Lee Seunghee

Muak is the traditional Korean shamanic music performed within gut (ritual) ceremonies to invite, appease, and send off deities and ancestral spirits. It is an ecstatic, participatory music that combines chant, dance, and instrumental ensemble performance to induce trance states for the shaman (mudang) and the community. The sound world centers on piercing double-reed oboes (taepyeongso/hojok), bamboo and reed flutes (daegeum and piri), two-string fiddle (haegeum), zither (gayageum), and a powerful percussion battery—small hand gong (kkwaenggwari), large hanging gong (jing), hourglass drum (janggu), and barrel drum (buk). Melodies move in modal frameworks such as ujo and gyemyonjo, while rhythm unfolds through cyclic changdan patterns like gutgeori, jajinmori, and semachi. Vocal delivery is declamatory and improvised, often recounting mythic narratives (e.g., bonpuri on Jeju) and blessing formulae.

Jeongak is the refined classical court and aristocratic music of Korea, encompassing ritual (aak), Chinese-derived (dangak), and native court (hyangak) traditions under a broader aesthetic of elegance, restraint, and balance. It is performed on an ensemble of wind, string, and percussion instruments such as piri and daegeum (oboes and transverse bamboo flutes), haegeum (two‑string fiddle), gayageum and geomungo (zithers), and various drums and gongs. The style emphasizes calm tempi, cyclical rhythmic patterns (jangdan), heterophonic texture, and subtle ornamentation (sigimsae and nonghyeon). Core repertory includes suites like Yeongsanhoesang and Boheoja and the stately music for royal ancestral rites (Jongmyo Jeryeak). Jeongak is closely associated with Confucian court culture and literati ideals, privileging poise, precision, and contemplative beauty.