musicology
Also known as music science
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, formal sciences and computer science.
AI overview
Musicology is the academic study of music through research and analysis, distinct from actually composing or performing music. It matters because musicologists draw on insights from many fields—including psychology, sociology, acoustics, and neurology—to deepen our understanding of how music works and affects us.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
17 sectionsContents
- Background
- Parent disciplines
- Subdisciplines
- Historical musicology
- New musicology
- Ethnomusicology
- Popular music studies
- Music theory, analysis and composition
- Music psychology
- Performance practice and research
- Education and careers
- Notable journals
- Women in music
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, formal sciences and computer science.
Musicology is traditionally divided into three branches: music history, systematic musicology, and ethnomusicology. Historical musicologists study the history of musical traditions, the origins of works, and the biographies of composers. Ethnomusicologists draw from anthropology (particularly field research) to understand how and why people make music. Systematic musicology includes music theory, aesthetics, pedagogy, musical acoustics, the science and technology of musical instruments (organology), and the musical implications of physiology, psychology, sociology, philosophy and computing. Cognitive musicology is the set of phenomena surrounding the cognitive modeling of music. When musicologists carry out research using computers, their research often falls under the field of computational musicology. Music therapy is a specialized form of applied musicology which is sometimes considered more closely affiliated with health fields, and other times regarded as part of musicology proper.