Meet South Korean musician Oh Hyun-ji, who plays K-pop music on the traditional gayageum

Ever heard K-pop played on a traditional Korean instrument? Meet Oh Hyun-ji – from Shinee to BTS, this 27-year-old musician plays well-known K-pop songs by popular artists on her gayageum, a 25-string instrument.

It was a 2006 period drama titled Hwang Jini that inspired Hyun-ji to learn how to play the instrument. The main character in the television series plays a similar instrument called guhmungo or geomungo.

“I actually wanted to learn the geomungo because it looked cool, but there was only a gayageum academy near my house, so I learned gayageum instead,” Hyunji told Gulf News in a recent interview.

Today, Hyun-ji is a TikTok star in South Korea, and she uses her channel to share with her followers, her love for the gayageum.

Thanks to her social media page @yageum_yageum, the traditional instrument has more young fans, who are inspired by Hyun-ji, to learn how to play it. 

While she uses K-pop to promote the traditional instrument, she also makes sure to include traditional music in her performances.

Watch our interview with the Seoul-based artist, who also recently performed in the UAE, at the Korean Cultural Center in Abu Dhabi.