Music of South Korea
Encyclopedia
Music of South Korea has evolved throughout decades with lots of different influences. Nowadays, South Korean music can be divided into three different groups: Korean traditional folk music, western influenced non-popular music and finally the mainstream pop music, which includes the genre K-pop
.
is old, and it has been well documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty
. Imperial Japan's annexation of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief post-war period rewakened folk and patriotic music. By 1951, Korea was split, into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or North
and the Republic of Korea or South Korea
from which emerged two different approaches to music. Korean traditional music includes kinds of both folk and classical, courtly music, including genres like sanjo
, pansori
and nongak. The three types of Korean court music
are aak
, hyangak
and dangak
.
is considered as the leading genre of South Korean music industry nowadays, it is what the younger generations like to listen to more. Trot
, on the other hand, once a mainstream in the 80s, is more considered to appeal older generations today.
Teuroteu
(or somewhat derisively ppongjjak) is the oldest form of Korean pop, having developed in the years during the early 20th century, is a ballroom dance which influenced the characteristic simple beat of the genre. The genre had largely fallen out of popularity in today's popular music scene.
Recently, it has enjoyed a revival at the hands of Jang Yoon Jeong, who recorded the popular teroteu songs "Jjanjjara" and "Oemoena." Popular child actress and film star Lee Jae Eun has also recently recorded a "trot" album.
(acoustic guitar) music developed in the early 1970s as a Korean version of folk singers like Joan Baez
and Bob Dylan
. In the 1980s, tong guitar music became a form of soft rock ballad that earned critical scorn.
music with politically and socially aware lyrics was invented by pioneers like Kim Min-ki
. It soon earned the name Norae Undong (Song Movement).
, rock and roll
, then pop music
, most often taking American styles and tunes and translating them into Korean. At the same time classical music
that had a long history of performance by Koreans, became an area of great expertise in orchestral performances and created superb soloists who toured the world to great acclaim coming into its own in the 1980s, with great success internationally.
By the 1990s, Korean music that spoke to Koreans in a new vernacular began to be created; the traditional folk songs revived; and less derivative and more original music emerged. The contemporary culture of South Korea
now includes world music
elements, important new orchestral compositions featuring western orchestras with Korean soloists on traditional Korean instruments, and a new kind of musical nationalism that has emerged with new vitality particularly in scores for non-commercial areas, and in the film industry.
Internationally known Korean composers of classical music include such notables as: Yi Suin, who specializes in music for children, and his famous "Song of My Homeland".
Pianists and songwriters, such as Yiruma
, became known in the Western world as well since the 2000s.
since 1998. Traditional instruments are amplified, and sampled, with traditional songs rescored for new age
audiences.
K-pop
K-pop is a musical genre consisting of electropop, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B music originating in South Korea...
.
Korean Traditional Music
The first evidence of Korean musicKorean music
Traditional Korean music includes both the folk, vocal, religious and ritual music styles of the Korean people. Korean music, along with arts, painting, and sculpture has been practiced since prehistoric times....
is old, and it has been well documented by surviving written materials since the 15th century and was brought to heights of excellence during the Yi kings of the Joseon Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
. Imperial Japan's annexation of Korea eliminated Korean music from 1905 to 1945. A brief post-war period rewakened folk and patriotic music. By 1951, Korea was split, into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or North
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
and the Republic of Korea or South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
from which emerged two different approaches to music. Korean traditional music includes kinds of both folk and classical, courtly music, including genres like sanjo
Sanjo (music)
Sanjo, literally meaning 'scattered melodies' and is a style of traditional Korean music, involving an instrumental solo accompanied by drumming on the janggu, an hourglass-shaped drum...
, pansori
Pansori
Pansori is a genre of Korean traditional music. It is a vocal and percussional music performed by one sorikkun and one gosu . The term pansori is derived from pan , and sori .- Overview :...
and nongak. The three types of Korean court music
Korean court music
Korean court music refers to the music developed in the Joseon Dynasty . Very little is known about the court music of earlier Korean kingdoms and dynasties.It was partly modeled on the court music of China, known as yayue...
are aak
Aak
Aak is a genre of Korean court music. It is an imported form of Chinese ritual music. Aak is often labeled as "elegant music" in contrast with other traditional Korean music...
, hyangak
Hyangak
Hyangak, literally "village music," is a traditional form of Korean court music with origins in the Three Kingdoms period . It is often accompanied by traditional folk dances of Korea, known as hyangak jeongjae...
and dangak
Dangak
Dangak is a genre of traditional Korean court music. The name means "Tang music," and the style was first adapted from Tang Dynasty Chinese music during the Unified Silla period in the late first millennium...
.
Genres
Although the mainstream Korean popular music can be divided into several different groups, typically K-popK-pop
K-pop is a musical genre consisting of electropop, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B music originating in South Korea...
is considered as the leading genre of South Korean music industry nowadays, it is what the younger generations like to listen to more. Trot
Trot
A trot is a type of symmetrical gait in animals.Trot may also refer to:*Trot , the specifics of trotting in horses*Trot , a genre of Korean pop music*Trot , a character from the Oz books of L...
, on the other hand, once a mainstream in the 80s, is more considered to appeal older generations today.
