MUSIC♪♬

I guess Korean traditional music could be classic music to you. Even my friends in Korea do not like to listen to it. They think it is slow, boring, and old-fashioned. But I do not agree with them. I think it is extremely interesting to see how people celebrated special events and enjoyed their spare time by playing their instruments centuries ago. I started playing Gayageum, a guitar-like and harp-like traditional instrument, since I was 8. I had after school class for it 2 or 3 days per week. I used to be in a special school called the National Middle School of Korean Traditional Music before I moved to Costa Rica. Gayageum was my instrument that I chose in school, and I loved learning and playing it. I loved I had to pass a huge examination to go to that school. It was even more competitive, because they only accepted 105 people per grade, and only about 20 people for the class of my instrument. It was on si-chang and cheung-eum, which was to test my musical talent. For si-chang, I had to sing the notes that were on a score that they had made up without any accompaniment of piano.  Cheung-eum was another exam to test my musical ability. I had to write down the notes on a blank score while I was listening to the sound. They repeated only for two times, so I really had to be attentive. And I also had to have good grades in school. I felt sick before I was taking the exam, because I was so nervous. But after about a month, they told me that I passed the examination, and I was literally jumping. That happened when I was only 11. I first entered into the school in March with my new uniform. I honestly thought our uniform was one of the ugliest ones in the world. For winter, we had to wear a long white blouse, a vest and a long skirt that came up to my knees with reddish brown cross stripes, and an indigo colored jacket. I didn’t like the uniform very much, but I liked wearing it, because I felt proud of my school. But not everything being in that school was good. I was stressed out more than my friends in normal school, because I had to study regularly as the others did, and I had to practice my instrument for the finals, too. So I could sleep only for about 4 or 5 hours per day. It was extremely stressing. But I thought I couldn’t blame it on someone else, because it was a “step” to fulfill my dream, which was to be a performer of Gayageum. I still feel proud that I was in that school. I was really sad when I was told that I had to move to Costa Rica. Because I put so much effort to enter that school, and it felt like everything was for nothing. However, my parents told me that it was one of the best experiences that I would ever had in my life. I am still playing the Gayageum once in a while in Costa Rica. It gives me blisters on my fingers, because I should be playing it constantly to make my fingertip hard. It hurts really badly. I just got two on the second and the third fingers when I was video taping of myself playing the instrument. I stopped in the middle, because one of the blisters had popped. So I will have to continue as soon as it gets better. I will upload videos of myself next time. :]

 This is one of my favourite videos. I like it because they used the Korean traditional instrument called Gayageum. And I love the combination of modern beat boxing and use of the traditional instrument. It is definitely something new.  

I love music. When I think of “passion,” I always think it should be some kind of “activity,” dancing, sports, playing instrument, etc. But when I thought about it more carefully, I had a feeling that music could be one of the passions. Because it makes me feel comfortable and happy, and I believe that is how you feel when you do something that is your passion. For me, I like any kind of music, except for dirty ones. Electronic, rap, jazz, and R&B are my favorites. I usually listen to Korean artists’ songs. Another genre that I love is Korean traditional music.