Beyond K-Pop: Korean Music Meets America

The zithers, cymbals, voices and drumming of traditional Korean music are making their mark in the US.

“Most American audience members may think only of Korean pop as Korean music,” said Lee Soung Soon, a percussionist with The Tune, an all-female band whose national tour included a stop at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium on Nov. 7. “Now, it’s our turn to show our diversified music.”

The Tune reinterprets traditional music, incorporating modern keyboard sounds in tandem with traditional drums, string and wind instruments. The band employs Gutgury rhythm, the traditional call-and-response technique also adopted in K-Pop.

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