Not just K-pop, Delhi’s K-culture paglus are also discovering Korean folk music and here's how

Move beyond K-pop as Delhiites sing along centuries-old Korean folk songs, discover a different side of the country's music during recent Korean Minyo workshop.

Students dancing to the rhythm of Ganggangsullae, an ancient Korean circle dance and song tradition. (Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

For many Delhiites, the introduction to Korean culture might have begun with BTS or Blackpink. But at the recently three-day workshop (September 8 to 10), held at the Korean Cultural Centre India, six batches of city's youngsters went beyond K-pop to discover Korea’s traditional folk music – Minyo. The mentioned sessions, titled Korean Minyo: Learning Korean Traditional Folk Songs through K-Pop and Film, introduced K-culture enthusiasts to Gyeonggi Minyo’s Arirang and Namdo Minyo’s Ganggangsullae through singing, folk dance videos as well as movement.

Cho Eun Joo, a practitioner of Gyeonggi Minyo, leading the workshop. (Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

Leading the sessions was Cho Eun Joo, a practitioner of Gyeonggi Minyo, who was visiting the Capital for the first time. She combined K-pop and dance with the traditional songs to make these more familiar to those participating. And while preparing for the workshop, she looked further. “I researched on Indian regional music and came across Langa, a genre of Rajasthani folk music, and discovered how similar it is with Koreans in terms of its vocal technicalities,” shares Cho, who was “touched” by how hard the participants worked to learn the notes despite the language barrier.

"I included some sight-seeing to my itinerary to experience the city. In fact, I always wanted to see the Taj Mahal. Since this is my first visit to Delhi, I managed to visit the Humayun’s Tomb which is the closest to the Taj in structure. Loved every bit of it... I even learnt a bit of Hindi and can now fluently say: Main pyaari hoon!" - Cho Eun Joo, Gyeonggi Minyo practitioner

Young Delhiites attended the Korean Minyo workshop to learn Korean folk music and dance. (Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

“Hearing the word folk, some might feel it would be boring. But, they stand corrected! In fact, Minyo is quite similar to K-pop in terms of its rhythm," shares Yashika Nirwal, a master’s student at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), adding, “I also realised how easy it is to learn the notes and Korean lyrics as a Hindi speaker. It comes in handy while picking up the pronunciation of the Korean words.”

Sunidhi Sharma, one of the participants at the workshop found the experience quite enriching. (Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

Sunidhi Sharma, a design student at Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT) shares a similar experience. She says, “Being a K-drama lover, I was totally drawn to the session! This was my first-ever experience of learning about the Korean language and music. When I watch K-dramas, I like their theme songs so much that I had to come here. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun understanding how the folk songs are created and even got a chance to sing them."

The workshop was as much about experiencing the music as learning it. Jigyasa Singh, a Delhi-based law student who speaks Korean at an intermediate level, found the higher notes challenging. “It sounds simple when you watch someone else do it, but coordinating the rhythm and vocals definitely requires some focus,” she says, adding that she enjoyed learning the music and dance together and would certainly like to sign up again.

Story by Anshita Jain

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