What is Ethnomusicology?
Ethnomusicologists seek to understand the whole human process within which music is imagined, discussed and made, and to relate specific musical sounds, behaviours and ideas to their broader social, cultural and political contexts. Studying individuals and societies all around the world, including the West, we aim to discover and document human musical life in its full richness and diversity.
The ethnomusicology research programme at Sheffield offers a thorough training in ethnomusicological theory and practice. Music is a very special, very human action. It is made by particular people, in particular ways, at particular times. Our courses look exactly at the human factors that lie right at the heart of music-making. Departmental facilities and resources are supplemented by ready access to the vibrant musical life of the city of Sheffield and northern England. Many kinds of ethnomusicological research can be undertaken here, and research in Sheffield can be combined with fieldwork in other countries. We take particular note of the fact that many students, somewhat in distinction to assumptions about the disciplinary norm, will be interested in studying their own musical traditions, and encourage this. Prospective students are encouraged to get in touch and informally discuss their research plans before applying. While applications across the whole spectrum of ethnomusicological activity are welcomed, present staff expertise makes this a particularly appropriate home for students who wish to engage in:
the ethnomusicological study of Western musical traditions and practices - classical, folk and popular
the ethnomusicological study of Chinese, Taiwanese and Overseas Chinese musical traditions
the ethnomusicological study of English musical traditions.
the study of Korean music
interdisciplinary research, informed by ethnomusicology and:
music education
music psychology
historical, analytical and critical musicology
performance practice
applied research, for instance on the role of world musics in music education or in musical performance
Ethnomusicology Staff
Jonathan Stock is primarily responsible for this area of study, but several other members of music staff have expertise in directly related fields (for example, gender studies, dance, history of British folk music) and links exist with ethnomusicological staff in other departments also (such as the National Centre for English Cultural Traditions).
Dr Andrew Killick, lecturer in ethnomusicology, is an expert in the traditional and contemporary musics of Korea, holds a PhD from the University of Washington and has previously taught in Florida, Hawaii, Seattle, Seoul and Illinois. He is a council member of the Society for Ethnomusicology and current President of the Association for Korean Music Research, and a widely published researcher.
Recently appointed is Dr Inok Paek, an expert performer of the kayagum, a Korean zither, and a researcher whose PhD focused on matters of musical nationalism and cultural policy in South Korea. Dr Paek is currently working on a project funded by the Leverhulme Trust and entitled "Living Tradition: The Kayagum Zither in Contemporary Korea and Northeastern China," which involves fieldwork and interviewing in Korean communities in South Korea, North Korea and the People''s Republic of China.
Ms Pauline Cato joined the staff in August 2002 as Arts and Humanities Research Board Creative Arts Fellow. Ms Cato, a distinguished performer of the Northumbrian pipes brings expertise in British traditions, and will complete a project entitled: "Performance on the Northumbrian Smallpipes: Historical Sources, Contemporary Concerns," which involves analysis of repertory, consideration of factors affecting change and stability, and the introduction of new aspects of performance style.
Ethnomusicology: Current and Recent Research Projects
- Traditional opera in contemporary Shanghai
- Folk song in Taiwan: genre, change, meaning
- History and development of schools of pipa Chinese four-stringed lute performance
- Nan''guan music in Taiwan
- Learning dizi bamboo flute in Taiwan: a study of three generations
- Learning processes in beiguan music in Taiwan
- Christian cantatas and oratorios in Hong Kong
- Music for the Iranian new year
- Rhythm in Iranian Folk Music
- Western music among overseas Chinese communities in East Malaysia
- Folk song and history in Cyprus
- Music in Greek folkloric festivals
- The Libyan ma''luf: a semiotic analysis
- Portuguese folk music and its application in the state education system
- English fiddle music (the blind fiddlers of Sheffield)
- British family singing traditions
- Learning and transmission in English folk traditions
- Brass bands and contemporary music: attitudes, positions, practices
- Folk music played on the viola in Britain
- Buddhist musical culture in England
Ethnomusicology Postgraduate Courses
Master of Arts (Taught Course)
A taught master''s degree (one year in duration for full-time students, two years part-time) is now available. Students new to ethnomusicology can acquire a grounding in the literature and research methods of the field, and carry out supervised fieldwork in the Sheffield area. Depending on exact course options, assessment will be a combination of a fieldwork or transcription portfolio, essay work and a dissertation. Students can select further modules from a list including options in music psychology, performance, composition and other departmental specialisms, or can choose a course from another department (area modules at East Asian Studies, folklore modules at the Department of English, etc.). All students are involved in seminars and other training courses, as well as in the broader musical life of the University.
