ABSTRACT
Ethnomusicology. A term coined by J. Kunst to replace “comparative musicology” (G. vergleichende Musikwissenschaft) on the ground that the comparative method is employed in every scientific discipline. Ethnomusicology is an approach to the study of any music, not only in terms of itself but also in relation to its cultural context. Currently the term has two broad applications: (1) the study of all music outside the European art tradition, including survivals of earlier forms of that tradition in Europe and elsewhere; (2) the study of all varieties of music found in one locale or region, e.g., the “ethnomusicology” of Tokyo or Los Angeles or Santiago would comprise the study in that locality of all types of European art music, the music of ethnic enclaves, folk, popular and commercial music, musical hybrids, etc.; in other words, all music being used by the people of a given area.
