Music and Rituals

 Music is a very important part of anyone's life. This is still true when they pass away. There is music played at almost every funeral you will find around the world. I decided to research the music of traditional South Korean funerals, specifically that of rural parts of South Korea because with money and technology some tradition has been lost. Rural villages take charge of the funeral when someone in the village dies. The neighbors in the village join in to help and pay respects. These villages are very tight knit. They sing songs called Sangyŏ Sori. Sangyŏ sori are traditional South Korean folk song. The pallbearers are the ones that sing the song.

Korean Pallbearers

The pallbearers practice their call and response the night before moving the body. They practice once at midnight, 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock. This practice is known as Changmaji or Malmaeginun.

The song incorporates ideas from Confucianism , Buddhism, and Shamanism. The song is supposed to instruct enlightenment in the person that has passed away.

The 4 parts of Sangyŏ Sori

The first part is the prologue. This is sung during the departure. It is sung to express grief of the soul leaving the home village. This is very meaningful because the village tends to be small so it is a big impact when someone passes away.

Start at 1:30

The second part is is the processional. The processional is sung on the way to grave.

The video is partially the prologue and partially the processional.

The 3rd part is when the tempo starts to increase while climbing the hill and approaching the gravesite.

The final part is the song that is sung as the dirt is stomped into the burial.

Start at 0:45

The song is both ritualistic and and a work song. It helps distract from the hard work that the pallbearers are doing so it is easier to climb up the hill. Showing that music has many different purposes. Like I was saying in the beginning this is specific to rural parts of South Korea. Modern funerals in Korean cities are very similar to those of the US and other developed countries across the globe much of the tradition has disappeared unfortunately. Although there is still music that is played. As music can bring us together in all situations and let us let out emotions.

Cited

 Kwon, Oh-sung. “Melodic Structure of Korean Funeral Procession Songs.” Yearbook for Traditional Music, vol. 15, 1983, pp. 59–70. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/768642. Accessed 26 Sep. 2022.

Music and Me

 Hello, I'm Caden Landreth I am from Anderson SC. I am a special education and early childhood education major. Teaching is my passion. I think one of the best ways kids learn is through music. When I was in kindergarten my mom made up a song to remember her phone number. Music has always been a big part of my life. From listening to music to playing the drums, guitar and upright bass. Music is such a perfect expression of emotions. Music can also bring people together in singing and dancing it really just brings out the best in people. It is an art form.

My absolute favorite type of music is 90s-2000s alternative, emo and indie music. I still listen to it almost every day. Music like The Red-Hot Chili peppers, Weezer, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. I have grown up listening to this music. Although the songs may be aggressive and sad. It makes me happy in a way because I feel like I can connect with the music. Listening to this type of music created a type of community around it as any music genre does. It is nice to connect with the same type of music as others and grow connections within that. The songs just feel empowering and freeing and like you can let out all of your emotions. I feel this type of music allows one to be their true self and makes it okay to not be the same as everyone else.

Say it Ain't So-Weezer https://youtu.be/ENXvZ9YRjbo

Shy Away-Twenty-One Pilots https://youtu.be/3sO-Y1Zbft4

One song that is deeply meaningful to me is I'm Sticking with You by The Velvet Underground. My parents had the Juno Soundtrack on CD. We would often listen to it in the car, and this was my favorite song because as a child I thought it was silly because of the lyrics like "I'm sticking with you, cause I'm made out of glue." and "Saw you hanging from a tree, I made believe it was me". I started to be able to sing the whole song then my brother learned it not much after me and my whole family would sing it together in the car. I did not think much of the lyrics much as a child, but I know my parents did. As I have grown up it has become clear what the lyrics mean. I think they describe my family very well. We are very close and would do anything for each other. We can all still sing the song by heart but now we all know the message which is so meaningful to me.

I'm Sticking With You- The Velvet Undergrounds https://youtu.be/TuV3ElYHYe4

One genre I cannot get behind is EDM(electronic dance music). Lyrics are very important to me in songs I love to be able to sing along. The lyrics tell a story. To me I feel like EDM is just noise. It usually has a loud bass that hurts my ears. I just do not understand it.