Virtual Gayageum: Play a 12-String Korean Zither
The gayageum is the Korean zither: silk strings stretched along a long wooden body, each resting on its own movable bridge and plucked with the right hand. This virtual gayageum has the 12 strings of a sanjo gayageum, tuned as in the chart of the National Gugak Center: G2 C3 D3 G3 A3 C4 D4 E4 G4 A4 C5 D5, from the long, low string 1 on the left to the short, high string 12 on the right.
How to use it
- Tap or click a string to pluck it, or drag your finger across several strings to sweep them.
- On a computer, Z X C V B N M , . / play strings 1 to 10, and A and S play strings 11 and 12. Esc stops every sound.
- Under Key labels, choose Note names, Computer keyboard shortcuts or No labels.
- Press Record, play, and press it again to stop. Then use Play, ↓ MIDI, ↓ WAV or Share.
- On a phone, tap Full screen (if your browser offers it) and turn the phone sideways: the strings get wider.
Help and explanations
The sound comes from recordings of a plucked zither (not of a gayageum itself), downloaded the first time you play; until they arrive you hear a synthesized sound. Pluck several strings at once on a touch screen, or use the mouse, the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard. Record, download MIDI or WAV and share a link. Nothing is sent to a server.
The 12 strings of the sanjo gayageum
The open strings use only five notes, C D E G A, so any strings you pluck fit together. The three C strings (2, 6 and 11, on the X, N and A keys) are handy landmarks. Korean textbooks often name the strings a fifth higher (D G A D E…): that is the written pitch, and the strings are the same.
Court and literati music use another instrument and tuning, the jeongak (pungnyu) gayageum. The gayageum tuner shows both tunings and checks each string of a real instrument.
Tunes to practice
Korean folk songs such as Arirang, Doraji taryeong and Miryang Arirang are pentatonic, so you can pick out their melodies on the open strings.
Sanjo, the great solo genre of the gayageum, moves through rhythmic cycles (jangdan) that start slowly with jinyangjo and speed up through jungmori and jungjungmori to jajinmori, with the janggu drum alongside. This page plays open strings only: the left-hand bends and vibrato (nonghyeon) that shape sanjo belong to a real instrument and a teacher.
Tips
- In Chord or scale, pick Major pentatonic with C as the root: all 12 strings light up, because the whole tuning is one five-note scale.
- Go up and down from string 1 to string 12 slowly with the metronome until you know every string.
- Choose No labels and find the C strings first (2, 6 and 11), then count to the others.
- Challenge: play the note asks for a pitch and you find it on screen; with a real gayageum nearby, switch on the microphone and play it there.
Frequently asked questions
How do I play the gayageum with a computer keyboard?
Z X C V B N M , . / play strings 1 to 10, and A and S play strings 11 and 12. Choose Computer keyboard shortcuts under Key labels to see the letter on each string.
What notes are on a 12-string sanjo gayageum?
Following the National Gugak Center chart, the sounding notes from string 1 are G2 C3 D3 G3 A3 C4 D4 E4 G4 A4 C5 D5.
Is this virtual gayageum free? Do I need an app?
It is free and runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers, with no sign-up and nothing to install.
Can I record what I play and download it?
Yes. Share creates a link with the notes inside it, ↓ WAV saves the audio and ↓ MIDI saves the notes (with the General MIDI Koto sound, no. 108, the closest standard instrument).