Lesson 3 Korean Music Koreas folk music tradition

Lesson 3: Korean Music Korea's folk music tradition, with its generous use of bright rhythms and melodies, offers a more energetic and capricious contrast to the nation's collection of classical music works. Folk music represents the soul and sound of traditional Korean villages with an eclectic array of music forms including numerous folk songs, various forms of instrumental pieces, pansori, and shaman ritual music. Chong-ak means literally "right (or correct) music", and its tradition includes both instrumental and vocal music, which were cultivated mainly by the upper-class literati of the Joseon society. Chong-ak also refers to ensemble music for men of high social status outside of the court. In this category, three important terms are a-ak, tang-ak, and hyang-ak. Sog-ak or minsogak is a category of Korean music traditionally associated with the lower classes or for the general public and are vibrant and energetic. It includes genres such as pansori and minyo. Pansori is a kind of music presented to audiences by skilled vocal singers and drummers. But even the unskilled could sing these songs. They sang when they worked in the rice paddy or fields, sang when they went off their lover and sang when their life was troubled and weighing them down.

Instrumental music of Korean music especially in South Korea has a rich vocal tradition, and diverse instruments and music forms. Folk songs, religious works, court music, and shaman rituals all express the soul of a nation whose history is filled with colorful and fascinating tales. Traditional Korean music represents a world of captivating rhythms and melodies whose sounds draw listeners in like a breath. Koreans sang songs when they could not hold their sadness in. Traditional Korean instruments can be broadly divided into three groups: string, wind, and percussion instruments.

String Instruments • 1. Kayagum (gayageum) - is a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument, with 12 strings, although more recently variants have been constructed with 21 or more numbers of strings. It is probably the best-known traditional Korean musical instrument. • 2. Geomungo - Six-string plucked zither is a traditional Korean stringed musical instrument of the zither family of instruments with both bridges and frets. Scholars believe that the name refers to Goguryeo and translates to "Goguryeo zither" or that it refers to the colour and translates to "black crane zither". • 3. Haegum (two-string vertical fiddle) – It has a rodlike neck, a hollow wooden soundbox, two silk strings, and is held vertically on the knee of the performer and played with a bow.

Wind Instruments • Piri - used in both the folk and classical (court) 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. Percussion Instrument • Changgo - 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. The two heads produce sounds of different pitch and timbre, which when played together are believed to represent the harmony of man and woman.