Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology is the research of the entire tapestry of human musicality; it aspires to examine music in relation to the cultural, social and historical reality in which it exists and not as a merely out-of-context collection of sounds. Ethnomusicology research deals primarily with non-Western music, both traditional and popular, and pays special attention to hybrid styles (ethno-pop). Ethnomusicologists have a growing role as collectors who document and preserve musical traditions, especially in light of modernization and globalization processes that brought about the popularization and global distribution of popular Western music. The role of music in exile and uprooting processes, music and gender, Jewish music, music and nationalism, music and religion, music in everyday life, music and politics—these subjects are just some of what we teach and research in the field of ethnomusicology. Israel is a fertile field for such studies that include, among other topics, processes of music’s preservation and change in Jewish communities, the musical embodiment of the tension between the nation-state and minority groups, and the creation of Israeli popular music.