Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

The solo traditional-instrumental field of a national Korean arts competition, played by one entrant in an age or skill division and scored out of 100.

Jeontong giak means traditional instrumental music, the repertoire played on Korean folk and court instruments rather than on Western ones. Well-known examples of the tradition include the plucked zithers gayageum and geomungo, the bowed haegeum, the bamboo flutes daegeum and piri, and percussion such as the janggu hourglass drum. In competition the item is a solo: one player, one piece, one score.

The template follows a national traditional-arts competition held in Busan, which has only two fields, traditional dance and traditional instrumental. Instrumental is assigned to three of its four divisions: Middle and High School (ages 12 to 18), General (Ilban-bu, 19 and over) and Master (Myeongin-bu). The Newcomer division (Sinin-bu) is dance only, so no instrumental entrant is placed there. A coordinator therefore sets up three groups for this item, each with its own list of players.

A round is a single prepared performance. The player chooses a piece suited to the instrument, sits or stands as the instrument requires, and plays it through before the panel, with an accompanist such as a drummer where the piece calls for one. Panels listen to the whole piece for the quality of tone and rhythm, not for speed alone, because the tradition prizes breath, ornament and feeling.

The published notice lists fields, not individual instruments, so the template does not split this item into gayageum, haegeum or daegeum classes. It carries only what is verified: an individual entry, both genders, Korean as the language, and Marks out of 100. Organisers who want separate instrument classes can add them as their own items and set their own time limit, since the source publishes none.

Where Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) comes from

Korean court music, ritual music and folk music each developed over many centuries, and the instruments now grouped as traditional were preserved through court orchestras, village ensembles and teacher-to-pupil lineages, then taught formally through the twentieth century.

Where Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) is run

On eTalenter this item is used in one template, built from the published divisions of a national traditional-arts competition in Busan, South Korea. Traditional instrumental music is also a standard field at Korean regional folk-arts contests, school arts days and university festivals, and is taught in Korean communities abroad, but each event publishes its own divisions, instrument list, time limit and scoring, so a coordinator should follow the notice of the event being run.

• South Korea

Key facts

• Individual item: one player, one performance, one score
• Assigned to three divisions of the source event: Middle and High School (12 to 18), General (19 and over) and Master
• Not offered in the Newcomer division, which is dance only
• Open to both genders, with Korean set as the language
• Scored as Marks out of 100; the template sets no time limit because the source publishes none
• The source does not name individual instrument classes, so none are asserted; it sits beside the traditional dance item as the event’s second field

On eTalenter, Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100.

What judges look at in Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental)

What a Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Tone: a clear, steady sound on the chosen instrument, with the characteristic colour of its tradition rather than a thin or forced note
• Rhythm and tempo: accuracy with the rhythmic cycles (jangdan) of the piece, holding the pulse and breathing with the phrase
• Technique: correct fingering, bowing, breath or striking, and clean handling of the ornaments and vibrato that give the music its character
• Mastery of the piece: complete, accurate playing from beginning to end, with no stumbles or lost places
• Expression and mood: shaping the piece so its feeling comes through, not playing every bar at the same volume
• Division fit: a Master entry is expected to show deeper command than a school entry, so the panel reads each player against the division
• The template records one total out of 100 and prints no split, so a panel that wants separate headings agrees its own before the round

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) under Scoring Setup, or start from judge scoring and tabulation software.

How to prepare for Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental)

How entrants and their teachers usually get Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) right on the day:

• Read the event notice first for the division, age band, time limit, accompaniment rules and whether the piece must be a named traditional work
• Choose a piece the player can finish with control rather than a harder one that falls apart, because steadiness scores more than difficulty
• Learn the rhythmic cycles of the piece well and practise with a metronome before moving to a drummer or recording
• Tune and check the instrument well before the day, and keep a spare string, reed or stick where the instrument allows
• Rehearse the entrance, seating, first note and bow, so the opening seconds are calm
• Record a full run-through and listen for rushed passages, uneven tone and weak endings, then fix those first
• Check the stage, chair or floor seating and amplification on arrival, as a zither or flute sounds different on each
• After a loss, ask the teacher whether tone, rhythm or expression cost the most and work on that one element before the next event
• Ideas, not rules: for a school entrant, a short slow piece played cleanly on a single instrument shows control and feeling better than a fast one played unevenly

Frequently asked questions

Is Jeontong Giak (Traditional Instrumental) judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Who can enter Jeontong Giak?

The template assigns it to three divisions: Middle and High School for ages 12 to 18, and General and Master for ages 19 and over. The Newcomer division is dance only. The event notice sets any further conditions.

Is it judged individually or as a team?

Individually. The template records one player, one performance and one score out of 100.

Which instruments are allowed?

The source notice lists the field as traditional instrumental without naming instruments, so the template names none. A coordinator running the item states the permitted instruments in the notice.

How long can the performance be?

The source event publishes no time limit for this field, so the template sets none. A coordinator sets a clock of their own and states it in the notice.

Is there a Newcomer class for instruments?

No. In the source event, the Newcomer division is dance only, so this item is not assigned to it.

Want the full judging picture? Read judge scoring and tabulation software, or browse every on stage competition item.