Traditional music of Korea

Traditional Korean music includes both the folk and court music styles of the Korean people.

See Music of South Korea and Music of North Korea for contemporary Korean music.

Folk Music

Korean folk music is varied and complex, but all forms maintain a set of rhythms (called Jangdan) and a loosely defined set of melodic modes.

Because the folk songs of various areas are categorized under Dongbu folk songs, their vocal styles and modes are diverse. Therefore, currently scholars are attempting to categorize the Dongbu folk songs further based on different musical features. These songs are mostly simple and bright. Namdo folk songs are those of Jeolla Province and a part of Chungcheong Province. While the folk songs of other regions are mostly musically simple, the folk songs of the Namdo region, where the famous musical genres pansori and sanjo were created, are rich and dramatic. Some Namdo folk songs are used in pansori or developed by professional singers and are included as part of their repertories. Jeju folk songs are sung on the Jeju Island. They are more abundant in number than any other regional folk songs, and approximately 1600 songs are transmitted today. Jeju folk songs are characterized by their simple and unique melodic lines and rich texts.

Pansori

Pansori is a long vocal and percussive music played by one singer and one drummer. The lyrics tell one of five different stories, but is individualized by each performer, often with updated jokes and audience participation. One of the most famous pansori singers is Pak Tongjin.

Nongak

Nongak is a rural form of percussion music, typically played by twenty to thirty performers. A smaller band version of nongak became very popular in Korea in the late 1970s, and some bands, like Samul Nori, even found some international success.

Sanjo

Sanjo is entirely instrumental that shifts rhythms and melodic modes during the song. Instruments include the changgo drum set against a melodic instrument, such as the gayageum or ajaeng. Famous practitioners include Kim Chukpa, Yi Saenggang and Hwang Byungki.

Classical music

The fine range of Korean symphonic orchestras have been bolstered by notable performers, and soloists, as well as highly skilled orchestra directors.

Internationally known Korean composers of classical music include such notables as: Yi Suin, who specializes in music for children, and his famous "Song of My Homeland".

Korean classical music can be divided into at least four types: courtly, aristocratic, scholarly, and religious.

Court music

Modern orchestral Korean court music began its development with the beginning of the Choson Dynasty in 1392. It is now rare, except for government sponsored organizations like the The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts.

There are three types of court music.

One is called Aak, and is an imported form of Chinese ritual music, and another is a pure Korean form called Hyang-ak; the last is a combination of Chinese and Korean influences, and is called Dang-ak.

Aak

Aak was brought to Korea in 1116, and very popular for a time before dying out. It was revived in 1430, based on a reconstruction of older melodies. The music is now highly specialized, and uses just two different surviving melodies, and is played only at certain very rare concerts, such as the Sacrifice to Confucius in Seoul.

Dang-ak

Modern dangak, like aak, is rarely practiced. Only two short pieces are known; they are Springtime in Luoyang and Pacing the Void.

Hyang-ak

By far the most extant form of Korean court music today, hyangak includes a sort of oboe called a piri and various kinds of stringed instruments.

Aristocratic chamber music

Originally designed for upper-class rulers, to be enjoyed informally, chongak is often entirely instrumental, usually an ensemble playing one of nine suites that are collectively called Yongsan Hwesang. Vocals are mainly sung in a style called kagok, which is for mixed male and female singers and is accompanied by a variety of instruments.

Traditional music of Korea

Korean music is based on Buddhist and native shamanistic beliefs. Buddhist and shamanistic dancing, and shamanistic drum music, are extant, as is a melodic, jazzy dance music called sinawi. Traditional Korean instruments can be broadly divided into three groups: string, wind and percussion instruments. The 12-string zither (gayageum) and geomungo (six-string plucked zither) are part of the string fold instruments. The haegum (two-string vertical fiddle) and the seven-string zither is part of the string T'ang. String court include seven-string zither and the 25-string zither. The daegeum (large transverse flute), small flute, piri (cylindrical oboe) and grass flute are all called wind folk. Wind T'ang includes the Chinese oboe, vertical flute and hojok or taepyongso (conical oboe). The saenghwang (mouth organ), panpipes, hun (globular flute), flute with mouthpiece, danso (small-notch vertical flute), and flute are wind court instruments. Percussion folk instruments include large gong, small gong, folk drum, sound drum and folk hourglass drum. The clapper and the janggu (hourglass drum) are the percussion T'ang instruments. Percussion court includes the bronze bells, pyeongyeong (stone chimes), square wooden box with mallet and tiger-shaped wooden instrument.

Western Christian imported music

Main article: Korean Contemporary Christian music

With the importation of Christianity, the evangelical use of music for prosletizying has led to many choirs, both within and without churches, and the importation of traditional American styles of Christian folksongs sung in Korean.

Modern world music

Korean traditional instruments have been integrated into western percussion, and are beginning a new wave of Korean world music since 1998. Traditional instruments are amplified, and sampled, with traditional songs rescored for new age audiences.

References

• Provine, Rob, Okon Hwang, and Andy Kershaw (2000). "Our Life Is Precisely a Song". In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 160-169. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• Culture of Korea
• Music of South Korea
• Music of North Korea
• Traditional Korean musical instruments
• List of Korean musicians
• The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts

External links

• Kee Man Chang - Korean Art and Folk Songs Information and Downloadable MP3 Music
• A Study of Musical Instruments in Korean Traditional Music (The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Republic of Korea, 1998]
• http://www.indiana.edu/~easc/resources/korea_slides/dance_and_music/7-1.htm
• Culture & Arts in Korea: Trends in Music
• Overview of Traditional Korean Music