asianmusicproject
Collection of Information and Instructional Materials in Asian Music
Korean music especially in South Korea has a rich vocal tradition, and diverse instruments and music forms. Folk songs, religious works, court music, and shaman rituals all express the soul of a nation whose history is filled with colorful and fascinating tales. Traditional Korean music represents a world of captivating rhythms and melodies whose sounds draw listeners in like a breath. Koreans sang songs when they could not hold their sadness in.
Music of Korea
Korean music has a slow tempo, giving it a very peaceful and pensive character.
Korea's folk music tradition, with its generous use of bright rhythms and melodies, offers a more energetic and capricious contrast to the nation's collection of classical music works. Folk music represents the soul and sound of traditional Korean villages with an eclectic array of music forms including numerous folk songs, various forms of instrumental pieces, pansori, and shaman ritual music.
Chong-ak means literally "right (or correct) music", and its tradition includes both instrumental and vocal music, which were cultivated mainly by the upper-class literati of the Joseon society. Chong-ak also refers to ensemble music for men of high social status outside of the court. In this category, three important terms are a-ak, tang-ak, and hyang-ak.
Sog-ak or minsogak is a category of Korean music traditionally associated with the lower classes or for the general public and are vibrant and energetic. It includes genres such as pansori and minyo. Pansori is a kind of music presented to audiences by skilled vocal singers and drummers. But even the unskilled could sing these songs. They sang when they worked in the rice paddy or fields, sang when they went off their lover and sang when their life was troubled and weighing them down.
Forms, Techniques, Styles and others
K-pop, an abbreviation of Korean pop; is a musical genre originating in South Korea that is characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements. Although it comprises all genres of "popular music" within South Korea, the term is more often used in a narrower sense to describe a modern form of South Korean pop music covering: dance-pop, pop ballad, electronic, rock, hip-hop and R&B.
