On Saturday evening in lovely St Marks Church in Islington, my fiance Dave and I along with close to a dozen others attended an introductory workshop to learn about the drums and gongs that make up a samulnori group, and a few basics about some simple rhythms.
Jeunghyun (pronounced more like 'ching-hyun') Choi has worked with the internationally famous troupe of Korean drummers Dulsori for years, and is a strict but encouraging teacher. We warmed up shouting 'Oo-rim Han-ma-um' and drumming on one another's backs, before being allowed to choose our weapons. Not surprisingly, lots of us chose the unique janggu that looks so amazing when played well, but Dave got a taste for the kkwaengwari, a humble-looking gong with a surprisingly big sound. We were encouraged to move, to shout, to try different instruments...
Thankfully there were several helpers to show us the ropes, and no-one had a problem with the fact that I am hopelessly unco-ordinated and entirely unmusical. There were plenty of other people who knew a bit about how to play an instrument. I was impressed that some people had just seen a poster in the library, knew nothing about Korea but decided to give it a go. Well, why not? For £5, it was brilliant value to get expert tuition, a chance to use the instruments and to meet new people too in a very, very noisy way.
Bravo! More! Oh, and it was a great excuse to keep up our strength by eating jjambong and kimbap and ramyun and modeum namul at Woo Jung, too...
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