Music of South Korea
The music of South Korea has evolved over the course of the decades since the end of the Korean War, and has its roots in the music of the Korean people, who have inhabited the Korean peninsula for over a millennium. Contemporary South Korean music can be divided into three different main categories: Traditional Korean folk music, popular music, or K-pop, and Western-influenced non-popular music.
Western influenced music[edit]
Western influenced Korean music is also sometimes referred to as popular music and is seen in the early twentieth century. The western influence in South Korean music gave rise to new genres; some of which are Changga and Yuhaengga.
Changga arose from Pansori but became increasingly popular in the early twentieth century for its fusion of European anthems, American hymns, Western folk tunes, and Japanese choral music. Though it had Western melodies, the lyrics were in Korean. The most well-known example of changga is the song “My Darling Clementine”.[1]
Yuhaengga (which literally means popular songs) is also known as shin gayo (new song). It became a part of everyday life in urban Korea in the mid–1920s as well as a crucial element of the term “modern”.[1]
Korean contemporary Christian music[edit]
With the importation of Christianity, the evangelical use of music for proselytizing has led to many choirs, both within and without churches, and the importation of traditional American styles of Christian folksongs sung in Korean.
Western and traditional crossover[edit]
Korean traditional instruments have been integrated into western percussion, and are beginning a new wave of Korean world music since 1998. Traditional instruments are amplified, and sampled, with traditional songs rescored for new demographics and regions.