Critical Music Studies

What role has music research and music criticism played on the development and value of music cultures in particular times and places? And why has music research remained a key facet of contemporary music cultures? This course engages with core critical models of inquiry-based musical scholarship from the last century to the present, highlighting the rapidly changing objects of study (eg. genres), analytical tools, theoretical models, media, and writing genres related to this expanding field. In the course, we will study four dominant fields: historical musicology, ethnomusicology, popular music studies, and practice-based research. In relation to each of these fields, the course highlights core foundational theories and practices, placing them in their historical and cultural context: from the nineteenth century’s canonical and critical appraisals of ‘masterworks’, to the comparative investigations and cataloguing of early twentieth century collectors and anthropologists (such as folk song archivists and collectors), to the more recent ethnographic explorations of the impact of broader social movements (Black Power, Feminist, and Indigenous) in relation to the expansion of media and the international music recording industry. Finally, we ask what roles can practice-based research play in developing our understanding of the internal workings of music creation, production, performance, and reception. The development of these foundational research skills offers essential problem solving and critical analytical tools for developing a musical research practice.