What is Ethnomusicology?

My wife recently asked me to teach a short lesson about ethnomusicology to her high school Music Appreciation class. Here is what I presented.

Playing the gong while dancing in Kalinga, Philippines

Definition
The word "ethnomusicology" is harder to say that it is to understand. You probably already know what the three main parts mean when you break down the word:

• ethno means "nation" or "peoples" or "cultures". You know it from the word ethnic. 
• music is, well, music. See more about that below.
• -ology means the "study of"

Taking those three ideas, the shortest (and best) definition of ethnomusicology is:

 "The study of people making music."

What do we study? : Music
Everyone knows what music is, until they try to write a definition. In general music is "humanly organized sound." But one person's music may be another person's noise. How people think about music, and the roles that it plays in their lives is what ethnomusicologists study. We cannot do that by watching clips online. Ethnomusicology is about going to places where we can learn about music from the people who make it.

Where do we go to study? : Everywhere
You don't have to go across the globe to study music. People right where you live are making, composing, and dancing to music. You can be an ethnomusicologist anywhere, even in your own hometown. You don't have to go to "exotic" places (although that can be fun). An ethnomusicologist is not defined by where they go. Instead it is all about how they approach the study of music.


How do we study? : Methodology
Most often an ethnomusicologist will use the study method known as ethnography. That's a process of studying about a culture for an insider's perspective. It means that an ethnomusicologist participates in the musical life of the people being studied.

Sometimes this approach is called Participant Observation. It means being with people and learning about their music-making in context. (See the picture above of me learning to play the gong while dancing with the group.) It involves watching performances. Like an anthropologist, the ethnomusicologist may conduct interviews with people to learn how they approach their music. He or she might even sign up for music lessons from an expert who knows the music and culture. Ethnomusicology studies almost always include some kind of recording. (That's me on the left, doing one of my first field recordings. I still had a lot to learn back then. For one thing, I should have been much closer to the singers. See the clip below for an example of a video recording.)

Sometimes an ethnomusicologist will want to study how people made music in the past. In that case, when there is no one left to teach them about that style of music, they have to rely instead on historical records. Rather than going to the "field", some of these ethnomusicologists work out of libraries and museums.

A dancing competition in Kalinga, Philippines during a village celebration

Who pays us to study? : Careers
Most ethnomusicologists make their living as academics. They earn a doctorate in ethnomusicology (or a related field) and spend their lives doing research and teaching at a university.

An ethnomusicologist can also work as an archivist. That's someone who preserves and shares recordings of music and dance from around the world. This is a valuable service, sometimes funded by the government or a philanthropic organization.

Community Development is another area where ethnomusicologists can use their training. Many organizations around the world are interested in helping people live in more sustainable and healthy ways. Music is an important part of life that needs to be considered when making changes to a culture. Since music is important in the worship of most religions, some churches and other religious organizations will seek the help of ethnomusicologists to study a society's music and culture.