Includes bibliographical references (pages 491-534) and index.

Contemplating the musics of the world. A harmless drudge : reaching for the dictionary ; Combining tones : on the concept of music ; Is music the universal language of mankind? : commonalities and the origins of music -- As sounds and structures. Inspiration and perspiration : creative processes ; A nonuniversal language : on the musics of the world ; The fundamental skill : notation and transcription ; Contemplating musical repertories : a sampling of descriptive and analytical approaches ; The most indefatigable tourists of the world : units of musical thought ; Apples, oranges, and a Model T : comparison and comparative study -- In the field. Come back and see me next Tuesday : essentials of the fieldwork tradition ; You will never understand this music : insiders and outsiders ; Citadels of the profession : archives, preservation, and the study of recordings ; No one plays it like me : ordinary and exceptional musicians ; You call that fieldwork? : redefining the "field" ; Who owns this music? : the host's perspective -- In human culture. Music and "that complex whole" : studying music in or as culture ; Writing the meat-and-potatoes book : musical ethnography ; "If music be the food of love ..." : uses and functions ; The river of Heraclitus : on people changing their music ; Traditions : recorded, printed, written, oral, virtual ; The basic unit of all culture and civilization : signs, symbols, and meaning ; The whys of world music : determinants of musical style -- In all of its varieties. The "where" of world music : interpreting geographic distribution ; Never heard a horse sing : taxonomies and boundaries ; The creatures of Jubal : instruments ; How do you get to Carnegie Hall? : teaching and learning ; I'm a stranger here myself : women's music, women in music ; Diversity and difference : a variety of minorities -- From a broad perspective. Are you doing anyone any good? : thoughts on applied ethnomusicology ; Musing about an interdiscipline : musicology, anthropology, and the study of dance ; Second thoughts : some personal disclosures ; On the shape of the story : persepctives on the history of ideas and practices ; A snapshot of the new century : notes on ethnomusicology today.