Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology is an area of study encompassing various approaches to the study of the many musics around the world that emphasize their cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dimensions or contexts instead of or in addition to its isolated sound component or any particular repertoire.Ethnomusicology – a term coined by Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος (ethnos, ""nation"") and μουσική (mousike, ""music"") – is often described as the anthropology or ethnography of music. Initially, ethnomusicology was almost exclusively orientated toward non-Western music, but now includes the study of Western music from anthropological, sociological and intercultural perspectives. Bruno Nettl once characterized ethnomusicology as a product of Western thinking, proclaiming that ""ethnomusicology as western culture knows it is actually a western phenomenon""; more recently, Jeff Todd Titon has described it as the study of ""people making music.""