The koto is a Japanese plucked half-tube zither instrument,and the national instrument of Japan. It is derived from the Chinese zheng and se,and similar to the Mongolian yatga,the Korean gayageum and ajaeng,the Vietnamese đàn tranh,the Sundanese kacapi and the Kazakh jetigen. Koto are roughly 180 centimetres (71 in) in length,and made from Paulownia wood. The most common type uses 13 strings strung over movable bridges used for tuning,different pieces possibly requiring different tuning. Seventeen-string koto are also common,and act as bass in ensembles. Koto strings are generally plucked using three fingerpicks,worn on the first three fingers of the right hand.
Korea has produced music from thousands of years,until the modern day. After the division of Korea in 1945,both North and South Korea have produced their own styles of music.
The gayageum or kayagum is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It is a plucked zither with 12 strings,though some more recent variants have 18,21 or 25 strings. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instrument. It is based on the Chinese guzheng and is similar to the Japanese koto,Mongolian yatga,Vietnamese đàn tranh,Sundanese kacapi and Kazakh jetigen.
The erhu is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument,more specifically a spike fiddle,which may also be called a Southern Fiddle,and is sometimes known in the Western world as the Chinese violin or a Chinese two-stringed fiddle.
Korean court music comprises three main musical genres:aak,an imported form of Chinese ritual music;a pure Korean form called hyangak;and a combination of Chinese and Korean styles called dangak.
The geomungo or hyeongeum is a traditional Korean plucked zither with both bridges and frets. Geomungo is a representative stringed instrument made in Goguryeo before the 5th century. Scholars believe that the name refers to Goguryeo and translates to "Goguryeo zither" or that it refers to the colour and translates to "black crane zither".
Hyangak,literally "indigenous/native music,folks 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. These dances are performed in front of audiences—as opposed to the square dance more familiar to Westerners,which is primarily for the participants' enjoyment.
Sanjo,literally meaning 'scattered melodies',is a style of traditional Korean music,involving an instrumental solo accompanied by drumming on the janggu,an hourglass-shaped drum. The art of sanjo is a real crystallization of traditional Korean melody and rhythm which may have been handed down by rote generation after generation. The drummer who beats the janggu also makes chuimsae (exclamations) in order to please the audience. The audience can also express their excited feeling with chuimsae while listening to sanjo. A big chuimsae indicates a good performance,so the musician can make a better performance. Like pansori,chuimsae plays an important role in sanjo. Without chuimsae,the music is meaningless. Chuimsae connects musician and audience during a sanjo performance. Almost every Korean traditional musical instrument is used in sanjo:gayageum,geomungo,daegeum,haegeum,piri,taepyeongso,ajaeng,danso.
The taepyeongso is a Korean double reed wind instrument in the shawm or oboe family,probably descended from the Persian sorna and closely related to the Chinese suona. It has a conical wooden body made from yuja (citron),daechu (jujube),or yellow mulberry wood,with a metal mouthpiece and cup-shaped metal bell. It originated during the Goryeo period (918–1392).
The yazheng is a Chinese string instrument. It is a traditional zither similar to the guzheng but bowed by scraping with a rosined stick or a horsehair bow,. The musical instrument was popular in the Tang dynasty,but is today little used except in the folk music of some parts of northern China,where it is called yaqin.
The haegeum (Korean: 해금) is a traditional Korean string instrument,resembling a vertical fiddle with two strings;derived from the ancient Chinese xiqin. It has a rodlike neck,a hollow wooden soundbox,and two silk strings,and is held vertically on the knee of the performer and played with a bow. It is also popularly known as kkangkkang-i (깡깡이),kkaengkkaeng-i (깽깽이),or aeng-geum (앵금).
The buk (Korean: 북) is a traditional Korean drum. While the term buk is a native Korean word used as a generic term meaning "drum",it is most often used to refer to a shallow barrel-shaped drum,with a round wooden body that is covered on both ends with animal skin. Buk are categorized as hyeokbu which are instruments made with leather,and has been used for jeongak and folk music.
The đàn tranh or đàn thập lục is a plucked zither of Vietnam,based on the Chinese guzheng,from which are also derived the Japanese koto,the Korean gayageum and ajaeng,the Mongolian yatga,the Sundanese kacapi and the Kazakh jetigen. It has a long soundbox with the steel strings,movable bridges and tuning pegs positioned on its top.
Traditional Korean musical instruments comprise a wide range of string,wind,and percussion instruments. Many traditional Korean musical instruments derive from Chinese musical instruments.
The daegeum is a large bamboo flute,a transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. It has a buzzing membrane that gives it a special timbre. It is used in court,aristocratic,and folk music,as well as in contemporary classical music,popular music,and film scores. And daegeum has a wide range and has a fixed pitch,so other instruments tune in to the daegeum when playing together. It is critical to understand that there are two types of daegeum:Jeongak and Sanjo. Jeongak Daegeum is a bit longer than Sanjo Daegeum and is the formal daegeum used historically at court. Sanjo Daegum is a bit shorter and historically more associated with the commoners. They both have the unique and aforementioned buzzing membrane.
The bipa is a pear-shaped lute that is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It is derived from Chinese pipa and was introduced through the Silk Road to Goguryeo and Silla. There are two major types of bipa:the four stringed dang-bipa and the five stringed hyang-bipa. While dang-bipa was a Tang-style pipa first introduced from the Chinese Tang dynasty and localized over time to have Korean characteristics,hyang-bipa was created in the Korean Kingdom of Silla. The instrument is also related to other derivatives such as Vietnamese đàn tỳbà and the Japanese biwa.
The xiqin was a bowed string musical instrument. It is perhaps the original member of the huqin family of Chinese and Mongolian bowed string instruments;thus,the erhu and morin khuur and all similar fiddle instruments may be said to be derived from the xiqin. The xiqin had two silk strings and was held vertically.
The yatga (Mongolian:ᠶᠠᠲᠤᠭᠠ,romanized: yatug-a,Khalkha dialect:ятга,yatga;pronounced[ˈjɑtʰəq];is a traditional plucked zither of Mongolia.
The jadagan is a wooden board zither of the Khakas people in Siberia.
The jetigen is a Kazakh and Kyrgyz plucked zither. Similar to Chinese guzheng,yazheng and se,Japanese koto,Korean gayageum and ajaeng,Mongolian yatga,Vietnamese đàn tranh,and Sundanese kacapi. The strings were sometimes made of horsehair. The jetigen is played by plucking,in a similar manner to the gusli,tube zither or box zither.
