LibGuides: World Music: Finding World Music Books

Introduction

This page explains how to search for world music books using the library catalog. The box below includes recommended subject headings for world music so that you can do some searching on your own! If you need a refresher on how to search by subject in the catalog, refer to the Finding Books page of our Finding Music Materials guide.

At the bottom of the page, we've highlighted some books from the catalog to show you a sampling of the resources available through the Library.

World Music Subject Headings

To search for world music materials in the library catalog, try subject searches with some of the recommended subject headings listed below.

World music
World music -- analysis, appreciation
World music -- history and criticism
World music -- social aspects
Ethnomusicology
Folk music

You can also try combining these headings with specific country or region names (e.g. Bulgaria or Latin America) or resource types (e.g. discographies, dictionaries, or encyclopedias, etc.).

Example: World Music -- Latin America -- History and Criticism

The Study of Ethnomusicology by Bruno Nettl
Call Number: Online and ML3798 N38S78 2005
The first edition of this book, The Study of Ethnomusicology: Twenty-Nine Issues and Concepts, has become a classic in the field. This revised edition, written twenty-two years after the original, continues the tradition of providing engagingly written analysis that offers the most comprehensive discussion of the field available anywhere.
Nettl's Elephant by Bruno Nettl; Anthony Seeger (Foreword by)
Call Number: Online
From one of the most lauded scholars in ethnomusicology comes this enlightening and highly personal narrative on the evolution and current state of the field of ethnomusicology. Surveying the field he helped establish, this entertaining collection covers Nettl's scholarly interests ranging from Native American to Mediterranean to Middle Eastern contexts while laying out the pivotal moments of the field and conversations with the giants of its past.
Comparative Musicology and Anthropology of Music by Bruno Nettl (Editor); Philip V. Bohlman (Editor)
Call Number: ML3799 C66
Nineteen scholars from five countries explore significant issues in the history of ethnomusicology and its methodological and theoretical foundations, while providing a critique of the discipline.
The Oxford Handbook of Applied Ethnomusicology by Svanibor Pettan (Editor); Jeff Todd Titon (Editor)
Call Number: Online Resource and ML3799.2 .O946 2015
Applied studies scholarship has triggered a not-so-quiet revolution in the discipline of ethnomusicology. The current generation of applied ethnomusicologists has moved toward participatory action research, involving themselves in musical communities and working directly on their behalf. These essays theorize applied ethnomusicology, offer histories, and detail practical examples with the goal of stimulating further development in the field.
Living Ethnomusicology by Margaret Sarkissian; Ted Solis
Call Number: Online Resource
Margaret Sarkissian and Ted Solís guide us into the field's last great undiscovered country: ethnomusicology itself. Drawing on fieldwork based on person-to-person interaction, the authors provide a first-ever ethnography of the discipline.
A Feminist Ethnomusicology by Ellen Koskoff; Suzanne Cusick (Foreword by)
Call Number: Online
An uncommon merging of retrospective and rumination, A Feminist Ethnomusicology: Writings on Music and Gender offers a witty and disarmingly frank tour through the formative decades of the field and will be of interest to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, scholars of the history and development of feminist thought, and those engaged in fieldwork.
Theory and Method in Historical Ethnomusicology by Jonathan McCollum (Editor); David G. Hebert (Editor)
Call Number: ML3798 .T496 2014
Historical ethnomusicology is increasingly acknowledged as a significant emerging subfield of ethnomusicology due to the fact that historical research requires a different set of theories and methods than studies of contemporary practices and many historiographic techniques are rapidly transforming as a result of new technologies. These essays systematically demonstrate various ways that new approaches to historiography--and the related application of new technologies--impact the work of ethnomusicologists who seek to meaningfully represent music traditions across barriers of both time and space.

World music : a very short introduction by Philip V. Bohlman
Call Number: ML3545 B64W6
This book lives up to its title- it is indeed very short. Instead of approaching world music by cultural areas, it takes a topical approach with chapters titled: In the beginning...myth and meaning in world music; The West and the world; Between myth and history; Music of the folk; Music of the nations; Diaspora; and Colonial musics, post-colonial worlds, and the globalization of world music. There are good suggestions for further reading listed in the back.
Excursions in World Music by Timothy Rommen (Editor)
Call Number: ML3545 .E938 2017
Excursions in World Music is a comprehensive introductory textbook to world music, creating a panoramic experience for students by engaging the many cultures around the globe and highlighting the sheer diversity to be experienced in the world of music.
World Music: The Rough Guide
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ML100 W671999
This is a fun place to start your research. It includes a lot of pictures and information about recordings.The text is divided into two volumes: the first covers Africa, Europe and the Middle East while the second covers Latin and Norton America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific.
Soundscapes by Kay Kaufman Shelemay
Call Number: MT90 .S54S6 2015
Music doesn't stop at the border, and neither should your textbook. This text gives students a global sense of music and its significance across cultures by introducing them to a diverse repertoire and developing listening skills applicable to all music.
World Music by Michael B. Bakan
Call Number: ML3545 B35W6
From American rap and British Invasion rock to Balinese gamelan and Indian raga, this exciting new text takes students on a journey through the diverse musical cultures and traditions of the world. With a clear and accessible presentation style and lively and engaging writing, it is an ideal introduction to World Music for both majors and non-majors alike.