A Study on Choseong of Sogak in Akhakgwebeom

Abstract

This paper examines choseong (lit. the first note; used as the lowest note) of sogak , which refers to hyangak (indigenous Korean court music), recorded in Akhakgwebeom (a book on music compiling royal protocols and music scores in Joseon Dynasty) focusing on sanhyeong (explanatory diagrams illustrating the relation of pitch and where to play) of the two instruments, geomungo and daegeum. It aims to correctly establish the theory of sogak in Akhakgwebeom. The proposition of “the choseong of sogak is hyeopjong ” in Akhakgwaebeom is based on the Chinese sogak theory and it refers to the lowest sound in sogak chilji (seven keys of sogak ). It is believed that choseong of sogak is determined by jeongseong (正聲), a tone that indicates the first note in a melodic mode, in the notation system oeumyakbo . The jeongseong of oeumyakbo was divided into two types: the sejosillok type expressed in gung (as in oeumyakbo ) and the akhakgwaebeom type expressed in ha 5. In the geomungo sanhyeong , the jeongseong of all ilji (hyeopjong, goseon) , iji (jungnyeo, yubin) , saji (ichik, namnyeo) , and chilji (daeryeo, taeju) was expressed as gung . Since ha 3 was the lowest note in the sanhyeong of ilji and iji , however, ha 5 could not be the jeongseong of the oeumyakbo . The tuning of geomungo heohyeon (sound of playing open strings) is also a major criterion for determining the jeongseong of oeumyakbo , but since in the melodic mode naksijo and ujo it is set in gung and ha 5, respectively, they did not match each other. Based on the relationship between the sogak chilji of geomungo sanhyeong and the jeongseong , the choseong of sogak appeared to be hyeopjong (夾). In the daegeum sanhyeong of Akhakgwebeom, all sogak chilji are presented, but there was a problem that the oeumyakbo system applied to sogak chilji is inconsistent. Furthermore, in the case of yukji (hwangjong ) and chilji , when the jeongseong of oeumyakbo is gung, there was a problem that the range necessary for the establishment of a melodic mode could not be secured. Due to these problems, it is thought that the jeongseong of oeumyakbo applied to yukji and chilji should be ha 5. Therefore, the jeongseong in the daegeum sanhyeong is ha 5, and thus, the choseong of sogak appeared to be hwangjong (黃) based on the jeongseong of oeumyakbo , or ha 5. As mentioned above, the jeongseong of oeumyakbo was divided into two forms: gung and ha 5. Because the jeongseong of oeumyakbo was applied differently depending on the musical instrument, the choseong of sogak appeared in two types, hyeopjong and hwangjong . This phenomenon is not only a problem with the sogak chilji and the oeumyakbo system itself, but also a problem in that the characteristics of the range of each instrument and the relationship between the sogak chilji and the oeumyakbo are not properly established.