All
Chapters
A full listing of the broad contributions to the World Music Textbook
About WMT Chapters
The World Music Textbook is comprised of “chapters.” These are prepared by scholars, musicians, and others and they go through a blind peer review process. They may be short essays, videos, interactive sites, or they may be in other formats entirely. If you have an idea for a contribution, please reach out or consider submitting. In addition to these chapters, the resources page lists many other useful sites from across the internet.
September 5, 2023
Video Game Music
By Tim Summers
This chapter considers how video game music developed and cultural and ethical challenges in creating gameworlds with music.
Identity / Media / Music Technology
September 1, 2023
Moroccan Trance: Unruly Bodies and the Colonial Imagination
By Samuel Llano
Sufi trance in colonial Morocco developed under strict colonial scrutiny and control and has been the object of fear, misunderstanding, dismissal, and even scorn. This article considers colonialism's impact on the production and perpetuation of negative stereotypes about trance.
Historical Ethnomusicology / Nationalism / Politics / Race / Africa / Europe
February 3, 2023
Ol Woman Blong Wota (The Women of the Water)
By Sandy SUR, Ashley Burgess, Maeve McKenna, Catherine Grant
The women of Leweton have been performing Water Music for international audiences since the founding of the Leweton Cultural Village in 2008, and have been practising this tradition for as long as they remember.
Activism / Heritage / Sustainability / Pacific
January 3, 2023
Music and Archives
By Ryan Koons
This article provides an overview of critical issues regarding music in archives.
Ethnomusicology / Music Notes
March 10, 2022
Music and Nationalism
By Kristina Nielsen, Jessie Vallejo
This article offers an overview of musical nationalism. It considers how states have used music as a political tool as well as the ways in which communities have employed music to reject national identities and challenge nation-states.
Activism / Immigration / Music Notes / Nationalism / Politics / Global
March 10, 2022
Music and Nationalism: Annotated Playlist
By Kristina Nielsen, Jessie Vallejo
This is an annotated playlist on the topic of music and nationalism. It can be used to accompany the World Music Textbook article "Music and Nationalism."
Activism / Immigration / Music Notes / Nationalism / Playlist / Politics / Global
May 5, 2021
Articulating Race and Nation in Brazilian Popular Song
By James McNally
This article presents a cultural history of Brazilian popular song (canção popular) and the many musical genres that fall under its umbrella. From the early days of samba to contemporary popular styles, popular song in Brazil has long represented a site for negotiating complex questions of race, nation, and politics.
Activism / Nationalism / Politics / Popular Music / Race / Latin America / South America
January 22, 2021
Stories of Cambodian Angkuoch: Documenting a Rare Musical Instrument, its Makers and Players
By SONG Seng, GRANT Catherine
This piece introduces the endangered Cambodian musical instrument Angkuoch, its makers and players, and a project documenting the making process. It also reflects on ethics of instruments in museum collections.
Heritage / Musical Instruments / Public Musicology / Sustainability / Southeast Asia
January 15, 2021
Rhythm and expectation
By Christopher Witulski
This four-part series explores the relationship between rhythm, expectation, and experience. It describes musical terms and central concepts while using specific examples from Morocco to problematize western-centric binaries.
Musical Terms / Sound / Africa / Global / Middle East
May 15, 2020
Music and Identity in Danza Azteca
By Kristina Nielsen
This piece considers how music contributes to identities within Aztec dance communities. It explores how different identities are created and sustained through music and dance practices.
Dance / Identity / Indigeneity / Tradition / Latin America / Native America / North America