T'ong guitar
Encyclopedia
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
.
The musical form originally started as a solo singer-songwriter performing with an acoustic guitar. It was allied with student movements of the 1970s in song clubs such as "Maeari" at Seoul National University
and in Norae Undong ("Song Movement"), caused the embracing of popular genres by Korean intellectuals. Serious academic inquiries in Korean popular music started in 1984, and continue today.
However, in the 1980s, t'ong became a form of soft rock
ballad
that earned critical scorn, being described as a 'mindless love affair with American culture' http://www.lib.umd.edu/ETC/ReadingRoom/Newsletters/EthnoMusicology/Digest/93-128.erd. Norae Udong separated from t'ong guitar, becoming a more rock
-based genre.
Korean 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....
developed in the early 1970s. It was heavily influenced by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
, and artists in the genre were considered Korean versions of American folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singers, such as 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...
.
The musical form originally started as a solo singer-songwriter performing with an acoustic guitar. It was allied with student movements of the 1970s in song clubs such as "Maeari" at Seoul National University
Seoul National University
Seoul National University , colloquially known in Korean as Seoul-dae , is a national research university in Seoul, Korea, ranked 24th in the world in publications in an analysis of data from the Science Citation Index, 7th in Asia and 42nd in the world by the 2011 QS World University Rankings...
and in Norae Undong ("Song Movement"), caused the embracing of popular genres by Korean intellectuals. Serious academic inquiries in Korean popular music started in 1984, and continue today.
However, in the 1980s, t'ong became a form of soft rock
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
that earned critical scorn, being described as a 'mindless love affair with American culture' http://www.lib.umd.edu/ETC/ReadingRoom/Newsletters/EthnoMusicology/Digest/93-128.erd. Norae Udong separated from t'ong guitar, becoming a more rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
-based genre.