Korean Folk Music

Music has always been a part of countries' histories, growing and evolving until what it is today. Even with modernized music, traditional music still impacts people today. Music in South Korea has developed heavily over the years, being a large part of culture. The oldest references to music in Korea is from agricultural festivals that heavily involved dancing and singing in the northwestern tribes of Korea. 

Let’s start off discussing the foundations of Korean folk music. Jangdan (장단) is the rhythms used in folk music. In the music performed in traditional Korean folk plays, it is the beat and rhythm formed over a set unit of time. Jangdan is used in masked dance-drama (gamyeongeuk), puppet plays (inhyeonggeuk), and in dramas performed in shaman rites (gut nori). There are also two vague and broad categories for jangdan rhythm: instrumental music and songs. 

For the jangdan for instrumental music, there are multiple types of rhythms. Some examples are: “yeombul jangdan (rhythm of Buddhist chanting), taryeong jangdan (folk rhythm), gutgeori jangdan (rhythm of shaman rites), and jajinmori jangdan (fast-tempo rhythm)” (“Jangdan.”). The examples mentioned previously normally accompany masked-dance drama. They also are all used all over Korea, but they can differ in tempo, strength or weakness of sound & form, and the development of the rhythm.

Folk songs originated from different regions of Korea. Dongbu songs are unique by being simple and bright. Folk songs that originated in the Jeolla and Chungcheong areas are referred to as Nambo folk songs and are full of drama. Folk music from Jeju island is more well known as Jeju is a popular tourist spot, even for South Koreans. While their music was inspired from the music of the mainland, they still had their own unique dialect and stories to create their own unique genre of folk music. An example of this is “Sancheonchomok (산천초목),” which means mountains, rivers, grass, and trees, and is about a spring picnic. You can listen to it below.

Now I will go into detail about some types of Korean folk songs.

Pansori is a type of music played by two people—one drummer and one singer. It is a long vocal and percussive type of music. It is sometimes called “Korean Opera” as the narrator may be all of the characters in the story and is done over the course of multiple hours. The lyrics tell one of five unique stories, but each performer can personalize it, allowing them to update jokes and audience participation. Below is an example of people in modern times performing Pansori at Carnegie Hall in London. 

Pungmul is a form of percussion music that involves drumming, dancing, and singing. Commonly done outside, pungmul is performed by dozens of players who are constantly moving. 

Sanjo is one of the most popular genres of traditional Korean music. The music is entirely instrumental and its general style is known by “slides in slow movements and rhythmic complexity in faster movements” (“Folk Music”). Instruments commonly used in sanjo folk music included drums set against a melodic instrument. 

Korean court music can be traced all the way back to the Choson Dynasty in 1392. There are three types of court music: Aak, Hyang-ak, and Dang-ak. Aak was brought to Korea from China in 1116 and was popular for a while before dying out. It was revitalized in 1430 but is now highly specialized. Dang-ak is also rarely practiced, so there are not many pieces of it known. Hyang-ak is a pure Korean form of court music. It is the most alive out of the three types of court music. In modern times, it includes a piri, which is similar to the oboe, and various string instruments.

Jeongak or Chongak can be translated literally meaning “right (or proper) music” and it was mainly cultivated by the literate upper-class of the Joseon society, which was a Korean kingdom that lasted approximately 5 centuries (“Folk Music”). While jeongak has similarities to court music, it could never be a popular song subgenre as most of the public would never have heard of any jeongak melodies. Jeongak is normally sung with male and female singers and has a variety of accompanying instruments. A well known piece of jeongak music, “Yeongsan Hoesang” is below for you to listen to. 

Nongak is similar to a parade. It is farmers’ music and represents the genre that has mainly been developed by peasants in the agricultural society of Korea. In modern times there are many regional styles and many instruments are involved. Since so many people are involved, there are several types of artistic formats to adjust to everyones’ skill levels. 

Shinawi is another type of Korean Folk music. In the loosest sense is the music that was performed during a Korean shaman’s ritual dance where they performed to entertain deities that originated in southwest Korea. It is almost the same as another term, shinbanggok, which is a general shamanistic music performed at kut—a folk religious ceremony. Compared to other subgenres, this form is fairly loose with several dancers being united and dispersed on the stage.

Salpuri is the final version of Korean folk music that I will be talking about. It is a shamanistic ritual dance with the intention to exorcise bad ghosts. The dance itself is simplistic and calm. It is danced with a long scarf and long fluid lines to express the arms and fingers of the dancer and use the vastness of the space they’re performing it in. An example of a salpuri dance is below.

The best way to see how South Korean folk music impacted modern music is to look at songs from the globally known phenomenon known as K-Pop. Two recent releases that incorporated aspects of traditional Korean music are "Thunderous" by Stray Kids and "Luna" by Oneus. 

In their music video for their track, Stray Kids included pungmal dancers and in the track itself, included aspects of samuel nori (genre of percussion music). Even the title of the song itself in Korean, “소리꾼”, refers to a pansori singer. Stray Kids wanted to combine traditional Korean music and K-Pop and they succeeded. In fact, they just won their first daesang (AAA Performance Of The Year Grand Prize) on December 2, 2021 at the Asian Artist Awards!

For Oneus, “Luna” is not the first song of theirs where they incorporated aspects of traditional and folk Korean music. The track features instruments such as the gayageum (similar to a flute) and a haegeum (similar to a fiddle). “Luna” is a great musical blend between traditional and modern Korean music. Below is the music video for “Luna” so you can listen to it yourself.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Korean folk music and I hope you did too! Thanks for reading. 

Works Cited

Chakraborty, Riddhi. “Stray Kids: Can't Stop, Won't Stop -.” Rolling Stone India, 27 Sept. 2021, https://rollingstoneindia.com/stray-kids-cant-stop-wont-stop/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.

“Folk Music.” Music of Korea, 1 Dec. 2016, https://rharinafs3blog.wordpress.com/folk-music/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.

“Folk Songs of Jeju Island.” Folk Songs of Jeju Island l, 20 Mar. 2019, http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/contents_view.htm?lang=e&board_seq=360134. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.

“Jangdan.” Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, 2021, https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/1401. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.

Kakkad, Jennie. “Korean Folk Songs - Ezinearticles.” Ezine Articles, 25 June 2008, https://ezinearticles.com/?Korean-Folk-Songs&id=1276061. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.

“Korean Traditional Music.” Korean Tradtional Music,  https://sites.google.com/site/koreantraditionalmusic/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.

“Oneus Immerses Us in Tragic Elegance in ‘Luna.’” Seoulbeats, 22 Nov. 2021, https://seoulbeats.com/2021/11/oneus-immerses-us-in-tragic-elegance-in-luna/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2021.