The story of Bob Marley's song 'War' has a super interesting socio-political context, not simply from its lyrical stance but how it's been reappropriated to adapt to different political causes over time.

Released in 1976 on his Rastaman Vibrations album, Marley's now iconic tune explicitly comments on racial inequality and discrimination of the time, but in fact - the lyrics are taken completely from a speech given at the UN in 1963.

Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I's address to the United Nations' General Assembly was a condemnation of colonialism, referencing the independence struggles of Mozambique and Angola at the time, and anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.

Later in 1992, Irish singer Sinead O'Connor infamously covered Marley's 'War' on US TV show Saturday Night Live, but flipped some of the lyrics to condemn the Catholic Church when numerous cases of child abuse came to light. The performance stirred significant controversy due to her on-air criticism of the Pope.

But Selassie's words, via Marley and O'Connor, have ultimately spoke truth to power as history has shown.

Around 92% of people listen to background music while working, studying, or doing daily tasks. Interestingly, background music not only helps but impairs productivity along with these tasks; therefore, it is interesting for researchers to study this topic in depth to come up with better recommendations.

The survey takes just 6 minutes to fill out, and your responses can make a huge difference in this research.

👉 https://forms.gle/7vDcSxms2NbLMNvx7

Thank you so much for your help! 🙌

Something I’ve come to notice a lot in my time listening to “classic rock” is the themes of medieval times. Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Heart, Patti Smith, etc all seem to focus a lot on medieval narratives during this time. Tales of pipers, kings and queens, archbishops, etc all throughout this time of music. I’m just curious why this was such a prominent theme during this time.

Hey everyone!

I’m super excited to be here! I’ve been working on something really close to my heart—an idea that captures those unforgettable moments when music truly connects us. You know that feeling at a concert when there’s this unspoken thread that ties everyone together, and for a moment, you feel like a part of something bigger? That’s exactly what I want to recreate—an online space where we can bond over the raw emotions and stories that music brings out in each of us.

I’d love to hear how music has shaped your life and what it means to you. If you have a few minutes, it would mean the world if you could take this short survey and help bring this vision to life: https://forms.gle/9WwD6CboBPCV7Lbo9
~ Bri :)

I'd really love to find recordings of his work that he was personally involved in to some degree.

If nobody can point me in the direction of something like this, though, then would anyone be able to recommend a particular compilation of recordings of Schoenberg's works that were: 1) recorded in the first half of the 20th century, and 2) are a good selection of pieces that represent his atonal period?

I've been thinking a lot as of late about thought relating to performance practice and I'd be curious to read about performance practices that push the bounds of performance in a specifically musical context. When I see people talk about experimental music, I see a lot of talk about notation practices, timbres, handmade instruments...but not as much about the specific performance practices. So I'm curious about work where the experimentation hinges on, or is greatly enhanced, by the performance practices. We tend to think of music as something listened to- and I don't think that's wrong, but I'm very curious about the visual aspects of music. I come from a musical background with a lot of punk, metal, and noise music, where there are of course more experimental performance practices, like Vomir's baghead, or Mayhem's choice to throw pighead's into the audience.

Hi all, I wanted to see if anyone has any book recommendations regarding musicology. I am thinking about going into musicology for a masters, possibly the University of Houston, so if figure asking here. If you are already in UH for musicology what books do you use? Thanks in advance.

I've become interested in the music of colonial America, and I was wondering if there are any online resources, book, manuscripts, etc. that would be considered a good place to start exploring? I'm interested in both sheet music manuscripts and historical info that's available.

Title says it all but perhaps with more of a focus on Western Art Music instead of popular music (although I am interseted to see what comes up for this as well. Obviously looking for works that touch upon music in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Must draw upon critical theory in some form, even if to critique or depart from it.

I'm looking for more information about this because I want to write one into a movement of my symphony. However, the Wikipedia page is sparse and most search results turn up Peruvian criolla.

Does anyone have any knowledge or resources on this genre?

I just transferred into Cal as an Interdisciplinary Studies Field major which means that I get to build my own major. I did this in part because I did not have the prerequisites for the Music BA and because Berkeley doesn't offer an ethnomusicology major, only a graduate program. Nonetheless, I'm very excited about my major. Anyway, I have to declare my Course of Study which must involve study from at least three departments. I chose Music and Anthropology for the first two (because initially I was just going to focus on ethnomusicology) and then broadened it to include Sociology and Psychology. My question is, should I focus on all four or just on three? I ask because I have to submit a proposal that will affect the focus of my senior thesis and I'm conflicted as to whether studying a paper involving four subjects will be more comprehensive or, conversely, unfocused. Anyway, I figured it would be good to ask people with some experience with musicology as I'm still relatively new to the subject. Thanks!

