Rababah ethnomusicology essay

Ethnomusicology is the study of music within the context of its larger culture, though there are various definitions for the field. Some define it as the study of why and how humans make music. Others describe it as the anthropology of music.

Ethnomusicologists often produce transcriptions and include them in their publications to better illustrate their argument. There are a number of ethical issues ethnomusicologists consider in the course of their research, and most relate to the representation of musical practices that are not “their own.”

Folklorists of the early 20th century—such as Cecil Sharp (who collected British folk ballads) and Frances Densmore (who collected songs of various Indigenous groups)—are also considered to be ethnomusicology’s forebears. Another major concern of comparative musicology was the classification of instruments and musical systems.

Alan Merriam’s 1964 book The Anthropology of Music is a foundational text that reflected this shift. Music was no longer thought of as an object of study that could be captured fully from a recording or in written musical notation, but rather as a dynamic process affected by the larger society.