Here is what you need to know in order to play songs by Sungha Jung and achieve his mastery of fingerstyle guitar.
If you are interested in playing K-pop or Animé songs on fingerstyle guitar, then Sungha Jung is your man.
When I started playing guitar, I didn't know much about fingerstyle as I played almost exclusively classical guitar.
Then, after watching some of Goliath Guitar Tutorials showing how to play songs by Sungha Jung, I was hooked.
So, I went into the process of trying to figure out how to play guitar like Sungha Jung.
How To Play Guitar Like Sungha Jung
If you are starting out from zero or if you are just getting started with fingerstyle guitar, here are the steps to going from beginner to playing songs by Sungha Jung.
To play fingerstyle music by Sungha Jung, you will need a solid understanding of fingerstyle techniques, from basic plucking and fretting to advanced techniques such as barre chords, legato playing, harmonics and percussion.
You'll also need a steel string acoustic guitar to sound like Sungha Jung.
1. Learn Basic Fingerstyle Guitar Techniques
To play a fingerstyle song or arrangement by Sungha Jung, you should have the basics of fingerstyle technique down pat.
But what exactly are fingerstyle basics?
This means having proper fretting hand technique and rock-solid right hand technique before tackling a song by Sungha Jung.
If you haven't learned these already, start with playing chords, such as the "cowboy" chords. Start with the minor chords, which are A minor (Am), D minor (Dm), and E minor (Em).
Next, learn the major chords which are C, A, G, E and D major, as well as F.
The point of learning these chords is to understand how to fret the guitar without producing any buzzing noises.
Instead of strumming the basic chords, learn to play the bass note with the thumb and the other notes in the chord with the index, middle and ring fingers in a block pattern. Or, play an arpeggio, which is a fingerpicking pattern that involves playing each note of the chord individually.
2. Learn The Techniques Sungha Jung Uses To Play Fingerstyle Guitar
Did you know that Sungha Jung uses a specific type of advanced technique more often than other guitarists in the genre, giving him a signature sound?
Most songs by Sungha Jung use techniques such as legato playing, barre chords and glissando.
And as you learn songs by Sungha Jung, you'll find that he almost always includes some sort of basic percussion. The basic percussion that Sungha Jung plays in almost all of his songs is a thumb slap.
To play this type of percussive slap, use a swinging motion of your wrist and tap the bass strings with your thumb on the second and the fourth beats.
But, to master songs by Sungha Jung, you're going to have to get used to playing natural harmonics. He is especially fond of using a form of percussive harmonics where he slaps the strings on a node, producing an exciting and colourful sound.
Some other techniques that Sungha Jung uses in his fingerstyle guitar songs are tapping, alternate tunings, rasgueado and palm muting.
You will learn to play these techniques in Play Fingerstyle Guitar Now!, the best course to learn to play fingerstyle guitar.
3. Choose a Song By Sungha Jung To Learn
To play guitar like Sungha Jung, you will need to choose an original song or a cover by Sungha Jung to learn.
If you don't want to start right away by learning a song by Sungha Jung, there are some popular songs such as More Than Words by Extreme which are good for beginners.
And once you get good at playing arpeggio patterns, you can play a song that moves at a faster tempo such as Dust In The Wind.
I recommend going for one of his earlier arrangements or songs, because his more recent original songs tend to be more technically demanding (fast licks, anyone?).
Here are some of Sungha Jung's original tunes which are straightforward and suitable for a beginner player:
And there are tutorials on my channel if you are interested in learning them.
If you are unfamiliar with techniques such as tapping, scales or playing fast repeated notes, it will be difficult for you as a beginner to play Sungha Jung's more complex animé arrangements such as Racing Into The Night.
4. Practice The Song Using Accurate Tabs
I can't stress the importance of accurate tablature when learning a song by Sungha Jung. Good tabs will follow the exact right and left hand finger patterns that he uses.
Although Sungha Jung has official tabs posted by his Korean publisher, I recommend using my own tablatures for maximum accuracy.
But having accurate tablature is not the only part to learning how to play a guitar song by Sungha Jung.
You will have to do a lot of listening, ideally by carefully following along with the tablature. You'll want to listen for timing, and take note of the special techniques that you hear him using.
Here are the steps to practicing a fingerstyle guitar song by Sungha Jung:
- Break down the song into individual sections (chorus, verse, bridge, etc.)
- Choose a section of the song to learn first
- Practice the individual section of the song, first with the tablature and then without. Use a metronome for proper timing.
- Move on to a different section until you have learned them all.
- Pay attention to variations – not all song sections are exactly the same!
- Do a complete run through of the song and string all the sections together.
It's critical that you start by learning small sections of the song instead of starting from the beginning and playing through the whole song, without doing any memorization.
Also, when you are working on memorizing a song, regularly check back with the tablature. This ensures you haven’t missed any important sections. The biggest challenge that I have when learning songs by Sungha Jung is bringing everything up to speed, and memorization.
If you are having trouble performing the Sungha Jung original song or arrangement for your friends, check out my online course Play Fingerstyle Guitar Now!
In Play Fingerstyle Guitar Now,you will learn all the techniques that you need to play his songs with ease, as well as exercises specifically tailored to mastering Sungha Jung's playing style.
Do I Need Fingerpicks To Play Like Sungha Jung?
Sungha Jung doesn't use fingerpicks. He does occasionally use a thumb pick to play certain songs, such as those by Tommy Emmanuel.
When using a thumb pick in this manner, it isn't only for the Travis picking pattern but also for the bass groove: playing repeated notes on the bass strings and adding accents.
Instead, Sungha Jung strengthens his nails with acrylic nails, a technique he learned from Japanese guitarist Kotiro Osho.
