Fieldwork
During fieldwork the ethnomusicologist assembles primary sources: observations in field notes, recordings of music and interviews, photographs, film and video materials. Unlike the historical musicologist who gleans data from archives and libraries, the ethnomusicologist must collect and document material from living informants. Ethnomusicologists who work in cultures lacking written records must rely on methods designed to investigate oral history.
Myers 1992: 22
An ethnomusicological approach is a way to study Chinese music, when research topics require data collections in the field. Myers provides further reasons.
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Myers, Helen. 1992.
Ethnomusicology: an introduction.
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London: Macmillan.
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Call no.: Music 780.89 E84 m9 v.1
During my sojourns in Shanghai, I was able to learn to play (badly) Abing’s fiddle music; to listen to more expert performances; to hold formal and informal discussions with Chinese academics, instrumental teachers, professional and amateur performers, students and non-musicians; and to collect written and recorded material pertaining to Abing and his music. I also visited Wuxi, Abing’s birthplace, to interview researchers and musicians there, and met further scholars at conservatories, research institutes, and arts institutes in Beijing and Nanjing.
(Stock 1996: 9)
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A short guide for all level readers
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P.27–43, Chapter 3 Conducting research: introducing the ways ethnomusicologists collecting the data. The chapter provides an account on different methodologies in use in ethnomusicological study, such as, fieldwork and participant-observation.
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A comprehensive handbook for advanced level students
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Part 2: In the Field (Chapter 10–15): general guides for field workers. Such as telling about the essentials of fieldwork, how to involve as an insider/outsider in a musical community, choosing informants and consultants, and the importance of getting an insight.
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A collection of articles about conducting fieldwork
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Offers directions in ethnomusicological fieldwork
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A must-read book for fieldwork
Bruno Nettl. 2005.
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The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-one Issues and Concepts.
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Urbana : University of Illinois Press.
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Call no.: Music 780.89 N47 s9
Example:
Barz, Gregory F., and Timothy J. Cooley. 2008.
Shadows in the field: new perspectives for fieldwork in ethnomusicology.
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New York: Oxford University Press.
I carried out my major fieldwork in Lijian’s Dongjing music between September 1991 and July 1992, and made return visits in the summers of 1993, 1996, and 1998. The technical musical aspects of the repertoire, its broader musical environment, and its history and extamusical context, were elicited through sound and video recording, photographic documentation, participant observation, and extensive interviews. I examined primary sources in the Lijiang County Library, Lijian Prefecture Archive, Yunnan Province Library, and in private collections, and searched out existing Chinese scholarship, commercial recordings, newspaper articles, and travel guide write-ups on the subject.
(Rees 2000: 6)
Example:
Rees, Helen. 2000.
Echoes of history: Naxi music in modern China.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Rice, Timothy. 2014.
Ethnomusicology: A Very Short Introduction.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Call no.: Music 780.89 R495 e84
Example:
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Stock, Jonathan P. J. 1996.
Musical creativity in twentieth-century China: Abing, his music, and its changing meanings.
Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press.
Call no.: Music 781.629510092 A14 S86