It fixed fretted instruments flaw. It must use equal temperament ? Or something else like just intonation or Well Temperament

Why aren't other instruments tuned to it like piano or DAWs ?

Hello everyone,

I’m working on an exciting research project titled "Eschatological Convergence: A Comparative Thematic Analysis of Christian Sacred Classical Music and Islamic Conceptions of Resurrection and Judgment." My goal is to explore the thematic connections between significant Christian sacred music works—such as Mozart’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2—and Islamic views on resurrection and judgment, particularly the concept of Yawm al-Qiyamah (the Day of Judgment).

I’m reaching out to see if there’s interest or anyone who would be willing to discuss this topic further. Specifically, I’m interested in:

• Insights from experts or enthusiasts in musicology, theology, or comparative religion.
• Recommendations for resources or literature on the intersection of sacred music and eschatology.
• Feedback on the research focus and potential methodologies.

If this topic intrigues you or if you have expertise in related areas, I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Feel free to reply here or send me a direct message. Thank you! - Azim

Heya for a school project i'm doing research as to what colour people associate with music. could you tell me what colour you think fits this song? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlcqnZeO3bQ Answer here please - https://forms.gle/uXS1QcQvaxNAMPbW7

I would like to see other peoples perspectives and differences when it comes to music and sounds, this is for a small research i'm doing for school, its for the whole album HiRUDiN from Austra, but this song is the front most and sets the theme for the whole album that's why it's the only song referenced. i do recommend the whole album however. thank you for reading and/ or helping.

I play bluegrass, old time, and Celtic music and a lot of these fiddle tunes have really long storied histories. But a lot of the information about these tunes online and from other musicians is heavily apocryphal

Are there any reference texts to learn more accurate information about all this repertoire?

In college, I took a musicology course where the professor talked about how individuals like Ives, Grainger, and Cage influenced the Beatles. He then showed examples in their music of the influence.

I’ve been thinking about this recently and was curious if there is a tree or diagram somewhere linking back the influences of each artist to previous or current generation artists? Obviously, it’d be wildly branching, but it’d be a cool way to listen through the history of music by going down a line of influence to something modern day and see how it progresses, influences, and ties in

edit : 9th century not 7th

I'm working on a concert-conference on composeress, so obviously i talk about the oldest composeress witch we can still (in theory) find the scores : Kassia of Constantinople. But i can't find any score on internet, at least nothing significant, so i was wondering if anyone had Kassia's scores (also called Cassia, Kassiani, Saint Kassiani, Icasia)

Thank you !

Hi guys I’d really need some help here with my thesis topic and framing. I’m about to make my thesis for a major events company that’s looking to create and promote their own IP internationally—think along the lines of Cirque du Soleil, but with more of a musical or ice show vibe instead of a circus. They’re really focused on emphasizing performance art over pure entertainment.

Part of my thesis involves helping the company figure out how to secure international funding or this kind of IP or how to pitch it to international promoters. We’re working on this kind of project so ideally that would work as a good case study. The funny part is, I’m doing my master’s in musicology (with very humanist, cultural research angle), so I need to find a way to approach this that’s valuable to both the company and my academic research. For example interviewing other companies or industry players is out of question as there would be too much risk of not getting useful enough insights.

Any ideas, thoughts, tips or papers to recommend? I’m nervous but also hopeful that combining commercial objectives and (humanist) academic research could be possible and even beneficial to both fields. I really appreciate any help or supportive words 🙏🏼

I play guitar and mando in a folk band that occasionally includes a medieval moment within the show. We're currently not doing it in a highly historically accurate way and I'd like to increase that. So, at least for the older parts of that repertoire, I need to abandon all harmonic movement (...ye who enter here) and do something drone-y.

No other instrument that we own can do that, because the bagpipe (at least the specimen we use) is too loud for our singer to sing alongside it; the accordion looks too obviously postindustrial; the violinist owns a viel but she's also the singer so she ends up not using it; I think it's up to me to provide that role (and also percussion).

So, how was that presumably done in the middle ages? Is there some book I can read on the subject? Is there some technique I can look up? And is there anything about medieval string instruments that makes them more appropriate for that role (apart from pure historical accuracy) compared to, say. a modern guitar? Also, are "power chords" a big no no for the older modal period or can the 5th be undestood as a simple reinforcement of the root drone?

I'm particularly curious about programs in or around New York City, but I'd like to learn about any & all programs around the world that are standouts in this field.

(I'm obviously not relying on reddit for this research, I'd just like to supplement my own research with y'all's feedback. Thanks!)