Brittany Trotter

MUSC 670
Written Summary: Nettls Elephant

Naming the Elephant in the Room: A Written Summary of Nettls Elephant

As a nave musician reading a book about the history of ethnomusicology by a renowned

author and scholar of the field, I expected it to be full facts and qualitative research about the
nature of a defined area of study. I was shocked, and somewhat admittingly enthralled, by Bruno
Nettls confession that the ethnomusicology field is vaguely defined broadly within their
scholarly community, and is in essence, an area of study caught up in a fascination with itself.1
Nettls narrative essays explains the history of ethnomusicology based on his proposition of the
fields history and prediction of what will shaped the field in the future. Nettls central narrative
of the book is loosely based on a series of Socratic questions leading the quest to answer what is
it that ethnomusicologist are trying to do. The narrative essays are organized into four sections,
the first section presenting the history and introduction of the key scholars in the
ethnomusicology field thus far, the second section relating ethnomusicology to other disciplines
and fields of study, the third section covering three invitational papers that delivers anecdote and
thoughtful discussion topics of the modern direction of ethnomusicology today, and lastly the
fourth section consisting of short essays engrossed with probing questions about the future of
ethnomusicology. In the last essay, Nettl writes about themes that connects the overarching topic
points of the book: Is there such a thing as music, the music concept and European tradition,
what is nonmusical, good and bad music, the old and new in music, the content of music, on the
beautiful, music and time, and what then is music. Within these themes are core base of my
attempt in naming Nettls Elephant.
Among the various scholars Nettl names as the founding scholars of the musicology/
ethnomusicology field, Nettl cites Guido Adler several times. Given Nettls history with Adler, it
is appropriate to refer to Adler in discussing Nettls question of Is there such a thing as music?
One criticism that some scholars dispute is that all ethnomusicology is Western-based. Given
Nettls narrative of the originating of ethnomusicology, it is unambiguous to why early scholars
such as Adler approached music by associating Western music in a global context. Nettl
somewhat halfheartedly praises Adler for his holistic approach to the field yet, stigmatize Adlers
culturally pluralistic view of music. Argumentative so within ethnomusicology, the group of
people who musical culture is investigate are often viewed as minorities. Nettl criticize the
purpose of early ethnomusicologists research objectives stating, We say that all cultures have
music, but really, we mean that all cultures have something that sounds like what we conceived
to be music.2 This view is implicit given the related themes of the early 1880s in which the field
the musicology was started because of European increasing interest in the concept of
nationalism. Nettls statement further prods into the question of music concept and European
traditions.
Nettl references his research time with the Blackfoot people in Montana considerably
throughout the book. Given the volumes of early ethnomusicology research of Native American
music, Nettl refer to it as Darwinian view of music of non-literate peoples3 . Nettl refers to a

