开始于19世纪末的音乐民族学领域,通常被认为是以非西方和民间传统具有共通的一种很大程度的稳定性为依据的。因此,它主要应该研究它们不受西方文化渗入它们社会影响的、纯的形式。由于它们普遍是以口头传播形式,也由于在其方式中,音乐民族学被认为需要建立相对于西方艺术音乐研究发展的研究方法,音乐民族学便以音乐学学科的一个分支发展 The field of musical ethnology, begun in the late 19th century, is generally considered to be based on a substantial degree of stability that is common to both non-Western and folk traditions. Therefore, it should mainly study their pure forms from the influence of Western culture on their society. Because of their widespread use of verbal communication, and because of the way in which musical ethnology was deemed necessary to establish a research approach relative to the development of Western artistic music, musical ethnology developed as a branch of musicology