Musicology

What Is Musicology?

Musicology is the study of music, which covers all aspects of music in all cultures and all historical periods. In practice, musicology includes a wide variety of methods for studying music as an academic endeavor; although the study of musical performance is an important facet of musicology, musical performance in itself is a different area of study.

Musicology embraces the many different ways of studying music:

·         as part of history (analogous to art history), organized by

o    chronological era or period ("the Renaissance")

o    nation or region (American music, South Asian music)

o    musical style ("art music," "popular music")

o    the people involved (composers, performers, audiences)

o    the performance forces involved (symphony orchestra, soloists)

·         as part of society (sociology or anthropology of music)

·         with respect to its structure (music theory, music analysis)

·         with respect to how it functions as art (music aesthetics, philosophy of music)

·         with respect to how it is perceived (music perception and cognition)

·         with respect to the means of performance (the study of musical instruments, acoustics, physiology of voice)

The main labor sector of musicologists is higher education; musicologists research and teach classes (or guide doctoral research) on many aspects of the history of music at undergraduate and graduate level. Others work in museums, archives, libraries, interpretation organizations, K-12 education, as freelance writers and in other areas. They usually produce articles in magazines such as The Musical Quarterly or our own Journal of the American Musicological Society; and publish books on a wide range of musical themes.

It's a really fun fact. 

God bless you!