육자배기의 美

The Aesthetics of Yukjabaegi

The aesthetics of music is based on its structure and mode of expression. Yukjabaegi of the southern folksong style (남도민요) and Jeongseon Arirang from the Kangwon province folksong style (강원도 민 요) were originally sung solo unaccompanied. However, as Yukjabaegi became realized with the distinct Jinyangjo rhythmic cycle, and as professional singers began to sing this song back and forth to eachother, Yukjabaegi became a solo form with changggo drum accompaniment. The Six-beats of Yukjabaegi are divided into 3 parts consisting of 2 beats each. In this way Yukjabaegi 6 beat division into three parts (2 beats + 2 beats + 2 beats) falls under the same Jinyangjo rhythmic cycle that occurs in Sanjo. In comparison with the Yukjabaegi 6 beat cycle, the Jajin Yukjabaegi section consists of a fast 3 beats. Yukjabaegi’s sentiment of praise, the form of which consists of 4-bar units, can be conceived in pairs of two: the front (上句) and rear (下句) phrases and the beginning (起句) and ending (結句) phrases. Four-bar units of this song of praise gathered into 3 or more phrases is not the standard from, rather it is an extended form through the use of an additional phrase (追加句). The first 4-bar unit phrase plus a 4-bar unit additional phrase plus one or more phrases can be a considered an example of extended form with additional phrases. In the opening phrases 4-bar unit phrase of Yukjabaegi, the words “Sarami Salmyeoneun” and “Jeogeonneo galmibonge” mark the division between the two front and rear phrases and can be considered to fall within Yukjabaegi’s standard form. However, the 4-bar units gathered into three or more phrases are examples of extended form made of additional phrases. In Yukjabaegi, additional phrases do not have a rear phrase, only a front phrase. In the musical formal style of Yukjabaegi, one can see similarities in Kagok, namely the stages of introducing, lifting up and pressing back to a state of rest. Among Yukjabaegi’s four central tones (Yi Bo-hyong’s final tone: Baek Dae Ung’s Boncheong), it goes a third higher from the starting point, thus lifting up, showing that Yukjabaegi conforms to standard musical formal style. In the standard form of Yukjabaegi, in the first 4-bar phrase, one can see the special characteristics of the front phrase and starting phrase in the place where the third and fourth bar come together. This is just like the Pansori excerpt from Chunhyangga in the piece entitled “Sarangga,” where the singer sings “o ho dung dung” in the third phrase and then in the fourth phrase on the words “Nae sarangiya,” drops down a fourth into a type of final cadence. In the first bar of the final 4-bar rear and ending phrases, notice the distinct and characteristic usage of 3 syllable words “Saraseo” and “Amado.”. This is similar to the three syllable usage present in the last verse of Shijo, and in the fourth section of Kagok. This is why this part is called Yukjabaegi’s rear and ending phrase. Another reason is because there is a final cadence to the central tone from a fourth above. If we summarize the music of Yukjabaegi’s front phrase, the first and second bars are full of tension whereas in the third and the fourth bars this tension is released. It is to credit the great singers who were able to surpass the simple folksong form and make Yukjabaegi into a polished and developed artistic piece of sublime music. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Yukjabaegi, together with Jeongson Arirang, are the lyrical pair of jewels in the Korean folksong repertory.