Master of Music (Research)
Students who already have an established interest can concentrate on this topic by taking the one-year MMus (Research) option (two years part-time). The primary focus of the student''s work is on preparation of a dissertation, but field materials (such as sound recordings and videos) can also be presented for supplementary examination, as can a folio of pertinent ethnomusicological transcriptions and analyses. In selected cases, the student may substitute either dissertation or folio with an assessed recital or series of compositions. Through participation in weekly research seminars, students can develop their presentational and interactive skills. External visitors are regularly invited to the seminars, including graduate students from other institutions.
Doctor of Philosophy
Well-qualified and experienced students can embark on a PhD course, which - according to University regulations - normally lasts three years full-time. When extended overseas fieldwork and/or language learning is necessary the course may take longer to complete. Regular supervisions, supported by a programme of other academic activities, help the student gather material and write a dissertation that breaks significant, original ground in the field of ethnomusicology. PhD students are trained to present research seminars, and expected to take a full part in discussion with visiting speakers.
All postgraduates are, as appropriate, given support in locating funding, developing their work for publication and in qualifying themselves for employment.
Special Information for Overseas Students
Other than the standard full-time model of study, the University recognises two special schemes for certain non-European Union applicants: Joint Location and Distance Location.
Joint Location is designed for those who need to spend a substantial amount of time away from Sheffield during the course of their research. A reduction to the usual fees is made. Distance Location is for applicants who are permanently living elsewhere, and who plan to visit Sheffield only briefly for supervisory contact. The fees in this scheme are considerably lower than those normally charged full-time students. Applicants in this category need to be able to satisfy the University that they are able to carry out independent research, and that they have access to all the facilities for research they require. (This scheme is designed mostly for academic staff at other institutions worldwide and experienced researchers seeking formal qualifications.)
The department awards two scholarships each year to assist overseas students with fees for doctoral research. These are awarded in May each year on a competitive basis. For further information, see links at: Postgraduate study.
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Contemporary work in ethnomusicology examines the music and the musical lives of numerous individuals and societies. We are as likely to study people living in our own home locations as those once considered exotic Others, and we range across the whole spectrum of music making, from contemporary avant-garde and popular styles as well as longer-standing classical and vernacular musics. One unifying theme in the ethnomusicological approach is the method of participant-observation: typically, we work closely with our musical contacts over a sustained period. We often learn performance alongside others in the tradition as a means of building expertise and sharing experience. In this and our other enquiries, we aim to build up an understanding not only of the music itself but also of the society or group in question, looking particularly at their understandings of music and the role music plays in their broader lives.
Applications to examine a particular kind of music in a fixed location remain welcome, but there is also scope for new research into emerging themes, such as:
Sample research topics include:
Musical memories and musically imagined worlds among expatriate Chileans in Britain
Urban ethnomusicology: theory, method and practice
Musical learning, competition and critique among club DJs
Biography and ethnography: comparative historical ethnomusicology with particular reference to musicians in early nineteenth-century Calcutta, Beijing, Vienna and Boston
Internet music culture
Other ethnomusicoogies: how disciplinary assumptions variously shape objects of study
- Composition as a technique of ethnomusicological research
Chinese Music
Certain genres in China (and elsewhere in the non-Western world) can also be studied from the perspectives of musicology and music theory. Such approaches are particularly fruitful when the student wishes to concentrate on the workings of musical structures themselves (as it were) or on a historical topic. Prospective students are encouraged to get in touch and informally discuss their research plans before applying.
