This study aims to improve the quality of school music education and to suggest effective gugak (Korean music) teaching methods by examining the actual status of school music education and students’ demands for gugak classes, targeting elementary, middle, and high school students sampled from 7 regions. They are taught by teachers who are members of the Society of Study for Korean Music Education and their fellow teachers. As for the research method, an online survey was designed, and teachers introduced the survey to students. 1.001 students who wanted to participate had direct access to the society’s website and completed the survey. These data were analyzed using E-stat 3.0 provided by the Korea Social Science Data Center (KSDC). According to the survey on the actual conditions of school music education, the three types of music that students learned the most in music class were ‘gugak,’ ‘Western music,’ and ‘popular music,’ in order. The four activities and performance assessments frequently implemented in music class were ‘various music appreciation,’ ‘musical instrument performance,’ ‘singing,’ and ‘music theory and music history.’ Satisfaction with music class was 3.55 out of 5 (SD 1.056), and satisfaction decreased slightly as the school levels went up. The degree of learning gugak in music class was an average of 3.23 out of 5 (SD 1.229). As for the teacher type for gugak class, ‘the music teacher’s single teaching’ was the most selected. There was a difference by grade and school level at the significance level of 1% only for the 1st and 4th ranks of the 1st~4th ranks of gugak activities that students wanted to do in school music class. As for the activities that students desire to do in gugak class, ‘learning gugak instruments,’ ‘participation in and visits to local cultural festivals,’ and ‘gugak appreciation’ were ranked high. For the benefits of learning gugak in music class, ‘one can even learn Korean history and culture through gugak.’ is most responded. The need of gugak classes in school music class was 3.63 out of 5 (SD 1.062). The desired frequency of gugak classes in school music class was 3.39 points (SD 1.013). The study showed that there was a correlation between satisfaction with school music education and the need for gugak class and a high correlation between the need for gugak classes and the desired frequency of gugak class. It is expected that more research on the application of gugak education will be revitalized by closely reviewing students’ demands for gugak classes through surveys on the actual conditions of the field.