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201
3rd Century (201-300 CE)
This is the earliest reference to Korean music. The reference was found in an Ancient Chinese text that spoke of singing and dancing from tribes in Northwest Korea. Female Korea shamans would utilize an array of traditional instruments such as the changgo, an hourglass shaped traditional drum. Korean music of this time may somewhat resemble Dixieland Jazz. -
357
4th Century (357 CE)
Tomb paintings found in Korea show Chinese Han-styled horsemen wielding Chinese instruments, additionally further in the tomb, traditional Chinese instruments can be found such as a Chinese zither. -
668
7th-20th Century (668-1910 CE)
This time range contained the three Korean kingdoms. The first to take power was the Silla dynasty who took power from 668-935 CE which just so happens to coincide with the golden age of the Chinese Tang dynasty (619-907 CE). The other two, Koryo (935-1392 CE), and Choson (1392-1910 CE), also so happened to exist along side Chinese dynasties. With that occurring, the court music in Korea reflected the influence that China gave off. -
20th Century (1900's-1990 CE)
Following the Japanese occupation of Korea, the kind of music that would be created also change. With the occupation of Korea, Korean trot music would form from influences of a Japanese type of music called Japanese Enka, as well as other western influences. Trot would remain popular in Korea until the 90's and would be considered to be the oldest form of Korean popular music... The decline of trot however would pave the road for modern K-Pop. -
20th Century-Present day (1980's-2017) The Ballad's
The modern Korean Ballads began to emerge around the 1980's. This expressive form of song draws heavy inspiration from genres such as soul, R&B, blues and occasionally even rock. Similar to traditional Korean music, these Ballads are extremely expressive and soulful pieces. -
20th Century-Present day (1992-2017) part 2.
As long as a song is catchy and non-Koreans can recognize something familiar or find something about it that they enjoy, the product (in this case K-Pop) can be promoted in most western societies that share similar styles. It also helps that Korean is a language that flows well in song (In my opinion at least, others could think differently). -
20th Century-Present day (1992-2017)
With the emergence of Seo Taigi and the Boys, and how they would incorporate styles that are very western based ie rap and hip-hop, they would pave the way for modern K-Pop and K-pop stars. The way that modern K-pop songs sound, majority of them sound like they would be Western songs, just with a different language over the music. By doing this, the marketability of K-Pop isn't exclusive to Korea and is capable of reaching across borders as seen with PSY's Gangnam style.