Musicians - John Myung

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	Musicians - John Myung

John Ro Myung is the bassist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater.

Born on January 24, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois, to Korean parents, John Myung grew up in Long Island, New York. He played the violin from the age of five until he was asked to play electric bass in a local band when he was fifteen. He stuck with bass from then on, and after graduating from high school he enrolled at the Berklee College of Music, where he and high school friend John Petrucci (guitar) met future band mate Mike Portnoy (drums). The three of them formed the band Majesty with another friend from high school, keyboardist Kevin Moore, and vocalist Chris Collins. They would later be known as Dream Theater.

Though Dream Theater is his primary focus musically, he has appeared in a number of other projects through his career. His first non-Dream Theater venture was in the pop-prog band Platypus with Rod Morgenstein, Ty Tabor and ex-Dream Theater bandmate Derek Sherinian. He is also a member of Jelly Jam, which consists of the same line-up as Platypus, but without Sherinian. John's main influences include Chris Squire, Steve Harris, Geddy Lee and Cliff Burton and their respective bands Yes, Iron Maiden, Rush and Metallica.

Apart from his membership in these bands, he has appeared as a guest on numerous records (see Discography below).

Personality

Myung has somewhat become the mystery member of Dream Theater, as he rarely ever seems to speak or draw attention to himself in videos or concerts, a fact that made many fans wonder if anyone has ever seen him speak. (He does speak in DVD commentaries and obviously on his instruction video.) His mysterious persona was emphasized when at a show in Germany, he went over to James LaBrie and tackled him American football-style, much to the confusion and amazement to both the audience and the rest of the band; a move that later became known as the "Myung-tackle". Jordan Rudess has suggested in his tour diary that Myung was probably dared in a bet to perform the move.

Myung is famous for his practice-principles; on the Scenes from New York DVD, Kevin Shirley states that John Myung is the only musician he knows who warms down after a show. In a forum post, John Petrucci said that back at Berklee, Myung and him had a pact of practicing at least six hours every day.

Equipment

John began playing bass at the relatively late age of 16, but because of his classically trained background on the violin he was able to move quickly from his beginner-level "Memphis" brand Precision bass copy to a salmon-colored four-string Fender Jazz bass. He also began to develop a unique playing style high on the neck, adding counterpoint lines and melodies to the band's material which is also not typically heard in traditional "rock" music. He was also a heavy user of effects not typically heard on the bass guitar to better bring out his distinctive style.

For Dream Theater's debut album When Dream and Day Unite, John played a heavily-modified (with added front pickup sending a signal to a full-time "effected" amplifier while the stock rear pickup supplied a more traditional "bass" sound to a "clean" amp, much like influence Billy Sheehan) Ernie Ball/MusicMan Stingray four-string bass as well as his four-string Fender Jazz Bass, with the Stingray seeing the vast majority of local NYC-area live performances in this period (1988-1992).

John used a 4-string Spector bass for the recording of Images and Words in 1992, but made the technically challenging switch to six-string basses for their upcoming touring of America, Europe, and Japan, using several high-end Tobias "Basic" line of basses - at least two, a red-stained and "cherry sunburst" that can be seen and heard on various Dream Theater home videos and on the "Live At The Marquee" EP released in 1993. John continued to use Tobias throughout the "Images And Tour" and "Music In Progress" tours from 1992 to late 1993.

For Dream Theater's Awake album, John became the primary endorser of "Tung Basses", a small company formed by ex-Tobias luthier Nicholas Tung. John owned at least three of the only 100 instruments constructed, two "Wingbass II Bolt-on" six-strings (one natural and one sunburst, both with maple tops, ash bodies and maple necks with rosewood fretboards) and one "Wingbass II Hybrid (a "half neck-through" with spalted maple top, ash body, and maple neck and fretboard.) The natural-finish Wingbass II bolt-on became his main live instrument for the "Waking Up The World" and "A Change of Seasons" tours, although you can see the other two used in his "Progressive Bass Concepts" instructional video. During this period he also used a Hamer acoustic bass guitar for "unplugged" radio shows and live performances. For amplification, John was using Mesa Boogie Strategy 400 power amps, a Mesa Boogie Bass 400+, and a modified Mesa Boogie Triaxis guitar preamp.

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Musicians - John Myung

Personality

Equipment

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