Traditional
Korean music includes both the
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
and
courtKorean court music refers to the music developed in the Joseon Dynasty . Very little is known about the court music of earlier Korean kingdoms and dynasties.It was partly modeled on the court music of China, known as yayue...
music styles of the
Korean peopleThe Korean people are an ethnic group originating in East Asia. Most Koreans speak the Korean language.-Names:South Koreans call Koreans Han-guk-in —or simply 한인/Han-in for South Koreans living abroad—or informally Hanguk saram , while North Koreans call Koreans Chosŏn-in or Chosŏn saram...
.
See
Music of South KoreaThe first evidence of Korean music is ancient, and it has been well-documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Japan's invasion of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief...
and
Music of North KoreaThe first evidence of Korean music is ancient, and it has been well-documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Japan's invasion of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief...
for contemporary Korean music.
Korean music is based on
BuddhistKorean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Mahayana Buddhism. Early Korean monks believed that the traditions they received from foreign countries were internally inconsistent. To address this, they developed a new...
and
native shamanisticKorean shamanism encompasses a variety of indigenous beliefs and practices that have been influenced by Buddhism and Taoism. In contemporary Korean, shamanism is known as muism and a shaman is known as a mudang...
beliefs. Buddhist and shamanistic dancing, and shamanistic drum music, are extant, as is a
melodicA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
,
dance musicThis article is about dance music in general. You may also be looking for electronic dance music or dance-pop.Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
called
sinawiSinawi, sometimes spelled shinawi, is a traditional form of Korean music. It is performed improvisationally by a musical ensemble, and traditionally accompanies the rites of Korean shamanism. The style first emerged in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces, but is now widespread...
.
Traditional Korean music can be divided into at least four types: courtly, aristocratic, scholarly, and religious.
Korean
folk musicThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
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 limited.
Traditional
Korean music includes both the
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
and
courtKorean court music refers to the music developed in the Joseon Dynasty . Very little is known about the court music of earlier Korean kingdoms and dynasties.It was partly modeled on the court music of China, known as yayue...
music styles of the
Korean peopleThe Korean people are an ethnic group originating in East Asia. Most Koreans speak the Korean language.-Names:South Koreans call Koreans Han-guk-in —or simply 한인/Han-in for South Koreans living abroad—or informally Hanguk saram , while North Koreans call Koreans Chosŏn-in or Chosŏn saram...
.
See
Music of South KoreaThe first evidence of Korean music is ancient, and it has been well-documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Japan's invasion of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief...
and
Music of North KoreaThe first evidence of Korean music is ancient, and it has been well-documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Japan's invasion of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief...
for contemporary Korean music.
Introduction
Korean music is based on
BuddhistKorean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what it sees as inconsistencies in Mahayana Buddhism. Early Korean monks believed that the traditions they received from foreign countries were internally inconsistent. To address this, they developed a new...
and
native shamanisticKorean shamanism encompasses a variety of indigenous beliefs and practices that have been influenced by Buddhism and Taoism. In contemporary Korean, shamanism is known as muism and a shaman is known as a mudang...
beliefs. Buddhist and shamanistic dancing, and shamanistic drum music, are extant, as is a
melodicA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
,
dance musicThis article is about dance music in general. You may also be looking for electronic dance music or dance-pop.Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
called
sinawiSinawi, sometimes spelled shinawi, is a traditional form of Korean music. It is performed improvisationally by a musical ensemble, and traditionally accompanies the rites of Korean shamanism. The style first emerged in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces, but is now widespread...
.
Traditional Korean music can be divided into at least four types: courtly, aristocratic, scholarly, and religious.
Folk music
Korean
folk musicThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
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 limited. 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
PansoriPansori is a genre of Korean traditional music. It is a vocal and percussional music performed by one sorikkun and one gosu...
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 TongjinPak Tongjin was the South Korean minister of foreign affairs in the 1970s....
