The Origin of the Gaya Harp

The Gaya harp is usually called Gayatgo. This harp has 12 strings which are made of silk thread and which are vertically tied with the resonant board made of paulownia. A bridge is placed underneath each string. As the player plucks these strings the harp makes a sound.

This musical instrument is widely used for Korean musics, including the string music and the accompaniment for a tune. Because of its elegant and mild timbre, the Gaya harp is most popular among classic musical instruments in Korea.

Samguksagi (Historical Record of the Three Kingdoms) wrote down that the Gaya harp was made by King Gasil of Gayaguk who consulted a Chinese musical instrument. However, some historical records show that the Korean harp was played by several persons before King Gasil.

According to a historical record, Master Baekgyeol played it during the reign of King Jabi (458～479). Also, Samgukyusa (Bequeathal History of the Three Kingdoms) identifies that Mulgyeja played it the reign of King Naehae (196～230).

In addition, a musical performance picture was found from an old tumulus which is situated in the precinct of the mausoleum garden in Hwangnam-dong, Gyeongjusi. This picture was inscribed in the neck part of long-necked pottery found in the old tumulus.

If the tumulus is that of King Michu, the chronology of the Gaya harp is traced to the early third century. The fact that King Gasil manufactured the Gaya harp after the model of a kind of 13-stringed musical instrument in China implies that the king slightly improved the old Korean style harp into the Chinese style.

In a period of before and after 552, when Gayaguk came to fall into disorder, Musician Ureuk surrendered to King Jinheung of Silla. At that time, King Jinheung accepted him and placed in Gukwon (nowadays, Chungju).

The king ordered Ureuk to take Daenama Beopji, Gyego and Daesa Mandeok as his pupils and to hand down the profession to them. After that, the Gaya harp was used as a musical instrument for accompaniment.

The use of the Gaya harp, different from that of Goguryeo and Baekje, came to produce a distinct Silla music. Since the Unified Silla period, the Gaya harp was enlarged as an orchestral ensemble which consists of three strings and three bamboos (the Gaya harp, the Korean harp with six strings, a Korean lute made of aromatic tree, a large transverse bamboo flute, a mid-sized transverse bamboo flute and a small transverse bamboo flute). This tradition continued until King Seongjong of Joseon.

From the late Joseon period, these three strings and three bamboos were organized with the musical instruments for the string music and the accompaniment of a tune ― e.g., the Korean harp with six strings, a large transverse bamboo flute, a bamboo oboe, a Korean fiddle and an hour-glass-shaped drum ― which are presently played.

The sinawi, which is played in the Chungcheong-do region and the south region of Gyeonggi-do, and the sanjo music where the pansori (a narrative musical form unique to Korea) melody is introduced began also to be play from this period.

The Kind and Structure of the Gaya Harp

The Gaya harp is divided into two kinds; one is for classical music and the other is for folk music. The former is the prototype which has existed from the Silla period. The latter is the ameliorated type in the late Joseon period. Their structures are almost the same.

However, they are different in terms of size, musical range, timbre and rendering. The former is made of whole paulownia tree. Its length is around 164㎝ and its width is some 36㎝.

The front board of the latter is made of paulownia tree and the back board of it is made of chestnut tree. Its length is about 150㎝ and its width is some 21㎝. Accordingly, the former is bigger than the latter in terms of the distance between strings and the thickness of string.