Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology is the study of music and its relationship to culture. Ethnomusicology combines the disciplines of anthropology and musicology. Ethnomusicologists must use the methods and techniques of musicologists in the study of music, but they must also use anthropological theories about interpreting cultural phenomena. Common areas of study are Eastern art music, folk music, and contemporary music that has an oral tradition. Other important topics studied are: the origins of music, musical change, music as a symbol, universals in music, and the biological basis of music and dance. Typically, ethnomusicologists study a living musical system in a culture other than their own. It is this trait that separates the field of ethnomusicology from that of historical musicology, which focuses on art music of Western Europe.

One of the problems faced by ethnomusicologists is how to record music that previously was only passed onto others in an oral way. The musical systems of other cultures usually do not conform easily to the Western system of notation. The invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison greatly aided in the recording and collecting of these types of songs. The development of the cents system by Alexander J. Ellis also aided in recording music that does not following Western traditions. In the cents system, the octave is divided into 1200 equal units, which makes it possible to objectively measure non-Western scales.

The study of folk songs led to a new form of nationalistic music. Composers began to incorporate traditional rhythms, melodies, and themes into their works. Folk songs were often used as the basis for art music. As folk music traditions began to be used in art music, people came to respect the traditions and appreciate folk songs. Béla Bartók is an example of a composer who used these processes to create Hungarian nationalistic music.