The Study of Ethnomusicology: Twenty-nine Issues and Concepts

The Study of Ethnomusicology focuses on the central issues confronted and major concepts developed by ethnomusicologists during the past three decades. The book's twenty-nine chapters deal with such specific issues as the nature of musical creation; the definition and conceptualization of music; the geographic distribution of musical phenomena; the stratification of music in society; and the intellectual, personal, emotional, and political problems occasioned by dealing with musicians in an intercultural context. Drawing extensively upon his own field research in the Middle East, Western urban settings, and North American Indian societies, as well as upon a critical survey of the available literature, Nettl helps us better understand both the diversity and universality of the world's music. Book jacket.