Anytime Game of Thrones is involved you know its going to be good. That’s why just reading the title of this article makes you believe that his woman has something to offer. A traditional Korean gayageum is stringed instrument that is similar to many other zither-like instruments that can be found in many other countries. It creates a very distinctive sound that is hauntingly beautiful and is more than capable of handling this task.
I can recall in my life seeing one of these very instruments just once and it was being played by a young woman that had been learning how to manipulate the strings for nearly three years before she gained any level of mastery over it. When she touched her fingers to the strings and started to play she performed a rendition of Back in Black by AC/DC that was almost note for note with dead on accuracy. That is why I was so hopeful for this piece when she started to play, and she did not disappoint in the least.
At this point it’s possible to hear a large number of variations of the Game of Thrones theme, though unless we’re willing to watch reruns we won’t be hearing a lot of them for a year or more. I know, sad face, but the good part is that more and more people are taking up the tune on various instruments and are absolutely rocking it. This young woman makes the gayageum sing like none other as she goes about plucking the strings and making the intro sound different in a way that speaks largely to the soul and grips you in a way that is hard to define.
Just watching her play though it’s easy to imagine that learning the gayageum isn’t easy, much like any other string instruments. It would take some toughening of the fingertips to really pluck away like that and not be suffering halfway into the piece. Just watching her you can tell she’s put in her time and as a result her fingers have to be calloused and hard as rocks to keep at it like that. It’s so impressive though that watching and feeling the music as it pours into you is a thing of ease.
I remember watching this being played and thinking that it might be easier than picking up the guitar, but I decided to with guitar to start with. I played until my fingers were so sore I could barely press them together. Remembering back to the young woman playing the gayageum I shook my head and decided it just wasn’t for me. I love to listen though, and appreciating good music is easy when the person at the instrument is this skilled.
Her background player is to be given credit as well since they’re granting her the base beat from which to work. I’m not much of a music buff when it comes to terminology and proper names for every aspect of the song, but I can fully appreciate the movement of the piece as she continues all the way to the end.
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