Music of Korea

• Korea is an East Asian country divided into two separate countries: South Korea and North Korea.
• North Korea has a communist government with its capital in Pyongyang, while South Korea has a government that is strongly anti-communist and the capital city is Seoul.
• The name given to Korea is Joseon, meaning “Land of the Morning Calm”.
• Sujech’on has a slow tempo and irregular meter, and is played by the piri.
• Sujech’on is one of the most famous pieces of banquet music and the most popular instrumental composition.
• Sujech’on is 1,300 years old and predates the first compilation of Gregorian chants.
• Traditional Korean Music uses a triple time signature for rhythm.
• Sijo is a short lyrical song and is the simplest of the three vocal forms.
• The melody of traditional Korean Music uses a pentatonic scale.
• Traditional Korean Music has a monophonic texture.
• Chong-ak is music associated with the ruling classes or royal people of Korea.
• There are two kinds of Chong-ak: Aak, performed inside the palace, and Min’ganchong-ak, performed outside of the court.
• Chong-ak has three vocal forms: Kasa, a long narrative song, Kagok, a lyrical song, and P’ansori, a form of storytelling through song.
• Samulnori is a virtuoso quartet percussion ensemble consisting of the jing, kwaenggwari, janggu, and buk.
• Pungmul is the outdoor band ensemble composed of drums, gongs, and taepyongso.
• Sinawi Ensemble accompanies the rites of Korean Shamanism and includes the piri, haegum, janggu, buk, and daegum.
• Gayageum is a board zither which has a dozen strings with different thickness.
• Haegum is a bamboo instrument with two silk strings, played with a bow.
• Hyang-bipa is a five-stringed instrument played with a pick that is one of the three types of stringed lutes of the Silla dynasty.
• Yanggeum is a hammered dulcimer with metal strings.
• P’iri is a cylindrically-shaped bamboo instrument with a double-reed mouth piece similar to the oboe.
• Taepyongso is a high-pitched double-reed pipe.
• Saenghwang is a mouth organ with 17 bamboo tubes.
• Choktae is like a flute, but looks like a clarinet.
• Jing is a brass gong used for ceremonial music.
• Buk is a low-pitched barrel drum, played with a single wooden mallet.
• Bak is a wooden clapper used in Korean court and ritual music.
• Kpop generally refers to South Korean popular music which is a fusion of synthesized music, sharp dance routines, and fashionable and colorful outfits.