Kim Ji-soo joined The Korea Times in 2006, and worked on such desks as culture and politics and is currently a member of the Editorial Board. Previous workplaces include The Korea Herald and the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Artisan reveals secret to playing Korean zither
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Courtesy of Lee Young-hee
By Kim Ji-soo
By Kim Ji-soo
Friday nights in Korea are referred to as “bulgeum” or “burning Fridays,” as people gather usually in bars to wash away the week’s stress.
But one Friday night, on Nov 21., some people chose to relieve their stress in a different way. They gathered at a traditional cultural center in Samseong-dong to watch Lee Young-hee, 77, calm the night with her soulful solo stage performance of the “gayageum sanjo” or scattered melodies on a “gayageum” or 12-string Korean zither.
On the stage alone, Lee was a picture of poise, strength and elegance as she performed the “jinyangjo” or the slow rhythm and the “jungmori” or the fast one. As she plucked, flicked and dragged the strings with her right hand, sometimes pushing the strings either lightly or heavily with her left hand, her gayageum’s melodies seemed to whisk the listeners away. Her sense of rhythm was strong, making the listener’s head rock with it. Her “students” or those who will carry on her legacy joined her for the following rhythms of “jungjungmori,” “jajinmori,” “whimori” and “danmori.”
“It (gayageum sanjo) begins with the slow tempo and then moves to the fast tempo to arrive at a waterfall and a wonderful view,” she said in an interview with The Korea Times at her residence in Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province before her annual performance.
She was designated by the government as the Important Intangible Cultural Asset for gayageum sanjo in 1991. The gayageum is still very much a part of Korean life, often seen in performances in late-night television programs, epic Korean dramas and even on YouTube.
In a way, Lee and her gayageum sanjo were the predecessors of young K-pop stars’ performances in front of fans around the world.
“I and my fellow musicians performed at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and at the 1972 Munich Olympics,” Lee said when asked whether hallyu has roots in her art. She said gayageum sanjo was warmly received then and even more so today with the heightened interest in all things Korean.
Gayageum is also used in vocal performances, known as “gayageum byeongchang.”
When I complimented her on her elegant performance, she said, “Kim Juk-pa, the granddaughter of Kim Chang-jo, the purveyor of gayageum sanjo, told me I look like a crane when performing.”
Lee expanded on how she achieved the crane-like posture for the musical art form, which used to take place in the main rooms in the 19th century Korea.
“It comes with unwinding your entire body, so that you can channel your energy into your fingers to play the 12-string zither,” she said. “You can play well when the upper part of the body is leaning forward and releasing the energy into the fingers,” Lee said. "It’s actually not about relaxing but all about releasing,” she said.
She then stood up and showed a dance move.
“If I had tensed up, this dance move would have appeared awkward,” she said. Then, she dropped her shoulders and performed traditional Korean dance moves, like a crane that’s slowly opening and fluttering its wings.
When I repeatedly asked if she had a stretching manual, she asked me to stand up and started twisting my shoulders, causing me to scream halfway into the process. But when she asked me to do the same to her, her shoulders and arms easily came back to the way they were.
Born in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Lee was exposed to traditional Korean art music and dance. Lee’s posture and movements were those of a dancer. Lee said she would have excelled in dance had she pursued it seriously the way she did the 12-string zither.
“I just liked the gayageum a lot,” she said. “I start focusing once I start tuning the strings,” she said.
Her career started when she won the top award at a 1961 national music competition that was hosted by the predecessor of the network KBS.
She was also fortunate to have prominent gayageum teachers — Kim Yoon-deok and Seong Geum-yeon. With a sociology degree from Ewha Womans University and a talent for playing the 12-string zither, Lee was a rare college graduate. She said she was not embarrassed to play the zither, even though it was once mainly played by “gisaeng” or courtesans in Korea.
After teaching at the National Middle and High Schools for Traditional Arts for 16 years from 1962 through 1978, she also lectured at the universities of Chung-Ang, Konkuk, Seoul National and Hanyang. Afterwards, Lee served 12 years as the head of the Korean Traditional Music Association from 2000 through 2011, which is affiliated with the Federation of Artistic & Cultural Organizations of Korea. She spent a considerable time studying under Kim Yoon-deok and is therefore recognized in that line of gayageum sanjo.
But it took a long time and an immense amount of work before she learned how to release her energy and express her sound, which at times is likened to a “pansori” or a sound coming deep from the chest.
“When people come and ask me to teach them, I tell them, don’t do this unless you really have to,” she said. She said she told many aspiring students that she can teach them the melodies or how to play, but they may soon become disappointed.
“I told them that after a while, you may learn that the sound you have been expressing is mine and not yours and be disappointed,” she said, adding that she only taught those who were destined for the gayageum. She described her process for understanding the spirit of the gayageum sanjo as undergoing numerous deaths and resurrections.
“One has to reach or immerse oneself deep in the melody,” she said, “to arrive at the level where one can express the sound behind the melody.”
She has one immediate priority: to create a video manual of how to play the gayageum sanjo.
“I will start filming this Sunday with one of the young students here,” she said.