''Sanjo'', literally meaning 'scattered melodies', is a style of traditional Korean music, involving an instrumental solo accompanied by drumming on the ''

janggu The ''janggu'' (, also transliterated as ''janggo'' or ''changgo'') or sometimes called ''seyogo'' (slim waist drum) is the most representative drum in traditional Korean music. It is available in most kinds, and consists of an hourglass-shape ...

'', 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 ''Chuimsae'' (hangul: 추임새) is a form of exclamation during Korean traditional music. The ''gosu'' drummer and the audience make exclamations such as ''Eolsigu!'' or ''Jalhanda!'' (hangul: 얼씨구, 잘한다), which mean ''Yippee!'' and '' ...

'' (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 ' () is a Korean genre of musical storytelling performed by a singer and a drummer. The term ''pansori'' is derived from the Korean words ''pan'' (Hangul: 판) and ''sori'' (Hangul: 소리), the latter of which means "sound." However, ''pan ...

'', ''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 The ''gayageum'' or ''kayagum'' (in Korean 가야금, 伽倻琴 in Chinese characters) is a traditional Korean plucked zither with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 18, 21 or 25 strings. It is probably the best known traditional ...

, geomungo,

daegeum The ''daegeum'' (also spelled ''taegum'', ''daegum'' or ''taegŭm'') 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 f ...

, haegeum,

piri The ''piri'' is a Korean double reed instrument, used in both the folk and classical (court) music of Korea. Originating in Central Asia, it was introduced to the Korean peninsula from China, and has been used there as early as the Three Kingdom ...

taepyeongso The ''taepyeongso'' (lit. "big peace wind instrument"; also called ''hojok'', ''hojeok'' 호적 號笛/ 胡笛, ''nallari'', or ''saenap'', 嗩吶) is a Korean double reed wind instrument in the shawm or oboe family, probably descended from th ...

ajaeng The ''ajaeng'' is a Korean string instrument. It is a wide zither with strings of twisted silk. It is played with a slender stick of forsythia wood that is drawn across the strings in the manner of a bow. The ''ajaeng'' mainly plays the bass pa ...

danso The ''danso'' (also spelled ''tanso'') is a Korean notched, end-blown vertical bamboo flute used in Korean folk music. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but since the 20th century it has also been made of plastic. It was imported from China ...

. ''Sanjo'' was said to be developed around 1890 by Kim Chang-jo (1865–1920) for the ''

''. Thereafter, it was expanded to other traditional Korean instruments, including the ''geomungo'' and Korean flutes. Its early development was informed by other genres of traditional music, including ''

'', '' sinawi'', and the performances of

Korean shamanism Korean shamanism or Mu-ism is a religion from Korea. In the Korean language, alternative terms for the tradition are ''musok'' () and ''mugyo'' (무교, 巫敎). Scholars of religion have classified it as a folk religion. There is no central aut ...

. ''Daegeum sanjo'', played on the ''daegeum'' (a traditional Korean

transverse flute A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played. The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to the flute's body length. Transverse flutes include the Western concert f ...

) was developed in the 1920s. It has since become one of the most popular forms of ''sanjo''. Its leading practitioner today is Yi Saenggang. Sanjo is traditionally identified as a form of '' minsogak'', or folk music.

Composition

The composition of ''sanjo'' varies depending on the people, instruments and time. However, usually ''sanjo'' starts with a slow '' jinyangjo'' rhythm (hangul: 진양조장단; very slow rhythm used in ''pansori'' or ''sanjo'') and becomes faster, ending with a very fast rhythm like a '' danmori'' rhythm and creating enthusiasm in the audience. Starting from a slow rhythm, the audience can gradually sink into the melody of the song. ''Sanjo'' expresses various aspects of the player. ''Sanjo''s are not fixed music. The musician can make new music with original variations. ''Sanjo'' has endless melodies in which musicians make new compositions that change with the times.The story of Korean traditional music, Sungjae Lee

External links

Asianinfo on MinsogakDoctoral thesis on Daegeum Sanjo
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Listening

from

Robert Garfias Robert Garfias (b. 1932 in San Francisco) is an American ethnomusicologist and musicologist. He is a professor of Anthropology and a member of The Social Dynamics and Complexity Group at the University of California, Irvine as well as a professo ...

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Video

''Sanjo'' videos
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References

Korean traditional music {{korea-stub

Composition

See also

External links

Video

References