Traditional Korean Music
Hi everyone ! This week I am learning about different cultures in Asia. I wanted to dive deeper into things we haven't explored yet like Korea. I rarely hear anything about traditional Korean music and their cultures as it is. So I thought it would be cool to cover it, hope y'all enjoy!
First thing on my list is a Daegeum, it is a traditional Korean instrument that came from Korean folklore. This folklore claimed this flute to be the harbinger of peace, harmony, and wellness. It is a crosswise flute with a deep buzzing sound. It is constructed of bamboo that is made into two sizes of flutes. The first one is called a Jeong-ak Daegeum, that is 90cm in length, and is mostly used in classical/aristocratic music. Then the smaller second flute is called Sanjo Daegeum, it is about 75cm in length, and mostly played in folk music. The Daegeum outline consists of 8 holes, of which 6 are for your fingers. The top hole is for blowing, and the bottom hole is for tuning. This instrument is the most popular among the other traditional instruments such as Jing, Janggo, Bak, and Tanso (the link has information on all the other instruments, if you are interested ).
The second thing I wanted to cover is what traditional Korean music is. Although traditional Korean music is not as popular as Korean Pop music, its roots are still everywhere in today's music. Gugak is used when referring to the traditional music meaning national music. The Korean music started up in the 15th century during King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty. After that it only furthermore expanded into more arts like folk dance, pottery, painting and calligraphy, and handicrafts. Most of the traditional Korean songs contain membranophones, chordophones, aerophones, but typically contain no lyrics. Unless if its Pansori, which is a musical storytelling that is usually performed by a duo containing a singer and a drummer. It is made up of body movements, singing, and chanting that goes along with the Korean drum Buk. The Pansori contain five love stories that are Sugungga, Jeokbyeokga , Heungbuga, Simcheongga, and Chunhyangga. Today I will be showing you a video of Chunhyang where it tells a story of a girl who gets secretly married, but the husband has to move to Seoul on a trip. During this trip she is almost brought into marriage with the corrupt official but is finally rescued at the last minute. Enjoy !
The daegeum seems like a really cool instrument! I personally like folk music so I will have to look up some songs that I know and see if this instrument is used within it. I also liked the videos, it is really fun to see the many different ways that cultures perform.
ReplyDeleteHey! I appreciate you delving deeper into the music in Korea! The daegeum is a very interesting instrument! It is amazing how many different types of flutes there are all around the world. Some made of wood, others made out of metal. I also enjoyed being able to see the syncretism in the Korean Pop music and how it is similar in some ways to our pop music currently.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really cool that there's an entire story that gets told through music with only a singer and a drummer. Usually when you hear about live storytelling performances, you think of musicals or ballet, all of which have multiple people and occasionally a band, so seeing something so similar but also so different is super interesting. And the Buchaechum is so pretty! I love any kind of dancing with fans or ribbons or flags.
ReplyDeleteSince I researched Japanese music for my blog, it was interesting to see the similarities between Korean and Japanese music. The daegeum seems really similar to the shakuhachi, which is a Japanese flute. The Buchaechum is pretty cool as well.
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing about the cultural music of Korea. The form of storytelling shown, Chunhyang, was very interesting, especially the amount of emotion and expression conveyed. I also enjoyed the folk dancing, it is very pretty to watch and very synchronized.
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