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What is Korean music?
What are the different types of South Korean music?
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Does South Korea still have traditional music?
Traditional music ( 국악; gugak; lit. national music [1]) produced by Korea includes court music, folk music, poetic songs, and religious music used in shamanistic and Buddhist traditions. [2] Modern music includes K-pop ( 케이팝; keipap ), the popular music of South Korea.
- Overview
- Shaman music
Korean music, the art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression, specifically as it is carried out in Korea, or the Korean peninsula, where a strong indigenous tradition has been influenced by the Chinese and the Mongols.
On a map the Korean peninsula, which comprises the countries of North Korea and South Korea, looks like a finger pointing from the top of China down to the lower part of Japan. Thus, one would expect its music to reflect its “bridge” position between two such powerful traditions. The movements of foreign, particularly Chinese, armies and cultures are indeed major factors in Korea’s tradition. But beneath these reflections lies a deeper core of indigenous musical styles that, at first hearing, seem most strange to the ear of listeners with preconceived notions as to what East Asian music sounds like. A possible additional factor in the growth of Korean music is the region’s position as a peninsula jutting out from Manchuria and from the native ground of many Mongolian hordes. Archaeological sources indicate that various Mongol peoples from northern Asia did indeed occupy areas of Korea from at least 2000 bce, and Chinese writings show that their people and armies were active in Korea from the period of the Chinese Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) on. Obviously, a study of Korean music contains riches extending far beyond its geographic borders.
The earliest references to music in Korea are found in a 3rd-century-ce Chinese text that comments on agricultural festivals (nong’ak) with singing and dancing among the tribes of northwestern Korea. Such events are still a strong part of Korean life. Another ancient but long-lived tradition in Korea is shamanism, or communication with the unseen world by a shaman in a state of trance. This is of special interest because such a belief is historically characteristic not only of all northern Asian tribes but also of other peoples (such as Eskimos [Inuit]) who live in the northernmost regions of the world. Korea is one of the few regions south of the Arctic that maintains strong shamanism in the face of foreign religious adoptions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity.
A female Korean shaman (mudang) may use many combinations of musical instruments. The simplest and potentially most significant accompaniment is a small, flat gong with a slight rim. It brings to mind the single-headed pan drum with a wooden or bone hoop found in the shamanism of most of Central Asia and in the Arctic Circle as far away as Lapland and Hudson Bay. A drum sound itself is produced in Korea by the most popular percussion instrument, the changgo, an hourglass-shaped, two-headed drum struck by the hand on the left head and a stick or a ball-headed beater on the other. In Korean shaman rituals, flutes, double reeds, fiddles, and other gongs and drums may be used that at first sight may appear rather Chinese. The sound, however, creates a totally different impression.
- William P. Malm
Korean Traditional Music, Gugak 국악 상 음악 + Presentation (Century’s recording : The National Center) - YouTube. Traditional Korean music has long had its own identity, with its own...
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Jun 10, 2017 · Traditional Korean Music – Korean Festival - YouTube. Fantasy & World Music by the Fiechters. 713K subscribers. Subscribed. 7.1K. 387K views 6 years ago #asianmusic #asian...
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Contemporary South Korean music can be divided into three different main categories: Traditional Korean folk music, popular music, or K-pop, and Western-influenced non-popular music.
Jul 6, 2023 · Learn about the rich cultural heritage of Gugak, a genre of Korean traditional music that has been passed down for centuries. Discover the different genres, instruments, and performers of Gugak, and how it reflects the diverse experiences and emotions of the Korean people.
Oct 20, 2022 · Discover the many instruments of Korea. Learn about Korean culture. Learn about what each instrument is used for. Also, check out our post on these instruments from Japan. The Korean people are known for their cultural heritage and traditional music that have spanned centuries.
