The ''tungso'' (; sometimes ''tongso'', transliteration of its Chinese name of '' dòngxiāo'') is a Korean notched, end-blown vertical

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

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 ...

used in Korean traditional music. It is similar to the '' danso'', but longer and larger. The

hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

tong (洞) was used to describe the shape of the instrument that resembles a long cave. The instrument is parallel to the Chinese ''xiao'', and equivalent to its variant, ''dongxiao'', and the Japanese name is ''

shakuhachi A is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

''. A distinctive feature of the ''tungso'', unlike other vertical flutes is that it may have a buzzing membrane, similar to that of the Korean transverse flute, the ''

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 ...

''. This is especially common in the folk variety of the instrument. The ''tungso'' is a vertical flute made of thick, aged bamboo. Until the mid-Joseon period, ''tungso'' had been used mainly in court music, but by the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century, it became a more widely used instrument. Today, it is played in accompaniment to masked dances like the '' Bukcheong sajanoreum''. The tongso is made thicker and larger than '' danso'', and the length is 55 cm and the inner diameter is 2 cm.

Use

Like the ''

'', there is a special hole called ''cheonggong'' covered with a thin membrane made of reed between the breathing mouth and the hole, which produces a vibrating sound. The tungso was also played as court music, but is rarely played now.

References

End-blown flutes Korean musical instruments Bamboo musical instruments {{Flute-stub

Use

See also

References