ABSTRACT
Ecomusicology is inspired by ecology (a science) but it belongs to critical scholarship in music (an arts and humanities discipline). One branch of ecomusicology grows from the discipline of ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its cultural context, particularly performance. In this paper we compare methodological approaches to studying performance in animal behavioral ecology and in ethnomusicology in order to test the degree of overlap between these two approaches. We distinguish the use of the prefix “eco-” in musicological contexts that are best described as environmentalism from the branches of ecomusicology having direct parallels in science. Using examples drawn from the study of bird song, we describe three primary methodological approaches used by ecologists: observational correlative studies; comparative studies involving the analysis of sets of traits across multiple species; and controlled, manipulative experiments. We then explore the extent to which the scientific method, generally, and the specific methodological tools common in behavioral ecology might be applied to answering ecomusicological questions. By contrasting approaches to the study of human musical performance and avian vocal communication, we identify existing differences in methodology, outline constraints and advantages of current ecomusicological practices, and describe three examples demonstrating how correlative, comparative, and experimental study designs might be applied in ecomusicological contexts.
