Variations on a Korean Folk Song is a major musical piece written for concert band by John Barnes Chance in 1965.
As the name implies, Variations consists of a set of variations on the Korean folk song "Arirang", which the composer heard while in South Korea with the U.S. Army in the late 1950s.
The theme is based upon a concert A♭ major pentatonic scale.
At the beginning of the composition, the first part of the theme, resembling Arirang, is introduced quietly in the clarinets; the other instruments join in to play the second part.
A typical performance of Variations on a Korean Folk Song lasts 7–8 minutes.