Gayageum

Gayageum
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised Romanization	gayageum
McCune–Reischauer	kayagŭm

The gayageum or kayagum is a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument, with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 21 or other number of strings. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instrument. It is related to other Asian instruments, including the Chinese guzheng, the Japanese koto, the Mongolian yatga, and the Vietnamese đàn tranh.

According to the Samguksagi (1145), a history of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, the gayageum was developed around the 6th century in the Gaya confederacy by King Gasil (also known as Haji of Daegaya) after he observed an old Chinese instrument. He ordered a musician named Wu Ruk to compose music that could be played on the instrument. The original name was gayago and later gayageum. The gayageum was then further improved by Wu Ruk during the reign of Jinheung in the Shilla Dynasty. The ancient gayageum of King Gashil was called by several names, including beopgeum (law-zither, 법금), pungnyu (elegance, 풍류), or jeong-ak (right music, 정악) gayageum. It is normally associated with accompaniment for court music, chamber music, and lyric songs. This type of gayageum has a wider spacing between the strings and plays slower tempo music such as Yeongsan-hoesang and Mit-doduri.

The sanjo gayageum is believed to have evolved in the 19th century with the emergence of sanjo music—which literally means scattered melodies, a musical form that involves fast tempos and some improvisation. The sanjo gayageum version of the instrument has closer string spacing and a shorter length to let musicians play the faster passages required for sanjo (Choi 2005). The sanjo gayageum is now the most widespread form of gayageum.(KCMPC 2001). All traditional gayageum use cotton strings, though, since the late 20th century, some musicians use nylon.

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