating classical instruments into their songs and shows to great success.
Part of the rising popularity of classical music influences on modern rock music, most especially in the so-called ‘indie rock world’, is due in large part to the Internet, as will continue to be the case for years to come.