Ethnomusicology?

I recently was searching for a cultural topic to do a research report on. I also recently bought, and began to learn to play, a Mandolin. It’s been fun to play Irish and folk tunes.

So thinking about this, I wondered about doing some research about folk music and how it relates to culture. In doing so, I stumbled upon the study of Ethnomusicology. From the internet site of “The Society for Ethnomusicology”:

“Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its cultural context. Ethnomusicologists approach music as a social process in order to understand not only what music is but why it is: what music means to its practitioners and audiences, and how those meanings are conveyed.”

This might be an interesting way to combine my love for world music, cultures, and language. I’m kind of excited to begin my search. I didn’t even know this science existed.

“Ethnomusicologists are active in a variety of spheres. As researchers, they study music from any part of the world and investigate its connections to all elements of social life. As educators, they teach courses in musics of the world, popular music, the cultural study of music, and a range of more specialized classes (e.g., sacred music traditions, music and politics, disciplinary approaches and methods).”