Websites that are useful to people who want to experience Korean Traditional Music in Seoul

 

 I want to share websites that will be useful to those people who want to experience Korean traditional music in Seoul. Some people travel to Korea because of the influence of the Korean wave or various reasons, such as shopping and food. Most of them don't even think about Korean traditional music which has a variety of genres.

 Korean traditional music is like jazz as it is composed of a free variation and a combination of melody. If you are not familiar with this kind of music, you may feel it noisy or hectic, but it will be a good experience for you to try various genres of Korean traditional music which has a thousand years of history while you are in Korea.

 

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- History of Korean traditional music

Music of Korea - Wikipedia

- What is Korean traditional music

  1. Pansori (판소리) is a long vocal and percussive music played by one singer and 1 drummer. It is like an opera.

 

 

  2. Pungmul (풍물) is a Korean folk music tradition that is a form of percussion music that includes drumming, dancing and singing. Most performances are outside with dozens of players, all in constant motion.

 

 

  3. Sanjo (산조) is played without a pause in faster tempos as one of the most popular genres of traditional Korean music. It is entirely instrumental music and includes changes in rhythmic and melodic modes during individual work.

 

 

  4. Jeongak (정악) means literally "right (or proper) music" and its tradition includes both instrumental and vocal music which were cultivated mainly by the upper-class of the Joseon society.

 

 

  5. Nongak (농악) refers to "farmer's music" and represents an important musical genre which has been developed mainly by peasants in the agricultural society of Korea.  

 

 

  6. Shinawi (시나위) means, in the broadest sense, the shamanistic music of Korea which is performed during a Korean shaman's ritual dance performance to console and to entertain deities mainly from Korea's southwest region.

 

 

  7. Salpuri (살풀이) is a shamanistic ritual dance, conducted the exorcism of bad ghosts. The style of this ritual dance is characterized as simple and serene.

 

 

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- How to experience Korean traditional music in Seoul

 The best way to experience Korean traditional music in Seoul is to visit places where Korean traditional music is performed regularly. There are three places to regularly perform Korean traditional music as below.

 

  1. Seoul Namsan Gukakdang

서울남산국악당소개 — 남산골한옥마을+서울남산국악당 통합홈페이지

 

  2. KOUS

한국문화의집

 

  3. National Center for Korean traditional performing arts

국립국악원

 

 I recommend the National Center for Korean traditional performing arts among these. The concert hall is designed to fit Korean traditional music, so you can enjoy the performance properly. Also, there are so many different genres of performances so all you have to do is choose the performance according to your schedule. 

 

- How to reserve a performance at the National Center for Korean traditional performing arts

 The website doesn't have an English version so it is complicated to make a reservation the ticket on the website but you can make a reservation the ticket by phone (+82-2-580-3300, Monday to Saturday 9:00~18:00) or visit.

 

  1. Location of National Center for Korean traditional performing arts

 

  2. How to get the National Center for Korean traditional performing arts

     By bus:

     5413, 142, 406 1500-2

     

     By subway:

     Line 3 Nambu bus terminal station exit number 5 (10~15 minutes walking from the subway station)

 

  3. Check performance schedule

 Click "전체일정보기" and then you can check the performance schedule by month. Of course, it can be difficult to get detailed information because only Korean is available on the website. But if you click on each performance on the calendar, there are visual information like a picture about performance. That will help you choose performance.

 

 

 

 

* If you have any questions or need any help regarding the trip to Korea, please send me a message. I am always ready to help you. I hope everyone who visits Korea makes many good memories of Korea. You can search my chatting room in Telegram messenger t.me/welcometokorea