Coverage of Major Categories of Music
in “World Music” Textbooks
Michael Bakan,
World Music:
Traditions and
Transformations
Rachel Harris
and Rowan
Pease, eds.,
Pieces of the
Musical World
Dorothea Hast
et al.,
Exploring the
World of Music
Elizabeth May,
ed., Musics of
Many Cultures
Terry Miller and
Andrew
Shahriari,
World Music: A
Global Journey
Bruno Nettl et
al., Excursions in
World Music
David Reck,
Music of the
Whole Earth
Andrew
Shahriari,
Popular World
Music
Kay Kaufman
Shelemay,
Soundscapes
Jonathan Stock,
World Sound
Matters
Jeff Todd Titon,
ed., Worlds of
Music
Bonnie Wade
and Patricia
Shehan
Campbell, series
eds, Global
Music Series
Non-Western
traditional
Non-Western
popular
X
X
Western
traditional
Western
popular
X
(x)
X
X
Western
classical
X
X
X
X
X
(x)
X
X
X
X
X
X
(x)
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
(x)
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
(x)
(x)
Organisation of “World Music” Textbooks
(and, by implication, courses)
Chronological
Peter Fletcher, World Musics in Context (but this is not really a textbook)
Origins of music
Traditional musics of non-Western peoples
European music (especially classical)
The Americas (especially European and African influences)
The modern world (including Western influence worldwide)
Geographical
Bakan, Harris & Pease, May, Miller & Shahriari, Nettl et al., Shahriari, Stock, Titon, Wade & Campbell
Introduction, maybe including elements of music and ethnomusicology
Chapters on selected geographical or cultural areas (in no particular order)
Conclusion, maybe including suggestions for study projects
Thematic
Hast et al., Reck, Shelemay
Short introduction
Chapters on aspects of music, with “case studies” drawn from many traditions
(in no particular order)
Short conclusion
Non-chronological narrative
Andrew Killick, All the World’s Music (forthcoming!)
Start from music already familiar to students: Western popular
Trace elements of that music back to their cultural sources
Examine how those elements work in their original context
Show how different cultures have come together to produce “our” music
In the process, build up vocabulary for describing musical features
Emphasise cultural interaction, not static isolated “music cultures”
Treat all music as belonging to the same world