Korean String Instruments
Zither, Hammered Dulcimer and Fiddle - Three Typical Instruments of Korean Music
Gugak (국악) literally means "traditional music". In this term, songs and dances are also included because in some music genres, they form an inseparablakinge unit.
The history of Korean music dates back to the 15th century when Asia’s oldest system of notation jeongganbo developed in Korea. In this time, a special ritual music evolved that was played during royal ancestor ceremonies. This kind of music was declared Immaterial World Heritage in 2001.
Gugak embraces as well this traditional music with a history of many centuries as newly composed music based on traditional playing techniques or melodic structures.
Korean music is characterized by improvisation; there are no breaks between musical pieces. Traditional music divides into two groups, jeongak und minsogak.
Jeongak (정악) is a general term for traditional music which is subdivided into several genres. Examples are the above-mentioned ritual music for the royal family’s ancestors or the court music tangak / dangak (당악) originating from China.
Originally, traditional music based on Buddhist chants but developed later into purely instrumental music. Typical instruments are different types of Korean zithers, the fiddle haegeum and the hourglass drum chang ko, which is also presented at the Mission Museum.
The pace follows human breath; this type of music is slow and solemn and has a meditative character.
On the contrary, the folk music minsogak (민속악) is rather quick and expresses emotions, its pace is based on the human heartbeat. Among the minsogak genres is e.g. shinawi, an improvisation coming from the old Shaman culture as well as pansori, often called “one-man-opera”; here, a barrel drum player accompanies a singer. A pansori performance can be as long as eight hours without a break.
Today, the old sounds are modernized in Korea. Traditional music and dance groups of the younger generations use electronic beats to spice up traditional musical pieces.
Mission Museum's seven-string zither ajaeng, the hammered dulcimer yanggeum and the fiddle haegeum are presented below.
Zither (ajaeng 아쟁)
The seven-string bowed zither ajaeng is one of several types of Korean zither; it is played with a straight forsythia twig or, in its modern form, with a wooden bow with horsehair. In contrast to other Korean zithers, where one end lies on the thighs of the kneeling musician, the ajaeng is heightened by a low wooden stool.
The zither is used in traditional court music; it has movable bridges for tuning the strings. When a note is played with the bow the string starts to vibrate. With the finger of the other hand, the string is pressed down repeatedly behind the bridge. The result is a deep, rich sound with a sort of vibrato that spans up to four notes. This most typical characteristic of Korean music is called nonghyeon, “playing around with the string”.
Here you can listen to an introduction to ajaeng and see how it is played.
Hammered dulcimer (yanggeum 양금)
In contrast to the zither, the yanggeum (yang = West, i.e. „Western string instrument“) has a clear, bright sound. Traditionally, the strings are played with a bamboo stick; today a special form of mallets is used, similar to the ones used in Bavarian folk music.
The trapezoidal wooden body of the instrument has 14 groups of 4 metal strings each. The back and top plates are made of very durable paulownia, which is one of the most lightweight types of wood. Therefore, the yanggeum has hardly any weight. The instrument’s sides are made of hwari wood; the bridges consist of bamboo.
The yanggeum originates in Central Asia; it was called hammered dulcimer or santur. With the crusades the instrument was brought to Europe and is said to have inspired the clavichord and later the piano. Jesuit Matteo Ricci brought the yanggeum to China; from there it was imported to Korea by a diplomatic envoy in the late 18th century.
However, Korean music differs a lot from European music. Initially, it was difficult to play Korean music with the yanggeum because the popular vibrato noghyeon is very hard to produce. Today, the instrument is used a lot in newly composed Korean music and in interpretations of classical music.
Here is an example of a yanggeum piece.
Fiddle (haegeum 해금)
Together with the ajaeng zither, the fiddle builds the melodic structure in court music. Both are considered wind instruments in Korea because, in contrast to plucked strings, they are able to produce a continuous sound.
The horse hair bow strings are directed between the two strings. The pitch is varied by the position and pressure of the hand on the strings.
Haegeum is the only traditional Korean instrument consisting of all eight materials used in instrument making – metal, stone, silk, bamboo, gourd, soil, leather and wood.
As the resonating body is rather small, the instrument is not very loud. The haegeum play produces intense tones similar to the human voice and expresses emotions like joy and laments.
Here you can listen to an introduction to haegeum and how it is played.