1
Bruno Nettl, Nettls Elephant (Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2010), pg. XV- Introduction
2
Pg. 113
3
Pg. 19
conversations with a Blackfoot tribe member references their culture in regards to music
compared to Anglos music as, We can make white music, too, but you, as a white American,
you will never understand our Indian music. We can understand your culture, but you cant
understand ours.4 A criticism of early ethnomusicology scholars is the research had broad
interest that usually went far from the study of non-Western and traditional music. Moreover,
scholars avoided separating European traditions from non-European traditions in order to try to
find ways of looking at music as a unitary phenomenon rather than interpreting the world of
music as a series of discrete music. Non- American and European ethnomusicologist criticize
this, most notably African ethnomusicology J. H. Kwabena Nketia. He is regard to promote the
idea that African music ought to be studied by African scholars.5 Similar to Nketias perspective,
many non-Western musicologist are hesitate to use the term ethnomusicologist, because of the
associate it has by suggesting that their music is in a different class, not worthy of the kind of
attention real musicologist give to Western music. 6 The stigma of the terms can be further
examined by Nettls theme of what is nonmusical and good and bad music.
Nettl promulgate the struggles of the field of ethnomusicology in finding it proper
disciplinary base. He infers to anthropology scholars as illustrating general Western attitudes
toward the questions of what is music and how it is judged to be good or bad. Nettl summaries
varies American anthropology textbooks and their lack of inclusion of music. He broadly
concludes that many of their conception of music appears to be exclusively Western. However,
musician musicologists claims that non musician anthropologists would not be able to
understand music because anthropologist would considered it to be a study of primitive music.7
Nettl concludes that this stigma pains anthropologists and causes non musicians to avoid talking
about music analytically for fear of criticism. He admits that the possibly intimidate by the
growth of ethnomusicology has caused a decline in American anthropologist to deal with music
in general works. Nettl cast no fault on either disciplinary, but rather encourages both to work
together in the field in the future. Nettl evolves this working together in interdisciplinary in the
question of what the content of music should be.
Nettl questions the ethnomusicological perspective in it theme of musical content and
argues that the most significant aspect of music is the need to contemplate it as integrated with
all components of culture.8 In context to Western ethnomusicologists, many has tried to research
the history of all the worlds cultures to provide a context for understanding the history of
Western art music. Nettl references the context of comprehensive European history textbooks
such as the Oxford History of Music, for its lack of non-Western context and inclusion of terms
such as exotica and primitive in discussion of non-European music. Moreover, these great
historical compendia organize their chapters that put various musics of the world in certain
instances as equal until the times of the ancient Greek. This encourages the notion that non-
Western cultures stayed behind while Western music advanced. Nettl cites leading scholars such
as Alan Lomax, whom break from this conception of thinking and explores the notion that
ethnomusicologists should not narrate the history, but develop techniques for making
comparative descriptions of music styles that suggest a specific view of the way music history

4
Pg. 219
5
Pg. 30
6
Pg. 32
7
Pg. 124
8
Pg. 224
works.9 This evolves that perspective of viewing world music not as a single unit, but as a group
of music determined by it growth and unique social and economic history. This perspective
conceptualize Nettls question of can there be more than one system or kind of music that is
beautiful.
Since the development of the concept of ethnomusicology, early scholars typically
approach non- Western music as a homogenous body contrasting with European music. By the
same token, many scholars might insist that all ethnomusicology is Western- based. 10 Nettl
references several composers such as Jacques Chailley, who tries to place Western music in
global context. Nettl criticizes this composers because of their perspective of viewing music as a
unitary phenomenon rather than interpreting the world music as a series of discrete musics. Nettl
further list non-European and non-American ethnomusicology and their context of the field of
ethnomusicology as being concerned with the music of their own continents by their preservation
and documentation research of non- European music. Nettl caution the reader on the widespread
belief that he once himself too believed, that cultures with simple style represent musical
behavior of early human because they have not yet develop a music beyond a level of
simplicity.11 Nettl further examines the shift of 20th century avant garde music such as George
Antheils airplane motor and John Cages four minutes and thirty-three seconds are accepted as
music yet we minoritized music of non-western cultures for their simplicity. Nettl expressed his
distain of this perspective stating, We say that all cultures have music, but really, we mean that
all cultures have something that sounds like what we conceive to be music.12 Although
ethnomusicology has moved from it Western music superior complex to more of a inclusion of
study, disseminate, preserve the practice of traditional world music as a domain of culture, it is
important to see how ethnomusicology has moved forward and how it history has been cyclic.
Nettl emphasize the use of the word elephant in the title of his book to symbolize history
and as an anecdote to himself becoming an old man in his field of study. However, given the
series of Socratic and probing questions that he promulgate throughout this book, I interpret the
book title differently. Nettls Elephant is not a book about the history of ethnomusicology, but a
declaration that the field of ethnomusicology have not yet figure out it intellectual contours and
essential goals of the profession. In my view, Nettl is using an English metaphorical idiom
Elephant in the room to address the obvious problems that is going unaddressed in the field of
ethnomusicology. I myself, the nave musician, am no further closer to naming the elephant as
Bruno Nettl is himself. Yet, I am closer to making sense of the diversity of issues and questions
that ethnomusicologist confront in their profession.

9
Pg. 52
10
Pg. 24
11
Pg. 112
12
Pg. 113