John Myung solo projects John Myung major collaboration projects John Myung minor collaboration projects

John in action

John Myung

John Ro Myung (pronounced My-ung) 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.

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 of both the audience and the rest of the band; this move later became known as the "Myung-tackle". According to Lifting Shadows Myung was dared in a bet by the production office to perform the move.

Myung is famous for his practicing 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, he and Myung had a pact of practicing at least six hours every day.

Discography

In respect of side projects, I have split these into solo work, where the band member has issued work under their own name, major collaborations and minor collaborations. For major collaborations, I would expect that the band member was significantly involved in a substantial part of the work, whereas for minor collaborations, their involvement is only on a single song or is incidental to the work as a whole.