Gugak Class: Pansori & Samulnori

When someone says the words ‘Korean Music’, we think of K-Pop right? However, there’s so much more to music in Korea than that – more specifically, the more traditional pieces and the instruments, for example Gayageum (가야금), Janggu (장구), Danso (단소), Kkwaenggwari (꽹과리), and Haegeum (해금), used to play them. Gugak (국악) which literally means ‘national music’ covers all music prior to 1945, including court music, folk music, poetic song and religious music.

Pansori Class

Pansori (판소리) is Korean Traditional musical storytelling performed by a single Pansori singer, a Sorikkun, and a drummer, the gosu.  It can be considered as a one-person opera. There are five major stories that are passed down orally, and each complete story is approximately 8 hrs long. The five major songs are Sogoongga, Chunyangga, Heungbuga, Simchungga, and Jukbyukga. This class will introduce vocal technique, terms, and style of Pansori to you. Learn popular Pansori pieces such as Chunyang-ga and Simchung-ga.

Samulnori Class

Samulnori (사물 놀이) is a genre of traditional Korean percussive music that literally means “the playing (nori 놀이) of four (사 sa) objects (물 mul)”. These “four objects” consist of the janggu (장구) – hourglass/slim-waist drum, buk (북) – barrel drum, jing (징) – large gong, and kkwaenggwari (꽹과리) – small gong. This class will introduce traditional Korean instruments and their unique performance techniques to you.

#TraditionalKoreanMusic