The symbolic tune “Arirang” is Korea’s representative folk song, which has been loved and sung by locals throughout the nation’s long history. Thanks to its simple, catchy melody and moving lyrics, it’s even easy for foreigners to sing the music piece. But it’s a pity that the folk song occasionally sounds like a Western tune due to singer’s lack of knowledge on the jangdan, or rhythmic patterns, of the melody.

Arirang is sang to “semachi jangdan” which is the rhythmic pattern that consists of three sets of three beat measures. When expressed orally, semachi jangdan sounds like the following. Now let’s listen to the semachi jangdan played to the janggu. If Arirang is sang in 3/4 time or 4/4 time, it sounds like a foreign song. Consider this performance of Arirang by in a different beat. This time, let’s listen to the original Arirang with the conventional semachi-jangdan.

Arirang / Lee Chun-hui

In Korea, variations of Arirang that are deeply influenced by the unique characteristics of different regions exist all across the country. The most commonly known Arirang is from Gyeonggi Province. The music piece became well-known nationwide ever since it was featured in the movie titled “Arirang” that depicts anti-Japanese colonial rule protests.

The second-most enjoyed variation of Arirang, following the one from Gyeonggi Province, is Jindo Arirang handed down from Jindo region in South Jeolla Province. Likewise, it’s based on semachi-jangdan. Folks, if you clap your hands and play the semachi-jangdan while you listen to the tune, you can better enjoy the melody. Now, let’s listen to Jindo Arirang performed by master singer Cho Gong-rye and others.

Jindo Arirang / Sori by Cho Gong-rye and others

Listeners, did you listen to the music piece as you clap the semachi-jangdan? If you did, you must have recognized how it sounded different from the song when you were not aware of the unique rhythmic pattern.

Following semachi-jangdan, the next most commonly used beat is “gutgeori-jangdan.” As gutgeori refers to the traditional shamanistic rituals, this jangdan was often played during shamanistic practices. But, nowadays, the rhythm is not only used for those special rituals but is also adopted by folk songs or other instrumental performances. Just listening to the jangdan, don’t you feel like dancing already?

In the past, when a festival was held in a village, the elderly gentlemen used to dance moving their shoulders up and down as they sang a song. The tune that was commonly sang during such occasions was the folk song called “Changbu Taryeong” of Gyeonggi Province. It’s also performed to the gutgeori jangdan. This time let’s listen to the piece sang by master singer Jeon Tae-ryong.

Changbu Taryeong / Sori by Jeon Tae-ryong

In today’s edition of Sounds of Korea, we learned about semachi-jangdan and gutgeori-jangdan. Since most folk songs are performed to these two types of rhythmic patterns, learning these jangdan beats will help you better understand traditional Korean folk songs.

Next time, we will learn about the varieties of jangdan used for instrumental performances.