Toward a Definition of Ethnomusicology

Author(s): Willard Rhodes

Reviewed work(s):
Source: American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Jun., 1956), pp. 457-463
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
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Towarda Definitionof Ethnomusicology'
WILLARD RHODES
Columbia
University

THE increasing interest in music and awareness of its significance as a

revealing expression of man and his culture have given a fresh impetus to
ethnomusicological research and investigation. Employing the techniques and
methods of cultural anthropology and musicology, the discipline has strug-
gled along these past seventy years as a stepchild of both parents, a second
class citizen in the society of the social sciences and the humanities. This
unenviable position results in part from the cross-relationship of ethnomusi-
cology and the demands which it imposes on the student and scholar, for he
must have a working knowledge and facility with the theoretical and empirical
aspects of both disciplines if he would deal adequately with his material. The
ethnologist with a basic training in musicology is as rare as the musicologist
who has worked seriously in anthropology. The progress of ethnomusicology
has been limited by the small number of workers who have been able to meet
the double qualifications of the discipline.
Why has man's music, so rich and varied and so overtly expressive of his
inner life, attracted so few students and scholars? The heavy demands of prep-
aration in two disciplines and the limited opportunities for professional practice
of ethnomusicology have conspired to repel all but those persons who, despite
lack of support and opportunities, have dedicated themselves to the study of
this aspect of culture. But is not the fraternity of ethnomusicologists also re-
sponsible for this situation? Have we been as diligent in the promotion and
publication of our work as our colleagues in other fields? And have we not
been over-zealous in the trusteeship of the discipline and its tradition? A field
of investigation already highly specialized has often been made to appear more
esoteric and forbidding than was necessary. How many potential workers and
patrons have been lost because we failed to communicate with them? Without
lowering standards of scholarship we must somehow manage to enlist more
workers in ethnomusicology and gain a wider interest and support not only
among our colleagues in the related disciplines but among all those who find in
man's music an expression of his thoughts and feelings, his inner life.
It may appear pretentious to attempt a definition of ethnomusicology at
this late date, but if this paper stimulates thinking and discussion on the sub-
ject and contributes in a small way toward a clearer focus on the scope, objec-
tives, problems and methods of our discipline, it will have fulfilled its purpose.
The term musicology, recently adopted from French musicologie into
English usage to denote the scientific study of music, is the equivalent of the
German Musikwissenschaft.The German term was first used by F. Chrysander
in the preface to his Jahrbiicherfiir musikalische Wissenschaft (1863) to em-
phasize the importance of applying scientific and scholarly standards and
methods in musical studies, and since that time scholars of the Western world
457
458 American Anthropologist [58, 1956
have been attempting to define the discipline and its province. Guido Adler,
in an article Umfang, Methodeund Ziel der Musikwissenschaft which appeared
in the first volume of the Vierteljahrschriftftir Musikwissenschaft (1885:14),
presented a comprehensive system that embraced the entire field of music
study and acknowledged the interdisciplinary relationship to the collateral
sciences, acoustics, physiology, psychology, logic, grammar, pedagogy and
esthetics. Waldo S. Pratt, music historian and American pioneer in musicology,
wrote in his article, On Behalf of Musicology (1915:3)
Here genuinescholarshipmust guarditself againstevery speciesof provincialism,
fromthe pettinessof the ignorantto the snobberyof professedculture.Its outlookmust
be determined,as far as may be, not by the impulsesof personalpreferenceor prejudice,
not by the demandsof practicalinstruction,not even by the problemsof libraryecon-
omy and system, but by the essentialpossibilitiesof the subject. "Musicology"if it is
to rank with other comprehensivesciences,must includeevery conceivablescientific
discussionof musicaltopics.
This is sound counsel, but Pratt betrays his own provincialism in his dis-
cussion of Adler's systematization when he writes, "The application of 'musi-
cology' to comparative ethnological research is surprising, and must be set
aside as arbitrary" (1915:2).
Otto Kinkeldey, dean of American musicologists, in his article Musicology in
the International Cyclopediaof Music and Musicians (1939:1218), has broadly
defined the subject as "the whole body of systematized knowledge about
music, which results from the application of a scientific method of investigation
or research, or of philosophical speculation and rational systematization to the
facts, the processes and the development of musical art, and to the relation of
man in general (or even animals) to that art." Few will take issue with this all-
embracing theoretical definition, but an examination of studies and research
made under the aegis of musicology reveals the fact that most scholars have
been content to work within a much smaller framework.
In the Harvard Dictionary of Music (1947:474) Willi Apel presents in a
realistic statement the emphasis and orientation of contemporary musicology.
He writes, "The important point, however, is that the category of Musical
Research (Musikforschung) must be given the central position in the plan,
with theory, music history, etc., forming the foundation, while aesthetics,
acoustics, etc., represent adjunct fields of study."
So much for musicology in its broadest outline. What now of that special
field of investigation which we have designated ethnomusicology? Recognized
as a division of musicology by Guido Adler in 1885, it has been more or less
consistently practiced since that time under the term comparative musicology
(vergleichendeMusikwissenschaft). The comparative viewpoint which prevailed