K-pop
Popular Korean music is a highly commercial industry throughout Asia. The music is created by young stars with high style, the latest looks, dance skills, and an ability to synthesize the music of the moment of the West whether it is done as Korean rap, Korean soul, Korean rhythm and blues, or Korean middle of the road music. Contemporary Korean music and pop stars are so popular, Asians have designated a word to reflect this fact. Hallyu, or Korean Wave, is the word noting how influential Korean culture has become in Asia.Trot
Teuroteu
Teuroteu
Trot, pronounced as "teuroteu" in Korean , is the oldest form of Korean pop music. It was developed in the years before and during World War II around the early 1900s. Famous interpreters of this genre are South Korean singers Tae Jin Ah and Song Dae Gwan...
(or somewhat derisively ppongjjak) is the oldest form of Korean pop, having developed in the years during the early 20th century, is a ballroom dance which influenced the characteristic simple beat of the genre. The genre had largely fallen out of popularity in today's popular music scene.
Recently, it has enjoyed a revival at the hands of Jang Yoon Jeong, who recorded the popular teroteu songs "Jjanjjara" and "Oemoena." Popular child actress and film star Lee Jae Eun has also recently recorded a "trot" album.
Acoustic Guitar
Influenced by American pop music and Korean folk rock, T'ong guitarT'ong guitar
T'ong guitar was a form of Korean music developed in the early 1970s. It was heavily influenced by American pop music, and artists in the genre were considered Korean versions of American folk singers, such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan....
(acoustic guitar) music developed in the early 1970s as a Korean version of folk singers like Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. In the 1980s, tong guitar music became a form of soft rock ballad that earned critical scorn.
Song Movement
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a form of Korean folk rockFolk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
music with politically and socially aware lyrics was invented by pioneers like Kim Min-ki
Kim Min-ki
Kim Min-ki is a South Korean singer, songwriter, playwright, and composer.Min-ki was educated at Seoul National University. He first came to prominence as the composer of the tune "Achim Isul" , which was written in 1970 and performed by Korean folk singer Yang Hee-eun...
. It soon earned the name Norae Undong (Song Movement).
Non-popular Western influenced Music
South Korea, where the US and its allies maintained large forces, initially accepted Western big bandBig band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
, rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, then pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, most often taking American styles and tunes and translating them into Korean. At the same time classical music
Korean court music
Korean court music refers to the music developed in the Joseon Dynasty . Very little is known about the court music of earlier Korean kingdoms and dynasties.It was partly modeled on the court music of China, known as yayue...
that had a long history of performance by Koreans, became an area of great expertise in orchestral performances and created superb soloists who toured the world to great acclaim coming into its own in the 1980s, with great success internationally.
By the 1990s, Korean music that spoke to Koreans in a new vernacular began to be created; the traditional folk songs revived; and less derivative and more original music emerged. The contemporary culture of South Korea
Contemporary culture of South Korea
The contemporary culture of South Korea developed from the traditional culture of Korea, and on its own path away from North Korean culture since the division of Korea in 1948. The industrialization and urbanization of South Korea, especially Seoul, have brought many changes to the way Korean...
now includes world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
elements, important new orchestral compositions featuring western orchestras with Korean soloists on traditional Korean instruments, and a new kind of musical nationalism that has emerged with new vitality particularly in scores for non-commercial areas, and in the film industry.
Classical music
The fine range of Korean symphonic orchestras have been bolstered by notable performers, and soloists, as well as highly skilled orchestra directors.Internationally known Korean composers of classical music include such notables as: Yi Suin, who specializes in music for children, and his famous "Song of My Homeland".
Pianists and songwriters, such as Yiruma
Yiruma
Yiruma is the stage name of I Ru-ma , a popular internationally known pianist and composer from South Korea. The name "Yiruma" means "I shall achieve" in Korean....
, became known in the Western world as well since the 2000s.
Korean Contemporary Christian music
With the importation of Christianity, the evangelical use of music for proselytizing has led to many choirs, both within and without churches, and the importation of traditional American styles of Christian folksongs sung in Korean.Western and Traditional crossover
Korean traditional instruments have been integrated into western percussion, and are beginning a new wave of Korean world musicWorld music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
since 1998. Traditional instruments are amplified, and sampled, with traditional songs rescored for new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
audiences.
See also
- List of South Korean bands
- List of Korea-related topics
- Contemporary culture of South KoreaContemporary culture of South KoreaThe contemporary culture of South Korea developed from the traditional culture of Korea, and on its own path away from North Korean culture since the division of Korea in 1948. The industrialization and urbanization of South Korea, especially Seoul, have brought many changes to the way Korean...
- Korean Contemporary Christian musicKorean Contemporary Christian musicKorean Contemporary Christian music refers to Contemporary Christian music written or played in South Korea. Due to the dramatic growth of Christianity in Korea, CCM has been gaining popularity among Korean Christians.-History:...
- Korean WaveKorean waveThe Korean Wave, also known as the Hallyu , refers to spread of South Korean culture around the world. The term was coined in China in mid-1999 by Beijing journalists surprised by the fast growing popularity of Korean entertainment and culture in China...