How Does Ethnomusicology Matter? (original) (raw)
Related papers
It Was Never Just About the Music: Is Ethnoarts Ethnomusicology’s Next Incarnation?
Early in my PhD studies in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, I posed this question to a professor: “What am I learning to study? How do I decide what ‘music' is?” The response: “You’ll know it when you see it.” This exchange is a symptom of ethnomusicology’s enduringly indefinable nature. Despite decades of reflection and proposals for redefinition, we remain unable to articulate the subject of our research. On one hand, this allows us to engage with any of the astoundingly diverse artistic traditions of the world. I believe, however, that such conceptual imprecision is also one of a few crucial factors keeping us from much more influence in the growth of knowledge and the improvement of human existence. In this article, I outline a path to increased disciplinary thriving through exploration of the young ethnoarts movement. In particular, I propose that we embrace a future in which our subjects are enactors of artistic communication genres, and we view arts, culture, and prosocial intent as inextricably intertwined.
Ethnomusicology in search of the function of music
Music has accompanied the development of every stage of human society since prehistoric times, reflecting the beliefs, problems, utopias and every type of meaning and thought that is part of a civilization. This presence and its impact throughout our evolution have turned it into the first subject of study for many areas of knowledge such as socio-musicology, psycho-musicology, musicology and ethnomusicology, where answers to many questions are meant to be found by means of researching every relationship of music with mankind and society, making the function of music itself one of the most important questions.
The Diverse Voices of Contemporary Ethnomusicology
Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 2009
Review article: Martin Clayton, Trevor Herbert and Richard Middleton (eds), The Cultural Study of Music: A Critical Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2003. vii + 368pp. ISBN 0 415 93845 7. Jennifer C. Post (ed.), Ethomusicology: A Contemporary Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006. xii + 446pp. ISBN 0 415 97204 3. Suzel Ana Reily (ed.), The Musical Human: Rethinking John Blacking’s Ethnomusicology in the Twenty-First Century. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006. xi + 220pp. ISBN 0 7546 5138 X. Bruno Nettl, The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-one Issues and Concepts (new edition). Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005. xiii + 514pp. ISBN 0 252 07278 2.
Applied Ethnomusicology: Bridging Research and Action
Music and Arts in Action, 2010
This article provides a brief sketch of how scholars may be actively involved in conflict transformation efforts using music or the arts beyond their purely artistic connotations. Here I will explore the ways in which music has been employed in some ethnomusicological projects based on my personal experiences, which can hopefully stimulate debate and provide some ideas for other scholars in different branches of humanities and social sciences.
The Second Wave of Applied Ethnomusicology
MUSICultures. 41(2): 15-33., 2014
Building on the increasing popularity of applied ethnomusicology approaches since the early 1990s, a “second wave” of developments in the field’s methodology and practice raises various questions about its topics, terms and definitions, as well as the worksites and motivating factors for such applied work. Why has applied ethnomusicology come to focus on what Timothy Rice (2013) calls “music in times of trouble”? This article argues that the term applied ethnomusicology has taken on new definitions and meanings since about 2007. Yet what are the recently popularized definitions of applied ethnomusicology, and why has the field been redefined? The worksites of applied projects have long involved institutions. In the second wave, though, the scope of involved private, public and third sector institutions is broadening. What are the diverse types of institutions in which applied ethnomusicology work occurs today? As well, what are some factors that currently motivate the development of applied work in music? I explore aspects such as concrete problems in society, the repurposing of universities and academic trends and histories. I reflect on challenges proposed by the second wave.
European Journal of Research , 2020
Ethnomusicology, formerly known as Comparative Musicology (Ethnomusicology Newsletter in 1953) is a theoretical subject which is the combination of archiving, research, teaching & learning, presentation, outreaching, interviewing, gathering data, observation, documenting musical tradition, for the development of human being, global development, community sustainability, peace and harmony, social integrity, justice, health and education. It is music like other music through singing, dancing, playing instruments, drama, poetry (Ramayana, a great Indian epic written by a great monk and poet Tulsi Das, it reflexes nationalism, music folklore, ethnology (Giving Voice to Hope for Liberia, a refugee camp in Ghana's village is the combination of nationalism, folklore and ethnology, international folk music council, a UNESCO affiliated organization created for international cooperation manifested in the creation of the United Nations). The paper aims to explore Ethnomusicology as an independent subject from the subject of Musicology and to know traditional music from around the world through its participatory research activities within the community and in the classroom. The outcome is to establish and understanding its glimpses to the society, its complexity through social, economic, cultural bonds in every ethnic and traditional community such as discover of Pigmy Community through the reading of Rain Forest. The question is how does Ethnomusicology work as a medication for the deprived community from the ancient world to the present world? The future activities are to expand its various roots by writing and researching especially to know about the music of lost communities from humanity such as Maya civilization.