in the early studies of Alexander John Ellis, TonometricalObservationson Some
Existing Non-Harmonic Scales (1884:368-385) and On the Musical Scales of
Various Nations (1885:485-517), is undoubtedly responsible for the qualifying
adjective that was introduced to set this field of investigation apart as a dis-
tinct branch of musicology. Guido Adler defined its task as "the comparison of
RHODES] A Definitionof Ethnomusicology 459
the musical works-especially of folksongs-of the various peoples of the earth
for ethnographical purposes, and the classification of them according to their
various forms" (1885:14).
The inappropriateness of the term has been pointed out on the basis that
all scientific investigation employs comparative methods and that "the com-
parative method is based upon fundamental investigations that are themselves
descriptive, analytic, experimental, speculative, and historical" (Haydon
1946:218, 237-238). Jaap Kunst (1950: 7) advocated the term ethnomusicology
as a more accurate and descriptive designation of the field of research long
known as comparative musicology, and this term has received wide acceptance.
The linking of ethnology to musicology in the new name emphasizes a phase
of the science that has long been recognized but often neglected. With the re-
christening of this established discipline it seems timely to survey the achieve-
ment of the past, re-examine the boundaries of its field of inquiry and methods
of investigation, and project a program of study for the future.
In reviewing the literature of the past one can recognize three types of
studies which appear in a time sequence more or less paralleling the evolution-
ary development of comparative musicology. None of these types are pure,
however, nor is the time sequence absolute. The first type includes the earliest
studies, many of which were so burdened with the investigation of musicolog-
ical problems that the material often received scant ethnological treatment
(Abraham and von Hornbostel 1909-10:1-25; Stumpf 1901; von Horn-
bostel 1913:11-23; von Hornbostel and Sachs 1914:553-590). This situation is
understandable since the pioneers in comparative musicology had to develop
a methodology and techniques for the scientific analysis and classification of
their musical data. To these early scholars, Ellis, Stumpf, Abraham, von Horn-
bostel, and Sachs, the ethnomusicologist of today is indebted for the systema-
tization of the discipline and the establishment of a methodology which with
minor variations still serves as the foundation of his science.
The second type may be described as ethnographic, and comprises studies
devoted primarily to the analysis and description of the music of an ethnic
group in its cultural setting (Densmore 1918; Roberts 1926; Burlin 1907).
Although these studies rarely exceed the scope of an ethnographic monograph,
they constitute a large and important portion of our literature and working
material. Based for the most part on phonographic field recordings, they have
preserved for further study musical forms that have since undergone radical
change under the impact of an alien culture, or in many instances have died
with the last singers and musicians who knew them. In presenting a clear defi-
nition of the musical style and practice for an ethnic group, based on sound
musical analysis, these monographs have made significant contributions to the
work of later scholars whose orientation has been toward ethnological inter-
pretation.
The third type is the ethnomusicological study in which the scholar, after
a thorough musicological examination of his material, attempts to see music
in its proper relationship to culture and to employ it in "the investigation of
460 American Anthropologist [58, 1956
theoretical problems that arise out of the analysis of human custom" (Herzog
1935; McAllester 1954; Merriam 1955; Nettl 1955; Rhodes 1952). It is at this
point that we so often fail to realize the full resources and possibilities of our
discipline. Ethnomusicologists are in constant danger of becoming isolated and
insulated in a musical vacuum where they pursue the study of music per se
without reference to man and his culture. Herskovits states a fact that bears
frequent repetition: "But it is at the core of anthropological thinking that each
problem investigated be recognized as only one manifestation of one segment
of man's complex culture, and that it be studied with full consciousness of its
wide implications" (Herskovits 1948:2).
Each of these three types of study is important to the further development
of our discipline and should be continued. The musicological-theoretical prob-
lems of transcription and analysis need to be re-examined and discussed. The
need for musico-ethnographic monographs is now as great as ever. Despite the
great amount of collecting done throughout the world during the past seventy
years, there are still cultures whose music remains unrecorded and unstudied.
For those ethnic groups that have been adequately recorded and studied,
we need contemporary field material in order to measure culture change in
music and to gain some insight into socio-psychological processes. Studies in
these two categories are preliminary and essential to research in the third
category, which represents a fuller realization of the resources and objectives
of ethnomusicology.
If the term ethnomusicology were to be interpreted in its broadest sense
it would include as its domain the total music of man, without limitations of
time or space. This viewpoint was advanced by Charles Seeger and is supported
by the semantic implications. It makes historical musicology, which is pri-
marily concerned with the art music of Western Europe during the Christian
era, only one division of a universal discipline (Seeger 1933:143-150; 1955).
However, both historical musicology and comparative musicology have staked
their claims to their respective fields of research, and any attempt to redefine
the boundaries at this time appears impractical. Jaap Kunst has defined the
study-object of ethnomusicology as "mainly the music and musical instru-
ments of all non-European peoples, including both the so-called primitive
peoples and the civilized Eastern nations" (Kunst 1950:7). A survey of the
early comparative musicological studies in the first volume of the Sammelbiinde
