What is Ethnomusicology?

From the Society for Ethnomusicology's website:

"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."

Ethnomusicology is like cultural anthropology only that it's specifically studying the music aspect of a culture. You may wonder how in the world someone comes across a term like that. I first found the term ethnomusicology in a music history essay in college about Béla Bartók. He is primarily known as a classical composer from the twentieth century, but a little known fact about him is he is an early ethnomusicologist, studying mostly in Hungary (his home country) and Romania. He composed several Western "classical" pieces utilizing folk music.

When I first saw the word "ethnomusicologist" in the music database article about him, I was at once filled with an anxious exhilaration. Deep down I knew that this was what I was so interested in since attending the school's Multicultural Festival and listening to global music during the talent show. Something that I thought was just a fairytale was, in fact, a very real field of study. All at once, I delved head first into the world of ethnomusicology via the Society for Ethnomusicology website.

The main career choices for ethnomusicologists are university professor or museum employee/curator. Ethnos can also direct music festivals, work in the music industry, or even teach elementary music. While I attended the 2016 annual SEM conference in Washington, D.C. this past November, I didn't see a single member who wasn't either already a doctor or on their way to getting a doctor. It seems a vast majority of ethnomusicologists are involved in conducting research in the specific region, genre, practice, etc. in which they are specialized, and they primarily reside in the world of academia. In my personal journey through this mysterious field, I have been accepted to the University of Texas in Austin's graduate program for ethnomusicology, which, if I end up actually getting to pursue in the fall, will end with a Ph.D. in 5 years.

Basically, ethnomusicology is the study of the people's music, the kind of music most people listen to/are involved with on a daily basis, the kind of music that really sets people apart and unites them at the same time. Stay tuned to find out more about ethnomusicology, the Society for Ethnomusicology, world music, and specific music examples.