The Sanjo Concerto for Acoustic Guitar Composed by Ham Chun-ho and His Guitar Virtuosity

This study describes the performing background, musical characteristics, and significance of Ham, Chun-ho's guitar sanjo concerto (2015), which appeared for the first time in the context of sanjo history. It examines how the forms of sanjo and concerto are realized with the foreign instrument, the guitar, and how the performer’s originality experience, and insights are reflected in the work. Ham, Chun-ho actively embraced the traditional form of sanjo in his compositions for guitar but utilized it in a very limited way, aiming to present the expressive possibilities of the guitar in innovative manners. He incorporated the continuous structure(Jangdan-continuum) of sanjo form and microtones while also capturing the effects that could be obtained by partially using the sigimsae of the Yukjabaegi scale and an alternation between duple and triple rhythms. However, he embraced the typical sanjo form but prioritized his own logic-specifically, the musical expression of emotions—over traditional musical logic. Consequently, he contrasted the first half of the piece, characterized by lyrical and song-like phrases, with the second half, which features leaps and intense instrumental phrases. To effectively express this opposing structure, he employed multiple instruments with different tuning and using a bottleneck to control timbre and technique. Furthermore, to address the dynamic imbalance between the orchestra and the acoustic guitar, he installed a pickup device to clearly express softer dynamics, particularly expressing “p”, and used a capo to enable the guitar to respond quickly to the orchestraAlthough Ham, Chun-ho did not showcase acrobatic playing techniques in his guitar sanjo concerto, he reflected his identity of a session guitarist in the composition. Notably, the presence of a solo section accompanied by the orchestra from the beginning expands the limited use of the session guitar by utilizing the concerto style. Additionally, distributing performing three guitars capable of electronic amplification across different locations, each with distinct tuning and playing techniques, strategically demonstrates the potential of the acoustic session guitar. This can be said to be closely related to his experiences and insights gained from working as a session guitarist. In this way, amid the contrasting demands of tradition and new composition, his numerous musical choices illustrate that a reinterpretation of sanjo. Therefore, it can be concluded that through this work, he confirmed the virtuosity of the acoustic session guitar.