Ethnomusicology is the scholarly study of music from cultural, social, and anthropological perspectives. Rather than focusing solely on the structural or aesthetic properties of musical works, ethnomusicology examines how music functions within human societies, how it reflects and shapes cultural identity, and how it is produced, perceived, and transmitted across communities. The discipline draws on methods from anthropology, sociology, folklore studies, linguistics, and musicology to investigate the full range of the world's musical traditions.
The field emerged in the late nineteenth century under the label 'comparative musicology,' pioneered by scholars such as Alexander J. Ellis, Erich von Hornbostel, and Curt Sachs, who sought to document and classify non-Western musical systems. By the mid-twentieth century, figures like Alan Merriam and Mantle Hood reshaped the discipline, arguing that music cannot be understood apart from the cultural behaviors and beliefs that surround it. Merriam's 1964 book 'The Anthropology of Music' established the foundational framework of studying music as culture, while Hood championed 'bi-musicality,' the idea that scholars should learn to perform the music they study.
Today, ethnomusicology encompasses a vast array of research areas including globalization and music, diasporic musical practices, digital media, sound studies, applied ethnomusicology, and advocacy for endangered musical traditions. Scholars work in contexts ranging from rural fieldwork in indigenous communities to analysis of urban popular music scenes, addressing questions about power, representation, gender, postcolonialism, and sustainability. The field plays a critical role in UNESCO intangible cultural heritage initiatives and in efforts to preserve and revitalize musical traditions facing extinction.
