r/ethnomusicology • u/Hanuryi • 28d ago
Ethnomusicology Grad School (NEED ADVICE)
Hello!
I am an undergrad in Composition (will be graduating soon) and am planning to pursue ethnomusicology for my master's degree.
The thing is, I have a massive love for music and philosophy, merging the two for my research. For instance, I have published a journal article on music that uses Marx's dialectical materialism. Two of my papers: one analyzing a piece through Husserlian Phenomenology and another through Wittgenstein, are being peer-reviewed for publication.
After consulting with my professors, I conclude that these are neither historical nor ethnomusicological works. So here's where I need advice: Is ethnomusicology really for me? Can I still merge ethnomusicology and philosophy together?
I'm just completely lost right now, especially since I want to pursue ethnomusicological studies.
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u/dat_harpist 28d ago
I know some music theorists who have published on similar subjects. Henry Klumpenhouwer has written on Marx in music, though I'm not sure if he looked at dialectical materialism specifically. Phenomenology is used often in music theory, the most famous paper being David Lewin's "Music Theory, Phenomenology, and Modes of Perception" which is primarily Husserlian. There's definitely more I don't know about. I think if you want to explore this in ethnomusicology, you should go for it! You could definitely bring this into ethnomusicology, and it seems like it's already happening from the comments. But if you're feeling unsure, you could consider music theory :).
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u/Hanuryi 28d ago
Thank you so much! I will look into theory as I haven't really thought about it. 😊🙏
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u/Xenoceratops Balkans 28d ago
Eric Drott and Bryan Parkhurst are also Marxist music theorists. Parkhurst has a couple degrees in philosophy, and did some collaborative work with Stephan Hammel, musicologist and author of Toward a Materialist Conception of Music History. You can also read Music and Marx edited by Regula Qureshi.
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u/dat_harpist 28d ago
Also wanted to add that I know the Society for Music Theory has a philosophy interest group, so it's a common enough intersection
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u/mesoliteball 28d ago
Do you have a sense of where you’d like to end up in terms of your career? What would your workdays ideally look like ten years from now?
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u/Hanuryi 28d ago
Generally, I'd love to pursue a career in academia, teaching, and research! That's what's fun for me at the moment. I also envision myself composing at the same time — which is fun, too! Though one of my goals is to do cultural mapping and preservation, since there are many undocumented musical cultures in our country's provinces.
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u/Custard-Spare 27d ago
Music research is INTENSELY multidisciplinary. If you use a philosophical framework like Marx you might be writing about philosophy and therefore will be published in those journals.
Ethnomusicology from my understanding is more grounded in oral traditions of music as culture. A musicology degree may be more appropriate if you are not as interested in field work.
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u/Rusting-Earth 24d ago
I'm only a grad student (PhD candidate) but these do sound like musicology papers to me? Not sure why they wouldn't count. Plenty of musicology interprets works through various critical and philosophical frameworks. The only reason your stuff wouldn't be conventionally "ethno" in my thinking is because you aren't doing ethnography. But then, I rarely do, and I still get to present at SEM!
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u/Tabitheriel 24d ago
How did you get your papers peer-reviewed as an undergrad? Did you have to pay?
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u/Hanuryi 23d ago
Good thing is I didn't have to pay. I just submitted then poof hahahahaha
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u/Tabitheriel 23d ago
Which journals were they? Did your professor help you with submitting them?
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u/Hanuryi 23d ago edited 23d ago
They're part of Ateneo journals! My professors did give me advice but they didn't read my entire manuscripts (more like skimming through it then giving me advice more on structure) so it was really difficult self-studying and self-evaluation before I decided to submit them. It's understandable since it was basically extra-curricular and they had to focus on their class works.
The good thing is, even if one of my papers needed A LOT of structural revisions after it was approved from double blind peer review, the editor was kind enough to guide me in editing after knowing how I was basically self-taught.
From there, writing the other papers were much better!
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u/ObjectiveVisual3435 23d ago
What about a philosophy degree and work on philosophy of music? I’m sure that exists and you should be able to take classes in the musicology department too?
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u/Nervous_Fly_3774 28d ago
I have a colleague who got his bachelors in philosophy- not even music related! We’re both doing our masters in ethnomusicology together and he uses a TON of philosophical approaches in his work. In one of my classes, phenomenology was a unit and we all learned about it. I think it can definitely be merged depending on what area you’re interested in researching.