''Sinawi'', sometimes spelled ''shinawi'', is a traditional

Korean music Korea has produced music () for thousands of years, into the modern day. After the division of Korea in 1945, both North and South Korea have produced their own styles of music. Traditional music () produced by Korea includes court music, folk ...

. It is performed

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

ally by a musical ensemble, and traditionally accompanies the rites of

Korean shamanism Korean shamanism, also known as () is a religion from Korea. Religious studies, Scholars of religion classify it as a folk religion and sometimes regard it as one facet of a broader Korean vernacular religion distinct from Buddhism, Taoism, Dao ...

. The style first emerged in the

Chungcheong Chungcheong Province (; ) was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea. The provincial capital was located at Gongju, which had been the capital of the kingdom of Baekje ...

and

Jeolla Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as wel ...

provinces, but is now widespread. The traditional sinawi ensemble followed the principle of ''sam-hyeon-yuk-gak'' (三絃六角), with two

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

s, a ''

haegeum The ''haegeum'' () is a traditional Korean string instrument, resembling a vertical fiddle with two strings; derived from the ancient Chinese '' xiqin''. It has a rodlike neck, a hollow wooden soundbox, and two silk strings, and is held verti ...

'', a ''

daegeum The ''daegeum'' (also spelled ''taegum'', ''daegum'' or ''taegŭm'') is a large bamboo flute, a 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 f ...

'', a ''

janggu The ''janggu'' (, also transliterated as ''janggo'' or ''changgo'') or ''seyogo'' () is a drum often used in traditional Korean music. It consists of an hourglass-shaped body with two heads made from various types of leather. The two heads pr ...

'' hourglass-drum, and a large '' buk'' drum. However, today other traditional Korean instruments such as the ''

gayageum The ''gayageum'' or ''kayagum'' () is a traditional Korean musical instrument. It is a plucked zither with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 18, 21 or 25 strings. It is probably the best known traditional Korean musical instr ...

'' and ''

geomungo The ''geomungo'', alternate name ''hyeongeum'', is a traditional Korean culture, Korean plucked zither with both bridges and frets. ''Geomungo'' is a representative String instrument, stringed instrument made in Goguryeo before the 5th century. ...

'' are also often included.

References

Korean styles of music Korean traditional music {{Korea-stub

See also

References