Music: The Past and Present

By Pon Hang Lam

Shaman Dance (무녀신축) by Gisan Kim Jun-geun (기산 김준근) | Source: Resources on Shamanism In Korea And East Asia

03 NOVEMBER 2020 - “Wow, Fantastic Baby, DANCE!!!!”

You may not read this phrase normally, but a song will pop out of your mind. This song is “Fantastic Baby” by Big Bang, known as the “Kings of K-POP”. K-POP is a type of Korean Music that combines the sounds from vocal and instrumental to express a kind of emotional expression. Koreans have a large interest in music as they sing and dance to the music from the past till present. Therefore, there are various types of music in Korean history.

Past: Folk Music

Also known as “Gugak”, Koreans enjoy singing and dance along to the music, which marks their large interest in music. Folk music in Korea has many different unique characteristics in the music’s tone or format. Which includes Shaman Music, Sanjo Music and many more. The instruments used may be like Chinese instruments, but Korean Music has a unique musical

personality. The instruments commonly used are “Gayageum” (twelve-stringed Korean zither), “Daegeum” (Korean bamboo flute), “Haegeum” (Korean two-stringed vertical fiddle), “Piri” (Korean double reed bamboo oboe), “Danso” (Korean vertical bamboo oboe) and “Geomungo” (six-stringed Korean bass zither).

Music for Rituals - Shaman Music

During the Three Kingdoms Period, Shaman people in northwestern Korea would do rituals by singing and dancing to their music. The rituals include praying to protect the fishermen in the community. This music marks to be the earliest Korean Music ever found. Shaman Music also includes animal sounds. Shaman Music nowadays is used for relaxation and stress relief.

Scattered Music- Sanjo Music

Sanjo is instrumental solo music and one of Korean music's most common genres. Since Kim Changjo (1856-1919), a master of the Gayageum, invented a new genre of music in the late 19th century, it has been actively transmitted. In 1968, Sanjo was named as Significant Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 23 for the Gayageum and subsequently became one of the most popular majors at colleges and universities in traditional music departments.

Others:

There are other music genres such as farmer music that express the lives of farmers, pansori Korean Solo Opera Music called “Pansori” and “Mask Dance Talchum”. There is also standard music called “Jeongak” that represents the elegant, refined spirit of seonbi (Joseon Dynasty intellectuals).

Present: K-Pop - The Global Phenomenon

K-Pop consists of a combination of singing, rapping, and dancing. K-POP started in the early 1990s with the popular boy band- Seo Taiji and the Boys. By pioneering the use of highly orchestrated choreography with excellent rap skills, the group was credited with transforming the South Korean music industry.

It is a surprise that K-Pop is famous around the world despite the differences in the lyrics of the song or the languages the singers use to communicate. K-Pop became a global phenomenon because of their uniqueness in high energy dance moves and catchy beats. Songs from Fantastic Baby, to “Oppa Gangnam Style” by PSY to recent “How You Like That” by Blackpink is famous all around the world.

The future possibility of K-POP is the music will slowly become English songs to fit in the world of music. Korean Singers try to create English songs such as “Dynamite” by BTS. Korean Singers also collaborate with famous Western singers to create songs such as “Ice Cream” by Blackpink and Selena Gomez.

No one knows how the future of Korean Music will become, but something definite is we will always be excited about songs by K-POP bands.