Korean Music and Dance
Modern Koreans have inherited a rich musical tradition from the many dynasties of the past. It draws from folk songs, Chinese-style court music, Buddhist worship, and Confucian rites. These different…
Location: North Korea; South Korea
Traditional Musical Instruments of Korea
Modern Koreans have inherited a rich musical tradition from the many dynasties of the past. It draws from folk songs, Chinese-style court music, Buddhist worship, and Confucian rites. These different elements each contributed to Korean music but never defined it. Instead, musicians adapted new styles to Korean tastes. This tradition has continued to the present day, most notably in the booming K-pop industry.
Musicians of the Joseon dynasty played many different instruments. Common stringed instruments included the four-stringed Tang-bip'a lute and komun'go zithers. They also crafted flutes and pipes from bamboo, pottery. For percussion, there was the large kyobanggo drum and a of chimes. One type of chime, the panghyang, is made up of 16 iron slabs, differing only in their thickness. They are similar to p'yonjong bell chimes and their stone counterparts, p'yon'gyong.[1]
Folk Traditions in Korean Music
For historic Korean villagers, music and dance served as more than just entertainment. When wielded by shamans, they became spiritual tools as well. A typical kut brought families together to sing, laugh, cry, and dance as a form of spiritual therapy. In some cases, improvised mask plays poked fun at the elite yangban. Kut ceremonies inspired many Korean folk dances and are practiced by believers today.[2]
Over time, the dances became a popular form of expression for commoners. P'ansori dramas told folktales as a musical duet between singer and drummer. Masked dances played out humorous stories skewering the yangban. Farmers sang nongak work-songs in the fields and danced at the end of the day. Nongak is an especially important cultural tradition in Korea. Although they are no longer associated with village deities and spirits, nongak customs like the pungmul ribbon dance are still taught in Korean schools. The older art forms have led to a new genre of traditional music known as samullori.[3]
Music of the Joseon Dynasty
Joseon court music followed a pentatonic scale and ternary rhythm. Singers performed the same melody as musicians, backed by regular drumbeats. At official courts, trained musicians performed ballads, folk songs, and Confucian rites.[1]
Gisaeng Dancers at Yangban Courts
The folk dances inspired by kut ceremonies were almost always performed by men. Even female roles went to men according to Confucian custom. The dances of Joseon courts, however, were performed by women known as gisaeng. Gisaeng served courts as courtesans, dancers, and musicians. Their order began in the 11th century under the Goryeo dynasty.
Unlike most women, gisaeng were educated from the age of eight in the arts, music, literature, medicine, and conversation. The dances they performed were equally skillful. Despite this, they were considered one of the lowest classes of polite Korean society. Many were the daughters of other gisaeng and slaves to the state.[4]
K-Pop and Modern Korean Music
In recent decades, Korean musicians have picked up Western pop music and run with it. The resulting K-pop industry quickly grew into a global phenomenon. The industry . It is widely popular in nations like China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and, increasingly, the United States. The success of South Korea's music and dramas, known as the Korean Wave, has been instrumental in its economic expansion. By bringing Korean culture to developing nations, the nation hopes to open new doors for its businesses as well.[5]
Bibliography
Jonathan Condit, Music of the Korean Renaissance: Songs and Dances of the Fifteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 15-45.
Haeyoung Jeong, Archaeology of Psychotherapy in Korea: A Study of Korean Therapeutic Work and Professional Growth (London: Routledge, 2015).
Keith Howard, "Reviving Korean Identity Through Intangible Cultural Heritage" in The Oxford Handbook of Music Revival, ed. Caroline Bithell and Juniper Hill (New York , NY: Oxford University Press, 2016), 135-160.
Joshua D. Pilzer, "The Twentieth-Century "Disappearance" of the Gisaeng During the Rise of Korea's Modern Sex-and-Entertainment Industry" in The Courtesan's Arts: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Martha Feldman and Bonnie Gordon, eds. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006), 296-297.
Euny Hong, The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture (New York: Picador, 2014).
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