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How did ethnomusicology differ from conventional musicology?
What is ethnomusicology anthropology?
How did ethnomusicology start?
How do ethnomusicologists understand music?
In 1956 the hyphen was removed with ideological intent to signify the discipline's validity and independence from the fields of musicology and anthropology. These changes to the field's name paralleled its internal shifts in ideological and intellectual emphasis.
Thus, ethnomusicology contrasted the field of conventional musicology where the primary focus was on Western art music. Early in its existence, ethnomusicology was known as "comparative musicology," which established Western musical traditions as the standard to which all other kinds of music were compared.
The name change signaled another shift in the field: ethnomusicology moved away from studying the origins, evolution, and comparison of musical practices, and toward thinking of music as one of many human activities, like religion, language, and food. In short, the field became more anthropological.
It was known as comparative musicology until about 1950, when the term ethnomusicology was introduced simultaneously by the Dutch scholar of Indonesian music Jaap Kunst and by several American scholars, including Richard Waterman and Alan Merriam. In the period after 1950, ethnomusicology burgeoned at academic institutions.
Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its social and cultural contexts. Ethnomusicologists examine music as a social process in order to understand what music is and what it means to its practitioners and audiences. Ethnomusicology is highly interdisciplinary. Individuals working in the field may have training in music, sound studies ...
In 1981 the IFMC changed its name to the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM), and it continues to flourish today as an important institution supporting an international dialogue among scholars studying primarily the music of their own nations.
Although the field of study can be traced to the late 19th century, the term ethnomusicology entered common usage only in the 1950s.
