| Name | Image | Description | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ajaeng |  | The ajaeng is a Korean string instrument. It is a long zither with seven silk strings, played by means of a long, thin stick made of forsythia wood, which is scraped against the strings in the manner of a bow. It is generally played while seated on the floor. It has a deep tone similar to that of a cello, but more raspy. | |
| Buk Drum |  | A buk is a traditional Korean drum. It is barrel-shaped, with a round wooden body covered on both ends with animal skin. It is played with both an open hand and a wooden stick in the other hand. The buk is one of the four instruments used in samul nori, a modern performance version of pungmul. | |
| Daegeum |  | The daegeum (also spelled taegum or taegŭm) is a large bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. It has a buzzing membrane that gives it a special timbre. It is used in court, aristocratic, and folk music, as well as in contemporary classical music, popular music, and film scores. | |
| Danso |  | The danso (or tanso) is a Korean notched, end-blown vertical bamboo flute used in Korean folk music. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but in the 20th century it has also been made of plastic. The flute has 4 finger holes and one thumb hole at the back. The playing range is two octaves, going from the low G to the high G. | |
| Gayageum |  | A gayageum is a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument, with 12 strings, although more recently variants have been constructed with 21 or other numbers of strings. It draws its name from the ancient Korean confederacy of Gaya, where it is said to have been invented. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instrument. The ancient gayageum of King Gashil was called by several names, including beopgeum (law-zither, 법금), pungnyu (elegance, 풍류), or jeong-ak (right music, 정악) gayageum. It is normally associated with court music, chamber music, and lyric songs, for which it provides the accompaniment. | |
| Haegum |  | The haegeum is a traditional Korean string instrument, resembling a fiddle. It has a rodlike body supporting two silk strings and is held vertically on the knee of the performer and played with a bow. The haegeum is related to similar Chinese instruments in the huqin family of instruments, such as the erhu. Of these, it is most closely related to the ancient xiqin, as well as the erxian used in nanguan and Cantonese music. | |
| Janggu |  | The janggu is the representative instrument for jangdan which refers to various rhythmic units among the Korean drum family. It is widely used as a principle rhythmic percussion instrument in not only Aak and jeong-ak, but also in sock-ak. It is also used in accompaniment of Korean dances. | |
| Jing |  | The jing is a gong made of brass and is called by several different names such as the chong, ching, geum, geumna, and na. It is used in various types of Korean traditional music and played with a padded stick. The jing is approximately 37.27 centimeter in diameter and the daegum, a bigger gong, is about 48.48 centimeter. | |
| Kkwaenggwari |  | The kkwaenggwari is a small flat gong used primarily in folk music of Korea. It is made of brass and is played with a hard stick. It produces a distinctively high-pitched, metallic tone that breaks into a cymbal-like crashing timbre when struck forcefully. | |
| Komungo |  | The komungo (or geomungo) is a traditional Korean stringed musical instrument of zither family instrument with both bridges and frets. The instrument originated in the 7th century from the kingdom of Goguryeo, which comprises the northern part of modern-day southern Manchuria and the northern and central parts of the Korean peninsula, although the instrument can be traced back to the 4th century. The geomungo is approximately 162 cm long and 23 cm wide, and has movable bridges called Anjok and 16 convex frets. It has a hollow body where the front plate of the instrument is made of paulownia wood and the back plate is made of hard chestnut wood. Its six strings. The pick is made from bamboo sticks in the size of regular household pencil. | |
| Nabal |  | The nabal (or nahbal) is a long, straight brass horn used in Korean traditional music. As the instrument has no valves or finger holes it is not a melodic instrument but rather plays a single sustained tone. The precise frequency of the tone produced can be quite different depending on the size of the individual instrument. The nabal has historically been used primarily in the military procession music called daechwita, as well as in nongak (rural farmers' music) to signal the beginning and end of performances. | |
