Nine-Year-Old Musical Prodigy Rocks Out on His Electric Guitar

9-Year-Old Guitar Prodigy Soulfully Plays the Blues Better Than Many Adults

By Sarah Currier on July 15, 2024

In many ways, Junxi Lu is an average 9-year-old boy. He enjoys playing with his friends and dressing up in colorful clothes and wigs. But he also has a passion for music that far exceeds his age, as he is incredibly skilled at playing both the classical and electric guitar.

The young guitar prodigy, better known as Maituo, began learning the classical guitar in 2020 and picked up the electrical guitar in 2021. Being that he was born on March 8, 2015, it means that he was only 5 years old when he started his musical journey in mastering these instruments. While this isn't necessarily unusual, Maituo's skill with the guitar is what is truly extraordinary and sets him apart from his peers. At only 9 years old, he's able to play songs with the musical prowess of people far older than him.

Maituo's musical portfolio is as expansive as it is impressive. He soulfully plays blues songs, almost seeming like a mini B.B. King as he closes his eyes, feeling each string being plucked like a tugging of his own heartstrings. He can also shred along to hard rock and metal songs, recently coming up on stage during a performance in Thailand to play the iconic guitar solo in Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns ‘N Roses. Even more impressively, he plays all of these songs on a full-size adult guitar. Even when the track requires him to stretch his arms all the way out to hit certain notes along the fingerboard, Maituo never misses a note. His lightning-quick fingerpicking is also a wonder to marvel at.

So how did this child become so good at playing the guitar? It seems that Maituo's skill is a mix of practice and perhaps genetics, as the young boy isn't the only talented musician in his family. His father is also a guitarist and many of the guitars that Maituo plays on are from his father's personal collection. It goes without saying but the child's father is also his tutor. Maituo also has a 7-year-old sister who is extremely gifted on the drums. She's able to play an impressive number of songs with her eyes closed. The brother-sister duo often rock out together at their in-home studio. Maituo's father records and then uploads their performances to their social media pages.

To keep up to date with the young guitarist, you can follow Maituo on Instagram and YouTube.