Geomungo

The six-stringed zither, geomungo, was created by the famous musician Wang San-ak of the Koguryo period (B.C. 37- A.D. 668), and has long been the most honored of Korean instruments, with its majestic deep sounds, enjoying a prestige among the scholarly class. The second, third and fourth strings are stretched over 16 fixed frets and tuned by round pegs, while the other strings are stretched over moveable bridges and tuned by moving the bridges to the left or right. The strings are plucked with a short bamboo rod, which is held between the index and middle fingers of the right hand, while left hand presses on the strings to produces various pitches.