.
Pungmul
Pungmul is a Korean folk music tradition that is a form of
percussionA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration...
music includes drumming, dancing, and singing. Most performances are outside, with tens of players, all in constant motion. It has been like
Samul NoriSamul nori is a genre of traditional percussion music originating in Korea. The word samul means "four objects" and nori means "play"; samul nori is always performed with four traditional Korean musical instruments:* Kkwaenggwari...
, even found some international success.
Sanjo
SanjoSanjo is a style of traditional Korean music, involving an instrumental solo accompanied by drumming on the janggu, an hourglass-shaped drum....
is played without a pause in faster tempos. It shifts rhythms and melodic modes during the song. The tempos increases in each movement. The general style of the sanjo is marked by slides in slow movements and rhythmic complexity in faster movements. Sanjo is entirely instrumental music that shifts rhythms and melodic modes during the song. Instruments include the changgo drum set against a melodic instrument, such as the
gayageumThe gayageum or kayagum is a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument, with 12 strings, although more recently variants have been constructed with 21 or other numbers of strings. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instrument. It is in the zither family...
or
ajaengThe ajaeng is a Korean string instrument. It is a long zither with strings made of twisted silk, played by means of a long, thin stick made of forsythia wood, which is scraped against the strings in the manner of a bow...
. Famous practitioners such as Kim Chukp'a,
Yi SaenggangYi Saenggang is a Korean musician and a famous practitioner of daegeum sanjo, an instrumental style of Korean music played on the daegeum, a large bamboo transverse flute...
and
Hwang ByungkiHwang Byungki is the foremost South Korean player of the gayageum, a 12-string zither with silk strings. Hwang is also a composer and an authority on Korean sanjo, a form of traditional Korean instrumental music....
.
Court music
Korean court musicKorean court music refers to the music developed in the Joseon Dynasty . Very little is known about the court music of earlier Korean kingdoms and dynasties.It was partly modeled on the court music of China, known as yayue...
preserved to date can be traced to 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 ArtsThe National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts , located in Seoul, South Korea, is the primary institution of learning for Korean traditional music....
.
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
AakAak is a genre of Korean court music. It is an imported form of Chinese ritual music. Aak is often labeled as "elegant music" in contrast with other traditional Korean music...
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
SeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest city of South Korea. With a population of over 10 million, it is one of the world's largest cities. The Seoul National Capital Area, which includes the major port city of Incheon and most of Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million...
.
Dang-ak
Modern
dangakDangak is a genre of traditional Korean court music. The name means "Tang music," and the style was first adapted from Tang Dynasty Chinese music during the Unified Silla period in the late first millennium...
, 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,
hyangakHyangak, literally "village music," is a traditional form of Korean court music with origins in the Three Kingdoms period . It is often accompanied by traditional folk dances of Korea, known as hyangak jeongjae...
includes a sort of
oboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, which is a small bassoon, called a
piriThe piri is a Korean double reed instrument, used in both the folk and classical music of Korea. It is made of bamboo. Its large reed and cylindrical bore gives it a sound mellower than that of many other types of oboe....
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
kagokGagok is a genre of Korean vocal music for mixed female and male voices.Accompaniments and interludes are played by a small ensemble of traditional Korean musical instruments.-External links:* *...
, which is for mixed male and female singers and is accompanied by a variety of instruments.
Traditional instruments
Traditional Korean instruments can be broadly divided into three groups: string, wind and percussion instruments.
The 12-string zither (
gayageumThe gayageum or kayagum is a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument, with 12 strings, although more recently variants have been constructed with 21 or other numbers of strings. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instrument. It is in the zither family...
) and
geomungoThe geomungo or hyeongeum is a traditional Korean stringed musical instrument of zither family instrument with both bridges and frets...
(six-string plucked zither) are part of the string fold instruments. The haegum (two-string vertical fiddle) and the
ajaengThe ajaeng is a Korean string instrument. It is a long zither with strings made of twisted silk, played by means of a long, thin stick made of forsythia wood, which is scraped against the strings in the manner of a bow...
