Ethnomusicology of the Americas: Music, Language, and Identity

This course provides students with an introduction to ethnomusicology—the study of the interactive relationship between musical and cultural practices—through an examination of the diverse musical worlds of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. We will gain a highly specific knowledge of many musical traditions from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Texas, the American Southwest and Northwest, Appalachia, and New York City. As we become familiar with these diverse musical practices, we will begin to use tools from linguistic and cultural anthropology to examine how music is a communicative process very much like language in some ways and quite different in others. As the year progresses, we will see how musical communication and expression—what some have called “musicking”—is used dynamically to generate and maintain social identities in complex and ever-changing contexts. While these musical styles are sophisticated and challenging, prior experience with “music theory” is absolutely not required for this course. No musical experience is necessary. Participation in Gamelan Angklung Chandra Buana (fall) is required for all students taking this course, though occasional exceptions may be granted by the instructor. Participation in African Percussion Ensemble Faso Foli (spring) is optional but encouraged.  This course may also be taken as a yearlong component in a Music Third.