| Nagak |  | The nagak (also called nagahk, na, sora, or godong) is a large seashell (conch) played as a horn in Korean traditional music. It has been introduced to Korea from the Ming dynasty of China. The nagak has a lower vibrating timbre sound and is similar to that of a boat whistle. It is used primarily in the military procession music called daechwita. | |
| Piri |  | The piri is a Korean double reed instrument, used in both the folk and classical (court) music of Korea. It is made of bamboo. Its large reed and cylindrical bore gives it a sound mellower than that of many other types of oboe. There are four types of piri: Hyang piri, Se piri, Dang piri and Dae piri The piri's equivalent in China is the guan (also known as bili), and its counterpart in Japan is the hichiriki. | |
| Pyeongyeong |  | A pyeongyeong is a traditional Korean percussion instrument, a kind of stone chime or lithophone formed of sixteen L-shaped stone slabs suspended from a frame. Although all the stones have the same shape they vary in pitch according to thickness; the thinner stones are lower in pitch and the thicker stones produce higher pitches. The pyeongyeong is derived from a Chinese instrument, the bianqing. | |
| Pyeonjong |  | The pyeonjong is an ancient Korean musical instrument consisting of a set of 16 bronze bells, played melodically. The bells are hung in a wooden frame and struck with a mallet. Along with the stone chimes called pyeongyeong, they were an important instrument in Korea's ritual and court music going back to ancient times. Although all the bells have the same shape they vary in pitch according to thickness; the thinner bells are lower in pitch and the thicker bells produce higher pitches. Several sets of Chinese bianzhong were imported to the Korean court from China during the Song Dynasty. The instrument is still used in Korean court music. | |
| Saenghwang |  | The saenghwang is a Korean wind instrument. It is a free reed mouth organ derived from (and quite similar to) the Chinese sheng, though the tuning is different. It is constructed from 17 bamboo pipes, each with a metal free reed, mounted in a metal windchest (the windchest was formerly made from a dried gourd). In contrast to other Korean traditional instruments, it is little used today and very few musicians are able to play it. The image shows a gisaeng playing a saenghwang. The painting is from the Hyewon pungsokdo (an album of the genre paintings drawn by the Korean painter Shin Yunbok during the late Joseon dynasty). | |
| Sogeum |  | The sogeum (also spelled sogum or sogŭm) is a small bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. Unlike the larger daegeum, it does not have a buzzing membrane (although it did have one in ancient times). It is used in court, aristocratic, and folk music, as well as in contemporary classical music, popular music, and film scores. | |
| Sogo |  | Sogo means a "small drum" and it is used in Pungmullori as well as various types of Korean dances. The drum is held together with a knob with one hand and is beaten on the drumhead with a firm stick with the other hand. Its size and appearance vary according to the region it is in. | |
| Taepyongso |  | The Taepyongso is used for military music such as the Daeschwita and Chongdeop of Chongmyo-Jeryeak, Nongak of Pungmullori. This instrument has the loudest sound among the traditional instruments. The blowing part is situated in the upper part of the instrument. | |
| Temple Block |  | The temple block is a percussion instrument originating in China, Japan and Korea where it is used in religious ceremonies. It is a carved hollow wooden instrument with a large slit. In its traditional form, the wooden fish, the shape is somewhat bulbous; modern instruments are also used which are rectangular in shape. Several blocks of varying sizes are often used together to give a variety of pitches. In western music, their use can be traced back to early jazz drummers, and they are not uncommon in modern orchestral music. Its sound is similar to that of the wood block, although temple blocks have a darker, more "hollow" timbre. The image shows a temple block from Korea. It is called a moktak. | |
| Teukjong |  | The teukjong is a single large bronze bell used in Korean ritual music. It is suspended from a wooden frame. A “kaktoe” made from cow horn is used to strike the teukjong. The bell sounds like a bronze bell in a temple. The teukjong was made popular by King Sejong the Great. | |
| Uh |  | The uh is a tiger-shaped wooden percussion instrument used by Korean since the Goryeo period. A bamboo stick, which is split at its end into nine branches, is used to scratch and beat the instrument. At the end of the ritual music, the head of the tiger is beaten three times and scraped on its back once. This process is repeated three times to signal the end of the ritual music. |
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