Following the establishment of the creation domain in the 2022 Revised Music Curriculum, this study analyzes gugak creation activities across 36 elementary music textbooks used in grades 3–6. Activities were classified into seven categories—lyrics, malbuchimsae, jangdan, melody, whole-piece composition, music drama, and other—to determine their frequency and the related learning activities.
The analysis identified 160 activities in total. The number of activities presented varied considerably among textbook publishers (ranging from 11–28), showing considerable variation in the presentation of gugak creation activities across publications. While lyrics creation was the most prevalent activity (40%), qualitative shifts were also seen, including the inclusion of whole-piece composition, music dramas, and project-based tasks utilizing digital media.
However, issues such as a lack of hierarchy between grades and errors in content presentation— including those of inconsistent notation and inappropriate gugak grammar—were identified. To enhance gugak creation education, it is necessary to resolve quantitative imbalances, build systematic roadmaps appropriate for each grade, and develop integrated models that can preserve gugak’s musical essence while fostering student agency.