(seven-string zither) is part of the string T'ang. Court string music also included use of the seven-string zither and the 25-string zither.
The
daegeumThe daegeum is a large bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. It has a buzzing membrane that gives it a special timbre...
(large transverse flute),
piriThe piri is a Korean double reed instrument, used in both the folk and classical music of Korea. It is made of bamboo. Its large reed and cylindrical bore gives it a sound mellower than that of many other types of oboe....
(cylindrical oboe) and grass flute are all called wind folk. Wind T'ang includes the Chinese oboe, vertical flute and hojok or taepyongso (shawm). The
saenghwangThe saenghwang is a Korean wind instrument. It is a free reed mouth organ derived from the Chinese sheng, though its tuning is different. It is constructed from 17 bamboo pipes, each with a metal free reed, mounted in a metal windchest...
(mouth organ), panpipes,
hunThe hun is a Korean ocarina made of baked clay or ceramic. It has a globular shape, with a blowing hole on top and several finger holes. It is used primarily in court music ensembles, although in the late 20th century some contemporary Korean composers began to use it in their compositions and...
(ocarina), flute with mouthpiece,
dansoThe danso is a Korean notched, end-blown vertical bamboo flute used in Korean folk music. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but in the 20th century it has also been made of plastic....
(small-notch vertical flute), and flute are wind court instruments.
Percussion folk instruments include
jingJing can refer to:Software:* Jing , formerly Jing ProjectPlaces:* Beijing, capital of China * Jinghe County, a town in Xinjiang, China...
(large hanging gong),
kkwaenggwariThe kkwaenggwari is a small flat gong used primarily in folk music of Korea. It is made of brass and is played with a hard stick. It produces a distinctively high-pitched, metallic tone that breaks into a cymbal-like crashing timbre when struck forcefully.It is particularly important in samul...
(hand-held gong),
bukThe buk is a traditional Korean drum. While the term buk is a native Korean word used as a generic term meaning "drum" , it is most often used to refer to a shallow barrel-shaped drum, with a round wooden body that is covered on both ends with animal skin...
(barrel drum),
jangguThe janggu or sometimes called seyogo is the most widely used drum used in the traditional music of Korea. It is available in most kinds, and consists of an hourglass-shaped body with two heads made from animal skin...
(hourglass drum). The bak (clapper) and the
jangguThe janggu or sometimes called seyogo is the most widely used drum used in the traditional music of Korea. It is available in most kinds, and consists of an hourglass-shaped body with two heads made from animal skin...
(hourglass drum) are the percussion T'ang instruments. Percussion court includes the pyeongjong (bronze bells),
pyeongyeongA pyeongyeong is a traditional Korean percussion instrument, a kind of stone chime or lithophone formed of sixteen L-shaped stone slabs suspended from a frame...
(stone chimes), chuk (square wooden box with mallet)and eo (tiger-shaped scraper).
See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- Culture of Korea
Korea, one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world, has over 5,000 years of history. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Korean peninsula has been inhabited for over 500,000 years...
- Music of South Korea
The first evidence of Korean music is ancient, and it has been well-documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Japan's invasion of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief...
- Music of North Korea
The first evidence of Korean music is ancient, and it has been well-documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Japan's invasion of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief...
- Traditional Korean musical instruments
Traditional Korean musical instruments comprise a wide range of string, wind, and percussion instruments.-String:Korean string instruments include those that are plucked, bowed, and struck...
- List of Korean musicians
- The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts
The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts , located in Seoul, South Korea, is the primary institution of learning for Korean traditional music....
- Gugak FM
Gugak FM is a South Korean radio broadcasting station specializing in Korean traditional music and culture. Its coverage extends through Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Jeonlado Province....
allocates lots of time for introducing traditional Korean arts
External links