The strings of the nation’s traditional instruments are made with twisted silk threads. But among the musical instruments that have been passed down, there are two that have metal strings. One of them is the yanggeum, which originated in the West after being introduced to the late Joseon Dynasty through China. Thin metal strings struck with a bamboo stick produce a clear sound.

The other one is called the cheolhyeongeum, which means “the geomungo with metal strings.” It is said that master Kim Yeong-cheol created the instrument by remodeling the Hawaiian guitar in the 1940s. At the time, it was usually utilized as an accompaniment to changgeuk performances by traveling theatrical troupes. But when TV came into use nationwide, the troupes broke up and the cheolhyeongeum also gradually slipped from people’s memories. That cheolhyeongeum came back into the spotlight in the 1990s.

Composer Kim Yeong-dong released a cheolhyeongeum piece titled “Sunset.” The clear, yet deep, and unique tone of the tune caught the ear of many people. It was cheolhyeongeum player Yu Kyung-hwa who played the metal stringed instrument for the album. For the first piece of music on the show, let’s take a listen to “Sunset” with Yu Kyung-hwa’s cheolhyeongeum performance.

Sunset / Cheolhyeongeum Yu Kyung-hwa, Synthesizer Han Song-yeon

Although the history of cheolhyeongeum is less than 100 years old, it better emphasizes the unique features of the nation’s traditional musical instruments than the yanggeum. It’s because of the technique called nonghyeon which enriches the tone played by the instrument.

Resembling a laid guitar, the cheolhyeongeum is played by plucking the metal strings with a bamboo stick called suldae in the right hand while the left hand rubs the strings with a prop called a “nongok” to play the note. Although the equipment used for it is different from the geomungo, the technique to play the cheolhyeongeum is very similar to that of the six-stringed Korean zither.

Cheolhyeongeum player Yu Kyung-hwa started to learn Korean classical music, gugak, at the age of four when she took dance lessons. She majored in the geomungo at the National Gugak High school, but after graduating from Seoul National University she was mostly active as a percussionist. It was in 1996 when she first encountered the cheolhyeongeum. After listening to the sanjo duet by pansori master Ahn Hyang-nyeon and geomungo master Im Dong-sik, she immediately went to meet myeongin Im and started to take lessons on the cheolhyeongeum.

Now, instead of the geomungo or other percussions, she is better known as a cheolhyeongeum player after winning a number of meaningful awards, including the top prize at the KBS Gugak Contest. For the second piece, we have the jungjungmori section taken from Kim Yeong-cheol School Cheolhyeongeum Sanjo by Yu Kyung-hwa.

Kim Yeong-cheol School Cheolhyeongeum Sanjo / Cheolhyeongeum Yu Kyung-hwa

Yu Kyung-hwa also formed a soloist ensemble called “Sangsang” with her gugak high school classmates – haegeum player Kang Eun-il and geomungo player Huh Yun-jeong. The group ventured to produce crossover pieces by integrating gugak and contemporary music. Also interested in shamanistic music, they created modern renditions of Gyeonggido Danggut, Jindo Ssitgimgut, and Donghaean Byeolsingut and others.

Recently, she returned from India after studying Indian music and is also experimenting to create a fusion piece combining Indian and Korean traditional music. Currently, she heads the world music ensemble called “Ido” and is also active as a professor at the School of Korean Traditional Arts at Korean National University of Arts.

Thanks to her continuous challenges and inquisitive mind, the world of Korean classical music will become wider and deeper in the coming years. We’ll wrap up today’s program with the eastern coast shamanistic tune “Hwadu” with Yu Gyeong-hwa’s cheolhyeongeum and sori master Kim Myeong-dae’s sori.

Eastern Coast Shamanistic Piece – Hwadu / Cheolhyeongeum Yu Kyung-hwa, Sori Kim Myeong-dae