–B–c–e–f–a–b for hyangak (‘native music’); tangak
(‘Chinese music’) is a 3rd higher. Recently a nine-string instrument with wider
range (adding c' and e') has been in use at the National Center for Korean
Traditional Performing Arts. Bowed long zither of Korea. Two main versions are in current use: the ajaeng, which has been a member of court music ensembles for many centuries, and the smaller sanjo ajaeng, invented in the 1940s and used for folk music and accompaniments.
The
older version is about 160 cm long and 24 cm wide, has seven strings of twisted
silk and is bowed with a long (65 cm) resined stick of forsythia wood (see illustration). The instrument itself is made of paulownia wood
and is played propped up at the bowing end (performer’s right) on a small
four-legged stand. The strings run from a gently curved bridge on the right
across seven small movable wooden bridges (‘wild-goose feet’) to another curved
bridge on the left; the sounding length, from the right bridge to the movable
bridge, is different for each string and readily adjustable for tuning
purposes. The ajaeng has the narrowest range of the Korean string
instruments: in court music it normally operates within a 9th or 10th, a
typical tuning being A–B–c–e–f–a–b for hyangak (‘native music’); tangak
(‘Chinese music’) is a 3rd higher. Recently a nine-string instrument with wider
range (adding c' and e') has been in use at the National Center for Korean
Traditional Performing Arts.
The sanjo ajaeng is similar in most ways to the older court instrument, but it is shorter (about 120 cm) and has eight strings. A typical tuning for the virtuoso solo genre sanjo is G–C–d–g–c'–d'–g'–c'', and the large tuning gaps compared to the court instrument make its top notes about an octave higher. Instead of a separate wooden stand, a flap of wood hinged to the bottom of the instrument unfolds to form a prop. Frequently a Western-style horse-hair bow is substituted for the bow-stick.
The performer sits cross-legged next to the instrument, but not actually supporting it as he would the kŏmun’go or kayagŭm; he bows with the right hand and presses the strings with the left hand (a few centimetres left of the movable bridges) to obtain intermediate pitches and vibrato. The sound of the ajaeng is rasping and rough, but also full, rich and highly expressive.
The ajaeng came to Korea from China (where it is called yazheng) together with the larger 15-string zither taejaeng during the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392), and it was used only in tangak; later it was also adopted for use in hyangak. The treatise Akhak kwebŏm (1493) gives several tunings and modes for the instrument and describes its role in various court ensembles.
At present the ajaeng appears in both court and folk instrumental ensembles, usually paired with the higher-pitched Haegŭm, the only other bowed string instrument of Korea, both instruments playing essentially the same melodic line in court music. Because of their ability to sustain notes, the instruments often appear in so-called ‘wind’ ensembles. Important pieces in the court repertory include Sujech’ŏn and Yŏmillak (both hyangak), Pohŏja and Nagyangch’un (tangak) and ceremonial music such as the suites played in the annual sacrificial rite at the Royal Ancestral Shrine (Chongmyo). The sanjo ajaeng often appears in folk ensembles for folksong or shaman dance accompaniment, and it is particularly effective in the virtuoso solo genre sanjo.
Sŏng Hyŏn, ed.: Akhak kwebŏm [Guide to the study of music] (Seoul, 1493/R), 7.10a–11a
L.E.R. Picken: ‘Early Chinese Friction-Chordophones’, GSJ, xviii (1965), 82–9, esp. 82–4
Chang Sahun: Han’guk akki taegwan [Korean musical instruments] (Seoul, 1969), 57–61
K. Haesuk: Sanjo yŏn’gu [Studies on sanjo] (Seoul, 1987), 219–50
K. Howard: Korean Musical Instruments: a Practical Guide (Seoul, 1988), 26–7
ROBERT C. PROVINE