Guitar strings pluck heart strings again

Students practice acoustic guitars at iGuitar, a private guitar institute near Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul early this month. A growing number of people are taking guitar lessons as popular folk singers from the 1970s and 80s regain popularity. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Old folk singers regain popularity, creating craze for learning acoustic guitar

By Han Sang-hee

The guitar is back, unplugged.

Once legendary folk musicians with their acoustic guitars slung over their shoulders are returning to center stage, dominated these days by flashy girl groups and boy bands.

The heyday of folk music and acoustic guitars in Korea was the 1970s and 1980s.

From devoted fans in their 40s and 50s to members of the younger generation, more and more people are rediscovering the unplugged sound of acoustic guitars.

Folk singers and groups such as duo Twin Folio, Kim Se-hwan, Cho Young-nam and Lee Jang-hee captivated fans, but slowly faded from the spotlight, handing over the stage to hipper and younger singers and groups.

``The 1970s and 80s were all about acoustic guitars. They were everywhere; at universities, cafes, bars, on the streets and even on field trips. Folk singers were idols at the time,’’ said Han Bok-yeon, 56, a big fan of Song Chang-shik from Twin Folio.

The initial spark came from films with musical soundtracks that were released in the mid-2000s, such as ``Once’’ (2006) and ``August Rush’’ (2007).

Such films rekindled nostalgia for days gone by and also kindled a renewed interest in the instrument and music by many students and office workers.

Suddenly playing the guitar was considered a new and unique talent eventually leading many aspiring artists to appear on reality talent shows to prove how well they can strum their guitars.

But the biggest catalyst was the MBC talk show ``Come and Play’’ that invited the top folk singers of the ‘70s and ‘80s: Twin Folio, Cho Young-nam and Kim Se-hwan to relive the past glory of that time.

The show, called the ``C’est Si Bon Special’’ named after the popular music hall where the singers performed, was a huge hit and was rerun numerous times on cable TV channels and was even made into a special un-cut version after the original show.

The popularity led the singers to hold concerts nationwide, triggering the acoustic trend to be reincarnated three decades later.

Reliving the glory

Kim Wan-seob has been working at his guitar shop Nakwon Guitar at Nakwon Center, one of the biggest instrument shopping centers in Seoul, for the past 30 years. He was in the business when folk music and acoustic guitars thrived and watched when it died down, and he was still checking the strings on the guitars for customers Thursday evening. The center was busy, but Kim said it was a lot more crowded during the weekend.

``The stalls and stores were pretty empty even last year. The movies and reality show programs attracted a lot of people, but it was the ``C’est Si Bon Special’’ that really had people coming and buying guitars,’’ he said.

In the 1980s, the demand for acoustic guitars was very high, but the number sold fell to one or even none per day. Now, he sells around three to four every day.

Department stores have also noticed the difference in sales. Hyundai Department Store and Lotte Department Store have seen a 50 percent jump in sales, while online shopping malls have also seen a greater interest in guitars, and DVDs and CDs of folk music.

At iGuitar, a private guitar ``hagwon’’ near Sookmyung Women’s University, the number of students who registered to learn how to play jumped after the airing of the ``C’est Si Bon Special.’’

``We all thought this was a trend that would pass, but luckily, there were a lot of films, concerts and programs that helped continue it. There are a lot of office workers, students and even older men and women who come to learn. When I ask them what kind of songs they want to play, most of them list songs that date back to the 1970s and 1980s,’’ said Kang Shin-woo, owner and instructor of the hagwon.

According to Kang, most of the students say they had an interest in the instrument, but it was the television shows and veteran folk singers that actually pushed them to come forward.

``The `C’est Si Bon’ episode encouraged me. There were actually a lot of people around me who wanted to learn after they watched the show,’’ said 31-year-old Jung Hyun-sun who was learning to play at the hagwon.

The trend is indeed welcoming for Kim, but as Kang mentioned, it may be something that will soon pass and disappear again. For shop owner Kim, this was the most worrisome issue.

``Of course, I welcome the interest in acoustic guitars, but what if it dies down? In the 1980s, music was alive. We played guitars everywhere and it was a part of our everyday lives. C’est Si Bon was one of the places that made that happen. It’s great that people have started to recognize the uniqueness of acoustic guitars and folk music, but I just hope this will be a chance for more people to recognize and enjoy the culture like they do with trendier pop songs,’’ Kim said.

포크음악과 기타의 인기가 날로 더해지고 있다.

MBC의 간판 프로그램 놀러와의 쎄시봉 특집에 등장한 80년대의 포크 음악인들로 국민들이 회상에 젖었다. 송창식, 임형주, 김세환 조영남 그리고 이장희이 등장한 프로그램은 큰 인기를 얻으며 연속방송과 재방송을 편성하기에 이르렀고 그들의 등장으로 나이든 세대 뿐 아니라 젊은 세대들까지도 포크 음악과 기타에 많은 관심을 보이기 시작했다.

낙원 상가에는 기타를 사려는 사람들이 늘어나고 있고 기타학원에서는 음악을 배우려는 사람들로 붐비고 있다고 한다.