Rhythm

The “Arirang” has no specific tempo, as it is an older, traditional folk song. That is why different regions play the song in different tempos and interpret the duration of each note unlikely, as seen by Se-Na’s interpretation of the notes. There are no ritardandos or accelerandos in the piece, in contrast to Chopin’s Nocturne.

His piece is pretty much Adante for the entire piece. All of the ritardandos, rubatos, and rallentandos are “poco,” as can be seen in measure 10 (poco ritard.), 12 (poco rall.), 18 (poco ritard.), etc.



Rhythmically, the two songs are not very similar: one is more structured, while the other song has no fixed form.

The time signatures on both songs are entirely different, too. There are no changes in time in both songs, however. Chopin’s piece is in 12/8, while the Korean folk song is in ¾. Both songs were played in triplets at some points within the pieces, though.