Implications for Ethnomusicology

Abstract

Abstract Ethnomusicologists have a long-held interest in musical expressivity, with general observations as follows. First, musical expression has enduring qualities, even though performances are newly made for each occasion, but change vs. stability is also very typically genre-specific. Second, music’s expressivity emerges in relation to particular personal histories and cultural environments, such that use of apparently similar expressive ingredients may hide divergent aesthetic values. Third, while we can measure certain aspects of expressivity as strategic departures from preconceived sonic norms, cross-cultural comparison remains methodologically challenging. Fourth, many worldwide struggle to talk about musical expressivity or rely entirely on metaphor, such that research across language boundaries is not straightforward. Participation as a musician provides the researcher deep access in settings where actions speak louder than words, but takes us far from the experimental isolation of variables. The account closes with an examination of future prospects for ethnomusicologists, noting opportunities with respect to interdisciplinarity, quantitative and qualitative research techniques, and the rethinking of the concept of expressivity itself.

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