SOUTH KOREA: KARAOKE IS A FAVOURITE PAST TIME FOR MOST SOUTH KOREANS

Record ID: 847745

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: KARAOKE IS A FAVOURITE PAST TIME FOR MOST SOUTH KOREANS
  • Date: 22nd January 1999
  • Summary: MCU (Korean) PARK SAYING: "I cannot avoid singing because there are so many gatherings where I am forced to sing. I have to sing, but I can't. I am in trouble" MCU (Korean) LEE BYOUNG-WON SAYING: "I will teach Park how to make a good sound, how to catch the melody and to have confidence"
  • Embargoed: 6th February 1999 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • City:
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Entertainment,General,Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAB1H2Y6IO49JHR52I35RUB4O2L
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Karaoke is a favourite past time for most South Koreans.And for those unable to hold a tune, there is no shortage of teachers who claim they can cure the tone-deaf.
    But now one karaoke teacher is drawing in huge numbers of customers because of his bizarre training methods.
    These women are taking part in weekly singing lessons at Midopa Cultural Centre to improve their singing skills.
    Some of them are attending this session to escape the scourge of "eumchi" or tone-deafness.
    All it takes is a plastic bucket and a strong will.That is what 37-year-old Lee Byung-won, owner of Lee Byoung-won's Eumchi Clinic tells his pupils.
    Sixty-year-old Lee Man-soon has been taking lessons for six months.
    What's different about Lee Byoung-won's method is the use of plastic buckets.Why buckets? Lee says singing with a bucket over your head helps you listen to your voice and helps you sing louder.
    "You don't have to look at anyone so you don't have to worry about being embarrassed," he says.
    "Goodbye eumchi!" yell these women.This is part of an exercise aimed at boosting one's confidence level.It is used to bring about a louder, richer sound.
    Forty-year-old Lee Jong-sook began taking lessons after hearing about Lee Byoung-won's special method.Although she was tone-deaf, after a few lessons, she began to see a marked improvement.
    "When I went to gatherings, I had to pay a fine for not singing when it was my turn but now people tell me that I have greatly improved," she said.
    Lee Byoung-won's class of 80 students meets weekly for three months and costs about fifty U.S.dollars.Those who are too embarrassed to sing with others or want a more in-depth one-on-one instruction can receive private lessons for a little over 400 hundred U.S.dollars (for three lessons).
    Lee defines "Eumchi" or "tone-deafness" as the inability to properly utilize the mind, vocal chords and stomach while singing.
    In order to sing the right way, Lee emphasises proper breathing by inhaling slowly, putting pressure in the abdomen and then exhaling.
    Lee says he has cured over 1,000 tone-deaf patients.His fame has spread as the line of customers grows longer.Lee now has a three-month long waiting list.
    Lee opened the clinic in 1991 after spending six months curing his "eumchi" friend who was suffering from stress because he didn't know how to sing.Lee comes from a musical background; he was a guitarist and then a singer.He turned to teaching after his musical career failed to take off.
    Park Chan-kyu prefers private lessons because he is too embarassed about his tone-deafness.
    "My friends don't tease me directly, but they laugh when I sing.There are so many gatherings where I am forced to sing and I can't," Park said.
    Lee's prescription for Park is to teach him how to make a good sound, how to catch the melodies of songs and finally boost his confidence level.
    Han Sang-chul and Shim Soon-taek are at Lee's clinic learning the basics.
    To improve abdominal breathing, he punches 30 year-old Han in the stomach.
    "I can now hold my voice longer because I learned to breath with my stomach," says Shim.
    Other ways to improve proper breathing is to sing or shout while standing upside down on your hands or while hugging a tree.For this purpose, Lee takes his long-suffering pupiles to a nearby mountain.
    Lee says tone-deafness can be cured.All you have to do is find where the problem lies -- in the mind, vocal chords or stomach.
    For anyone who wants to sing but fear that they'll only make a fool of themselves, take Lee's advice - put a bucket over your head or go out and hug the trees.
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