Sample research topics include:
- Chinese piano music in the twentieth century
- Music in Chinese films
- Analysis of the music of Tan Dun
- An analysis of mode and rhythm in traditional qin zither solos
- Rock music in Taipei
- Folk, traditional and modern elements in Worldbeat
- An organological study of Chinese double-reed instruments
- A social history of the lute pipa and its repertory
- The origins of music as discussed in Chinese philosophies
English Music
 English vernacular musics (and, of course, classical and popular traditions) are highly rewarding to study with ethnomusicological perspectives. As opposed to "traditional" folkloric approaches (and this is probably an unkind generalisation), the ethnomusicologist is often more concerned with the gathering of material on musical performance seen as a field of human experience and interaction (rather than gathering good recordings of songs or tunes). He or she might look at a range of people that are involved in musical life (not just "source singers"), and at how their musical life fits into their broader experience. |
 The ethnomusicologist would be very interested in what those people had to say, in that he or she would want to try to understand how they reach their understandings (this more so than the expert''s sorting out of right from wrong, tracing of historical sources, etc.--an emphasis on social fact above actual fact, as it were). We''d look also at how our own presence and methodology shapes the results we get. There''s more to it than this, and much good folklore does exactly these things already, of course. Prospective students are encouraged to get in touch and informally discuss their research plans before applying.
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Sample research topics include:
- Folk away from home: a study of festivals, clubs and other special venues
- Folk music in film and television
- The feelingful experience of singing
- Emergent Englishness: return to roots or invention of identity
- Folk-rock music
- An organological study of the Leicestershire pipes
- Composition and performance of new materials for Northumbrian pipes
- A social history of dance traditions in and around South Yorkshire
- Irish music in Britian
- Carolling in Sheffield
CHIME INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Sheffield, 26 - 29 JULY 2002
8th International Conference of CHIME
the European Foundation for Chinese Music,
University of Sheffield, U.K.
Sex, Love, and Romance: Reflections on the Passions in East Asian Music
East Asian musics are sometimes assumed by the unfamiliar to be dry, intellectual, calculated, formal. This conference puts the spotlight on the earthy, the passionate, and the impulsive. How is music the food of love in China and her neighbours, and how have the passions inspired the musical urge?
Conference Schedule
Booking Form
In order to generate a maximum of concentrated debate and feedback to presenters, the conference will be organised without parallel sessions. Consideration of abstracts will begin on 15 November 2001 and continue until all slots are allocated. Early acceptance and letters of invitation are available for those who need them to secure funding. Send abstracts, bookings and enquiries to: Dr Jonathan Stock, Department of Music, University of Sheffield, 38 Taptonville Road, Sheffield S10 5BR, UK. j.p.j.stock@mailtsheffield.ac.uk. Tel. +44-114 222 0483; fax +44-114 266 8053.
Local Arrangements
Single-room accommodation for the conference has been reserved in the Ranmoor district of Sheffield at the University''s Halifax Hall of Residence, which is where the conference itself will occur. Accommodation is available in rooms with private, en-suite bathrooms and also in those with shared bath and toilet facilities. Ranmoor, in West Sheffield, is a leafy Victorian area close to parks, botannical gardens and 2 miles from the Peak District National Park. Those wishing to make their own arrangements will find a Trusthouse Forte hotel just ten minutes (walk) from Halifax Hotel, and the Rutland Hotel and the YMCA a little further away. There are restaurants and sandwich shops about ten minutes walk from the Hall. Additional days'' accommodation and meals may also be booked. Provide a list of any additional accommodation and meals that you require; I will check availibility and notify you of cost. Free parking is available at the Hall. Sheffield Airport has some European flights, but otherwise Manchester Airport is convenient, with a direct train service taking 1 hour 30 minutes to central Sheffield. Trains from central London (St Pancras Station) take 2 hours 20 minutes.
New Lecturer in Ethnomusicology
The Department of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Andrew J. Killick to the post of Lecturer in Ethnomusicology from 1 January 2003. Dr. Killick, an expert in the traditional and contemporary musics of Korea, is currently Assistant Professor in Ethnomusicology at the Florida State University. He holds a PhD from the University of Washington and has previously taught in Hawaii, Seattle, Seoul and Illinois. He is a council member of the Society for Ethnomusicology and current President of the Association for Korean Music Research, and a widely published researcher.
Dr. Killick''s appointment brings the staff in this area of the Department''s provision to four, strengthening both the core ethnomusicological teaching and also extending the particular strengths of the programme in East Asian musics.
http://www.shef.ac.uk/music/ethnomusicology/ethnohomepage.html
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