The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-One Issues and Concepts

by Bruno Nettl

The first edition of this book, The Study of Ethnomusicology: Twenty-Nine Issues and Concepts, has become a classic in the field. This revised edition, written twenty-two years after the original, continues the tradition of providing engagingly written analysis that offers the most comprehensive discussion of the field available anywhere. 

This book looks at the field of ethnomusicology--defined as the study of the world's musics from a comparative perspective, and the study of all music from an anthropological perspective--as a field of research. Nettl selects thirty-one concepts and issues that have been the subjects of continuing debate by ethnomusicologists, and he adds four entirely new chapters and thoroughly updates the text to reflect new developments and concerns in the field.                
                                   
Each chapter looks at its subject historically and goes on to make its points with case studies, many taken from Nettl's own field experience. Drawing extensively on his field research in the Middle East, Western urban settings, and North American Indian societies, as well as on a critical survey of the available literature, Nettl advances our understanding of both the diversity and universality of the world's music. This revised edition's four new chapters deal with the doing and writing of musical ethnography, the scholarly study of instruments, aspects of women's music and women in music, and the ethnomusicologist's study of his or her own culture.
 

Genres: Music, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Academic, Theory

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Bruno Nettl is professor emeritus of music and anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. An internationally renowned musicologist, he is both a founder and past president of the Society for Ethnomusicology and the author of many books.

Reviews

[Yode]

This is Bruno Nettl's post-hoc discussion of his many years of experience in studying different musics. What is particularly interesting about it, possibly to the dismay of some, is that it each chapter doesn't state his theory of the issues and concepts, but instead works as a history of the field. He offers a lot of different view points, counter arguments for each, and leaves me, the reader, slightly confused but armed with banter for cocktail parties. A good example of what I mean can be found in the chapter about music notation systems. He discusses it starting with the context in which it became an issue in the late 1800s, then what assumptions about notation exist in our culture. He continues to describe attempted solutions and ends with where we are today. (Which is questionable.)

All this and 30 more topics! Hurrah!

[Tyler]

As close to a Bible of the field as we will likely get.

[Luh · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

O livro The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-One Issues and Concepts foi uma leitura que fiz mais por causa de um trabalho, mas acabou por me surpreender bastante pela positiva. Não é um livro leve, mas é muito interessante e dá mesmo uma nova perspetiva sobre a música e a forma como ela é estudada em diferentes culturas.
No início achei que ia ser mais difícil de acompanhar, mas à medida que fui avançando comecei a achar os temas cada vez mais curiosos. Acabei por me focar mais na parte da música tradicional japonesa, o que tornou a leitura ainda mais interessante para mim e mais fácil de relacionar com o trabalho que estou a fazer.
Não foi uma leitura por prazer no sentido tradicional, mas acabei por gostar da experiência.

[Tomas Serrien · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very long read but it was all worth it. This book is a groundbreaking masterpiece. It is an overview of the ideas of a man who lived for his passion and inspired roughly every contemporary ethnomusicologist. Nettl died just before the pandemic started. This book gave me rare and valuable insights about the most important concepts in ethnomusicology. The examples of his fieldwork experiences with Blackfeet music, Carnatic music and Iranian music were very fascinating. Thanks for the inspiration 🙏 RIP

[Steve Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many anthropologists, Nettl is sometimes aloof and elitist, but his observations ring true and he's not afraid to turn a critical eye upon "western music", and himself, once in a while. Often humorous and completely interesting, this is definitely a good read for anyone interested in how music affects society, and vice versa.

[Kraig Grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was overjoyed when Daid Cotner sent me a copy of this book. i knew this Author from years ago doing pioneering work looking at African music. he is quite concise in getting into the heartof what is happening in the field from someone who has watched in grow.

[rae diamond · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, there are some interesting nuggets of thought, and it's well written, but i am simply not too interested in the inner workings of the the ethnomusicological society.

[Mills College Library]

780.89 N475s 2015