The Upanishads, which provided the basis for Hindu philosophy, entailed secret knowledge passed down directly from teacher to student. The teachings were not recorded in text, but taught orally, straight from the teacher’s lips to the student’s heart. Such process is called “gujeonsimsu구전심수” in Korean, which means “delivered by words and taught with heart.” Korean ancestors also taught music this way. Musical notes were not recorded on paper. Instead, teachers sang or played an instrument themselves to show their students what should be done. Students learned by mimicking their teachers’ skills and mastered the art through countless practice sessions. Since it was difficult for a teacher to play the instrument every time, however, they sang songs that imitated the sounds of the instrument to teach their students. This method is called “gu-eum구음.” In teaching the geomungo or gayageum, they used such gu-eums as “dang-dong-jing당동징” or “seulgidung슬기둥,” and for the piri or daegeum, “na-nu-neo-no-neu나누너노느” or “nansiru난시루.” Today’s first music piece is the gu-eum version of “Daepungryu대풍류” songs for the piri. Choi Gyeong-man sings “Gutgeori,” “Jajingutgeori,” and “Dangak” in gu-eum. 

Daepungryu songs / Gu-eum by Choi Gyeong-man

Gugak artists still use this method to teach their students traditional songs, because it is hard to record the notes of Korean music in staff notation. Another merit of the gu-eum teaching method is that students can learn directly from their teachers how to express their feelings and use their distinctive techniques. Gu-eum can also indicate the pitches as well as show how a certain instrument can be played. For instance, the gu-eum ‘dang’ in geomungo instruction refers to a technique of pressing down on a string with the ring finger as well as the sound of that note.

Now we’ll listen to the jungjungmori중중모리 movement of the Kim Juk-pa김죽파 style gayageum sanjo in gu-eum. Sanjo, or freestyle solo, is usually applied to the melodies from the southern region. Cho Soon-ae, who sang the gu-eum version of this song, was originally a pansori artist and folk singer. Her husband, Kim Dong-joon, was the practitioner of traditional Korean drum, and having regularly played drum accompaniment for Kim Juk-pa, became the master of Kim’s tunes, enabling him to play sanjo music for other gu-eum singers. Today’s version is a rare one that presents both gu-geum and instrumental music. Here’s Cho Soon-ae singing the gu-eum version of “Jungjungmori중중모리” to Lee Yeon-hee’s gayageum accompaniment. 

Jungjungmori from gayageum sanjo / Gu-eum by Cho Soon-ae, gayageum by Lee Yeon-hee

Vocalizing an instrument is referred to as gu-eum, but sometimes a human voice singing only the vowels like “ah아” or “eoh어,” without any lyrics, is also called gu-eum. It is hard to express all the feelings pent up in one’s heart in words. Since there are no lyrics in gu-eum songs, just the sounds coming from one’s lips can be effective in releasing those feelings. Perhaps everyone can connect to gu-eum songs since music knows no boundaries. Today’s Sounds of Korea episode will wrap up with a gu-eum song titled simply “Gu-eum.” Master pansori singer Kim So-hee sings gu-eum accompanied by Kim Deok-su’s samulnori사물놀이, Kim Mu-gil’s geomungo, Park Jong-seon’s ajaeng아쟁 and Lee Saeng-gang’s daegeum.

Gu-eum / Gu-eum by Kim So-hee, samulnori by Kim Deok-su, geomungo by Kim Mu-gil, ajaeng by Park Jong-seon, daegeum by Lee Saeng-gang