Korean Traditional Music & Dance

Korean Traditional Music and Dance

Sound of Korea

Gugak is a modern terminology which is basically made up of the words ‘guk’ (which means national or korean) and ‘ak” (which means music). Gugak has been developed over 5000 years and its beauty symbolizes the uniqueness of Koreaness and comprehends the assimilated characteristics connected to East-Asian aesthetics. The Korean music we can hear nowadays kept the forms shaped in Chosum Dynasty (1392-1910) During the chosun dynasty, different kinds of music were played depending on what kind of places and people were performing. Some music was performed among commoners; some music enjoyed a large patronage of aristocrats and literati; some music was performed at the court’ and some music was used in rituals associated with Shamanism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.

Korean Traditional Instruments

Ajaeng

Ajaeng is a Korean traditional musical instrument. It has twisted silk strings stretched over a wooden sound board and played with a wooden stick drawn across the strings like a bow. Among traditional instruments it makes the lowest pitch. There are two types of ajaeng, one for court music and the other for folk music. It has been played in Korea since the 7th century.

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Korean Music Genres

The Korean traditional music also can be divided into two main genres, court music and folk music. Even in the category of court music and folk music, there are a number of subgroups depending on the contexts the music is performed in.

Original video source © Gugak Centre

Court Music

Even in the category of court music, there are a number of subgroups depending on the contexts the music is performed in. Some of the court music “was performed at functions of the historical royal court by the ruling elite. The ritual music includes the music for the religious ceremony, banquet and military procession held in the royal palaces.

Among them, the Royal Ancestral Shrine Ritual Music (which is called Jongmyo Jeryeak in Korean; the video on the left hand side) is one of the representative pieces performed when royal people held a ceremony for the repose of their ancestors in the Shrine, Chong myo.

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Pungryu

Pungnyu is a term referring to the chamber music of the literati class. ‘Pung’ means wind and ‘ryu’ means ‘stream’ and the word describes the mind state and attitude to perceive the artistic qualities of this work.

Folk Music

Even in the category of folk music, there are a number of subgroups depending on the contexts the music is performed in (click). Folk songs: “ the folk songs retain some regional characteristics and identified with particular geographical areas. Each of the region has its own musical style and techniques. Farmers band: “Farmers percussion bands had a function in ritual, work and entertainment (Howard 1997: 929).” The folk bands consist of drumming, dancing, and singing. “During the first full moon of lunar new year, bands in many Korean villages marched from house to house to exorcised demons and, often, to collect funds for village project. Korea is the only country where shamanism appears to have been a state religion, that shamanic ritual in Korea have developed highly complex and established forms. Professional music for vocal and instruments: As the folk music developed, the range of the audiences included not only folkloric people but also aristocratics. To meet their expectation and standard, the folk music became more complex and established. Some well-trained and talented musicians polished a certain kind of Korean folk music into professional genres.

Sanjo (산조)

Gut (굿)

Contemporary Music

Korean traditional music and dance has now become a global favourite, spanning Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas. A new generation of Korean traditional musicians is seeing the tradition differently from earlier practitioners. The Korean traditional music began to be performed in diverse contexts being integrated with classical European music, jazz, world music and K-Pop in the 21 century.