1. Geomun-go

Geomun-go, or hyeongeum in Chinese character, is a composite word of "geomun," meaning black and "go," the ancient term to designate zithers. According to the History of Three Kingdoms, Wang San-ak, a high-ranked official of the Goguryo dynasty, revised a Chinese seven-stringed zither and made a new musical instrument. When he performed some musical pieces for the new instrument, a black crane came to the earth to dance to Wang?? music. From that time of this musical instrument had been called hyeonhak-geum, meaning "black crane zither." Later it was called hyengeum meaning "black zither." The geomun-go has been played by the literati for the moral training.

2. Gayageum

The gayageum means a zither (geum) of Gaya, an ancient country located in the southern part of the Korean peninsula. According to the History of Three Kingdoms, King Gasil of the Gaya dynasty created the gayageum based on a Chinese instrument. The body of the gayageum is made of a long paulownia. The instrument has twelve strings placed on movable bridges. The right hand makes the sound and the left hand makes the tunes. There are two kinds of gayageum; one used for classical music and the other used for folk music.

3. Haegeum

Haegeum means the stringed instrument (geum) of barbarians (hae). It is imported from the Chinese Yuan dynasty during the Koryo dynasty (918-1392). It is a two-stringed bowed lute.

4. Ajaeng

The ajaeng is a bowed zither with seven to ten strings. The bow is made from a branch of forsythia or made of horsehair. There are two kinds of ajaeng; one used for the classical music and the other for the folk music.

5. Yanggeum

Yanggeum means the string instrument (geum) of the West (yang). The yanggeum is also called seoyanggeum ("Western string instrument") or gura cheolsageum ("European metal stringed instrument"). The origin of the yanggeum is the santur in Middle East. It was introduced into Korea by the Chinese in the 18th century. Its body is flat and trapezoidal, with seven sets of four metal strings. The right hand strikes the strings with a thin bamboo strip.

6. Other chordophones

There are several chordophones used during the last Chosun dynasty. The bipa is a plucked lute. There were two kinds of bipa; hyang (??ative?? bipa with five strings and a straight neck, and dang (??hinese?? bipa with four strings and a curved neck. The bipa was one of three string instruments, along with the geomun-go and the gayageum, that were popular during the Unified Silla dynasty (668-936). The weolgeum is a round-shaped lute with four strings. It is found in the murals of the Goguryeo dynasty in the 4th and 5th centuries. The gonghu is a harp. It is believed to be used in the ancient dynasties. There were three kinds of gonghu; wa gonghu ("lied harp"), su gonghu (??tanding harp?? and so gonhgu "small harp".