Music like Korean

The music of Korea refers to music from the Korean peninsula ranging from prehistoric times to the division of Korea into South and North in 1945. It includes court music, folk music, poetic songs, and religious music used in shamanistic and Buddhist traditions. Together, traditional Korean music is referred to as gugak (Hangul: 국악), which literally means "national music."

Not much is known about music from the Proto-Three Kingdoms of Korea period (before 57 BCE). It is believed that Korean people practiced shamanistic rituals involving music at agricultural festivals. Tomb murals and ceramics from this period depict string instruments with complex features that suggest the instruments were quite developed.