Though Asian girl bands such as Japan's AKB48 and South Korea's Wonder Girls are gaining fame around the world, Taiwanese performer Shara Lin goes them one better, she is her own band, playing violin, zither and piano.
Now her musical multi-tasking is on global display in a training video of her performing Taiwanese artist Jolin Tsai's song ‘Dancing Diva’ that has racked up more than 4 million views on YouTube within three weeks.
Lin, a 25-year-old actress who has a music degree, put the performance together within five days for a blend of classical and Taiwanese pop music that has her tucking the violin under her chin and stretching out as needed to both piano and zither.
"I think the toughest part is to play the piano and the zither simultaneously. We tried many times to figure out this position for my left hand to play the piano, and right hand to play the zither," Lin said.
"When I have to look at both the piano and the zither, I really wished my eyes could grow wider apart. If I have to play (them) together, I must play by feel."
Lin started to play the piano at age three. Her interest in music soon expanded into other instruments including the violin, zither, guitar, jazz drums and harmonica.
Lin said she is willing to try other creative performances in the wake of her YouTube success.
"After people saw this video, they suggested that I can play the drum with my foot and also add the harmonica," she said.
"I said okay, I will consider that."