fir vergleichendeMusikwissenschaft (1922), and the two monographs on folk
music, Das Lied der Deutscher Kolonisten in Russland (Schiinemann 1923)
and Volkmusik der Rumanen von Marmures (Bartok 1923) which constitute
volumes three and four, gives a clear view of the field which the pioneers culti-
vated and regarded as their rightful province. Here, under the imprint of com-
parative musicology, are bound together studies of the music of the Near East,
the Far East, Indonesia, Africa, the North American Indians, and European
folk music. Of those ethnomusicologists whose interests are confined solely to
primitive music I ask, "Can we refuse our inheritance?" Let us not be provin-
cial in the pursuit of our discipline. Oriental art music, the folk music of the
RHODES] A Definition of Ethnomusicology 461
world, and primitive music, all await our serious study. The historical musicolo-
gist has shown scant interest in any of these fields. The fact that they are so
vast that no person is able to master them in their entirety should not exclude
them or any part of them from ethnomusicology. Within the discipline there are
places aplenty for the specialist.
The subject of hybrid music has disturbed some scholars who question
whether or not the "impure" music of an acculturated group constitutes ma-
terial for ethnomusicological study. The question appears rhetorical, but I
think there can be no doubt about the right of hybrid music to claim our atten-
tion. What anthropologist would disclaim the phenomena of culture change,
be it social organization, language, religion, or music, as suitable material for
investigation and study? We are derelict in our work if we fail to record and
study the contemporary changing music of ethnic groups, few of which are
free from the impact of alien cultures. Such music may be less interesting from
a strictly musical point of view, but it will undoubtedly cast light on the
psychological and sociological processes of the individuals and the groups that
produce it.
The invention of the phonograph and its use in the recording of primitive
and folk music made possible the amassing of an impressive body of musical
material without which ethnomusicology could never have developed to its
present scientific status. With the replacement of the wax cylinder by the
acetate disc, which in turn was replaced by the magnetic tape, the cost of
recording has been steadily reduced, the quality has been improved, and the
field worker's problems have been considerably lightened. But we have not
yet been able to avail ourselves of electronic equipment for the graphic analysis
of our recordings. Charles Seeger has experimented with such an instrument
but has not developed it to the point where it can be used widely (Seeger 1951).
Development in this direction has been retarded by the tremendous cost of
building electronic instruments, and by the little interest that manufacturers
and scientists have shown in our particular need for such equipment. Modern
electronic instruments for the acoustical analysis of melodies and the measure-
ment of intervals would not only facilitate the ethnomusicologist's work but
would give it an objectivity that it can never achieve so long as it depends upon
the human ear conditioned by the Western musical system.
Ethnomusicology, twice interrupted by World Wars, has languished from
lack of adequate publication and exchange of news and ideas among its workers.
Recently the Ethno-Musicology Newsletter under the able editorship of Alan
P. Merriam has partially filled this gap by re-establishing communication
among students and scholars on an international basis. Until the Newsletter
is firmly established on a sound financial basis and provision is made for the
publication of articles, we proceed at a disadvantage. Despite the great amount
of collecting that is being done throughout the world, there are still few profes-
sional ethnomusicologists qualified to analyze and interpret this material.
The lack of trained scholars continues to retard the progress of the discipline.
We need to educate a corps of workers, but first we must convince the adminis-
462 American Anthropologist [58, 1956
trations of our universities and foundations and our colleagues in anthropol-
ogy and musicology that ethnomusicology has a real contribution to make to-
ward the understanding of man.
In discussing the comparative study of music of people outside the stream
of Euro-American culture, Herskovits writes: "For its implications lead us to
some of the most fundamental truths about the nature and functioning of
culture, and suggest the importance of the contribution that investigations
carried on in this special field can make to the study of culture as a whole"
(Herskovits 1948:435). Here is our opportunity. The musicologists have
developed methods and techniques for analysis of musical material. The an-
thropologists have provided theories for the interpretation of cultural phenom-
ena. It is the task of the ethnomusicologist to avail himself of the resources of
both disciplines in order to give meaning to this significant segment of man's
culture. In validating its claim as a scholarly discipline, ethnomusicology can
point to a distinct and well defined body of subject matter and field of inves-
tigation, and to a methodology unique in its application of anthropological
concepts and principles to musicological analysis.
We need to be more imaginative and creative in the interpretation of our
material. Such an approach, while calling for a more sensitive insight and
understanding, implies no relaxation of rigorous scientific methods. Self-
criticism is already arising in our ranks. "Musicology has been mainly ab-
sorbed with the mechanics of ethnic music, its collection, classification and
analysis from a purely musical-technical point of view. The investigation of
music as an emotional expression must go beyond this" (Yurchenko 1955:6).
Let us not become narrow in the pursuit of our special field. If ethnomusi-
cology is to achieve its rightful place among the social sciences and humanities
it must contribute more generously of its knowledge, insight, and ideas to
anthropology and historical musicology.

NOTE
Thispaperwaspresentedat the fifty-fourthannualmeetingof the AmericanAnthropological
Associationin Boston,November18, 1955.

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