near the beginning of his erudite monograph Music Theory in Ethnomusicology, Stephen Blum asserts that “Ethnomusicologists cannot accept a definition like that in Grove Music Online where ‘Theory’ is ‘An area of study that tends to focus on musical materials per se, in order to explain (and/or offer generalizations about) their various principles and processes’” (9). Modeling a more expansive view of music theory, the author instead shifts the focus to foreground human theorizers while emphasizing processes of theorizing, providing a concise yet near-comprehensive survey of the many ways in which music scholars have uncovered modes of theorizing around the globe and across history. This review highlights aspects of the book that I think will interest music theorists, including those who may be ambivalent about ethnomusicology's emphasis on ethnography.1
Music Theory in Ethnomusicology begins by pointing out that theorizing is something done by all humans, arguing that it...
