Curious about Korean traditional drumming? Come and learn to play the Korean drums! No experience is necessary. Whether you have a sense of rhythm or not, we'll teach you everything you need to know!

In this introduction course, you will learn about the origins and practices of Korea's folk music, P'ungmul. You will understand the social, political, and religious ideologies that shaped the P'ungmul's unique style of music, song and dance, all the while having the chance to fully experience the music by learning to play one of two instruments (buk and janggu) and learn the garak (beats, rhythms) of the drumming portion of P’ungmul. The majority of the class will be spent on learning how to play Pangut, the outdoor form of P’ungmul.

There are TWO total absences allowed. There are no exams, but we will have short weekly assignments and a few short papers. Students will also participate in a performance during the end of the semester to showcase what they have learned throughout the semester!

Prerequsites:
No prior experience necessary! We will teach from the very basics and will provide the instruments. If you're simply interested in Korea's traditional musical culture, you're welcome to sign up for this course.

We will have DeCal orientation on Wednesday, January 31st in Morrison 125 at 8pm, where we will go over syllabus highlights, course information, and watch a performance by members of EGO (Berkeley's Traditional Korean Percussion Club). RSVP to orientation here: https://goo.gl/XjDB3U Students who are interested should fill out an application by January 31st, 2018 11:59pm. Space will be limited by the number of available instruments. The CCNs will be given to the students by the first day of instruction. First day of instruction is MANDATORY to be enrolled into this DeCal or you will lose your spot in this class.