Korean Musical Instruments

The music of Korea is an intriguing blend of earthy, percussive folk rhythms and contemplative court styles.

While showing influences as diverse as Chinese court culture and the traditions of merchants travelling east on the Silk Road, the Korean peninsula has had a distinct and vibrant musical identity for more than 1,000 years.

Korean Musical Instruments is a comprehensive guide to Korea's music and musical instruments.

Keith Howard first provides a background for understanding the cultural and musical history of the peninsula, addressing both indigenous and Chinese-derived court genres, local folk music, and the recent movement in North Korea to 'improve' traditional instruments.

He then turns to the instruments themselves, devoting chapters to string, wind, and percussion instruments, respectively.

The full catalogue of instruments currently in use and preserved in Korea is discussed, with full descriptions, details of their repertory, construction notes, and brief consideration of playing techniques. Written by a musician and scholar and illustrated with 24 colour and 15 black-and-white images, Korean Musical Instruments is directed equally to practising musicians and to students of Korean culture and society, and is the only complete discussion of the topic available in English today.