The folk music of later Joseon times can be represented by two main streams, Pansori and Sanjo. Later 19th century, these main streams of folk music started to branch into smaller ones including Danga, Jabga, Ipchang (Seonsori (silly talks)), folk songs, and Nongak (instrumental music of peasants). In fact, it will be fair to say that of these small branches the folk songs and Nongak surely date back to the ancient times.
  However, in that we for now don’t have a strong basis to support the claim, let alone anybody who have a clear knowledge base on their histories or origins, we won’t be able to give affirmation for that matter, in this text.

Despite the fact that both folk songs and Nongak definitely have longer histories and traditions than any other folk music genres and have not gone under so big changes in their modes over times, we still can not clearly identify the true natures of them for these reasons; first, the performers themselves are not professional singers or dancers but merely amateurs; and second, they are a public culture of music which find their origins in the natural lives of general publics.
Therefore, defining of folk songs or Nongak can be challenging since wide different criteria by different people may possibly be applied to their definitions .

Based on four percussion instruments including Kkwaenggwari (also referred to as Kkwaengmaegi or Soi), Jing, Janggu, and Buk, sometimes added to the performance of Nongak is the string such as Nabal or Taepyeongso (also called, Nalari or Soinap); or drums such as Sogo or Jabsaek. These instruments are played in a variety of Korean rural festivals ranging from Dongje (village rituals) on Deborum (great full moon), Musumnal (festival of servants) in February, Hwaang Play in March, to Dano in May

Korean Nongak (instrumental music of peasants), transmitted from the ancient times, has gone through a lot of hardships in its process of growth to date. It used to get a cold reception from Joseon Dynasty who held up to the policy of Cult of Confucianism and Oppression of Buddhism which dismissed as vulgar the daily conventions among the common folks of that time terming them ‘ugly and to be eradicated’. [Dodang-gut], where the popular spirits are summoned, was disdained and the whole shamanist practice was contempt as [a shaman’s rites]. Nongak was driven out of the site for gut (a shamanistic rite) in the shrine of a tutelary deity or the fields and shrank into a small alley to fade to a courtyard performance. This closely reflects a phenomenon in Joseon dynasty where the original ritual nature with Nongak or is functions as a labor music dramatically reduced while its amusing roles were added and started to spread widely.

This social phenomenon was the result of the social structure being gradually stratified, confronted, and stiffened. In the 3rd year of the reign of Seongjong (1472), all gut practices were banned with the establishment of 7 Articles of Conditions for Banning the Sacrificial Rites; in September of the 13th year of Jungjong’s reign ( 1518), 소..서 was repealed and at the same time all the ritual goods (musical instruments in Nongak) were confiscated; and in the 39th year of Seonjo’s reign (1606), in addition to the ban of gut itself, the women and girls from Yangban (the highest social class of Joseon dynasty) or Sadaebu (illustrious officials) families were prohibited from even watching the instruments.

Joseon dynasty has shortly seen the revival of Nongak during the reigns of Yeonsangun, Gwanghaegun and Daewongun, especially in the 2nd year of Gojong’s reign (1865) when Nongak performance was allowed to amuse the workers who were building the Gyeongbok palace and improve the efficiency of work. This move of supporting Nongak found its way into the early period of Japanese rule when it appeared the asset of Nongak was going to be succeeded without a big interference, holding its unique color for each province. However, during the last stage of Japanese rule, all brass items including Jing and Kkwaenggwari were levied to be dumped, which imposed a risk on Nongak. It appeared Nongak was about to get its life back in line with Joseon’s liberation from Japanese rule on August 15th, 1945 but the rapid spread of the western music and the move to leave the country up to now has once again put the survival of Nongak in jeopardy.

Korean government has been dedicated to the exploitation and transmission of Nongak as well as various types of folk games by annually holding a national folk art competitions or national Nongak competition. Despite these efforts, however, it is hard to shatter the impression “all the recent competitions are no more than competition itself.”

The term, Nongak was first used reas ‘gut is joined by various folk games to shape up as a stage performance, also used to be called, ‘Poongmul,’ ‘Poongjang,’ ‘Dure,’or ‘Megu,,’ which can easily traceable in our ancestors’ performances where they say ‘Strike the Poongjang’ or ‘Strike the Gut,’ or term the Nongak instruments ‘Poongmul,’ or ‘Gutmul’. Nongak has been handed down primarily in the context of what the farmers do in their agricultural affairs, with its peasant band called variably depending on how it is used from ‘Gutjoongpae,’ ‘Geollippae,’ and ‘Gutpae,’ to ‘Durepae’; likewise, its performances by the peasant band termed differently from ‘Pangut,’, ‘Durepoongjanggut,’ and ‘Geollipgut,’to ‘Village gut’.