Chongganbo is known to be a reasonable and useful method of music
staffing, allowing for fair representation of some of the characteristic
features in traditional Korean music such as tonality that is different
from the Western tonal system, shigimsae, and beat and rhythm patterns centering around changdan. The chongganbo system was invented during the reign of Great King Sae-jong (1397-1450), and did not receive much attention until modernization in the country began around late 19th century, when the system was finally adopted by school boards to be used for formal education of traditional Korean music. Since then, there have been a number of different versions of chongganbo introduced in music scores and text books, creating substantial confusion among music teachers and students alike. The purpose of this study is to propose a chongganbo methodology, with focus on principles, for systematic and efficient training of traditional Korean musicians.
The chongganbo system used for music scores in elementary and
middle and high school text books were reviewed and analyzed. The
results produced the following problems in the use of this system:
(a) There is no consistency found in how chongg,아1 or a rhythm unit
is used;
(b) chonnggan is not recorded in a consistent manner;
(c) A unit of chonggan in each of the versions that have been
reviewed by this author has varying time duration; and
(d) The relationship between a staff—a fundamentally Western concept-and chonggan is not dear.
In order to address the abovementioned problems associated with
chongganbo, the following conclusions were reached based upon extensive research and discussions:
(a) One beat should indicate duration for one unit of chonggan, and a
beat should be recorded in scores accordingly;
(b) The reason there are different definitions of one beat in changdan
and different rhythms patterns that include the beat is because Korean
beats and rhythms have been analyzed from the Western point of view,
and these musical concepts should be approached from traditional Korean musical perspectives;
(c) Since traditional Korean beats are categorized into two groups, i.e.,
regular· beats and composite beats, based upon grouping of smaller beat units, the range of chonggan should also vary depending on the formation of the smaller beat units and the type of beats; and
(d) In case the top down recording system is used whether for each
line or each chonggan in a page, the recording should consistently be
done from the righthand side to the lefthand side of a page in scores.