Ethnomusicology
General exams in ethnomusicology will usually be given in August preceding the G3 year (prior to the first semester of teaching), provided students have completed the necessary requirements. Written exams will be given first. The ethnomusicology faculty will evaluate the written exams and decide whether the student is equipped to proceed to the oral exams.
Preparation for the exams
In the spring of G2, students should provide short paragraphs outlining their primary and secondary areas as well as either 2 syllabi from coursework taken outside of the department or reading list(s) that, along with description(s), define interdisciplinary area(s). There are normally 2 interdisciplinary areas in total. The syllabus for an ethnomusicology course in the department may not alone form the basis for an interdisciplinary area for the purposes of the exam.
Primary and secondary areas are determined by primarily by geography and secondarily by genre and areas of theoretical interest; exceptions could arise, for example, where “jazz” or “music and neuroscience” could be the main rubric, and a region or period a secondary one. This is your first opportunity to define yourself as an “X”-ist in a certain field—a definition that has implications for representing yourself on the job market later. As such, you don’t want your area to be too narrow. At the same time you need to identify a cohesive unit of study, the literature for which you can reasonably master in time for the exams. We are not interested in calling you out on obscure facts; you in turn need not closely protect the boundaries of your areas out of fear that we will be searching for your weak spots.
Written Exams
Part I World Music (3 hours)
This section targets the student’s primary and secondary areas. There will be a choice of 2 out of 3 essay questions, normally 2 in the primary and 1 in the secondary area. One hour is given for each question. Normally students answer one question in each of their areas but are not required to do so. This is followed by a list of six terms or phrases from which four are to be chosen for short answers in one hour. That means roughly 15 minutes per question. Normally there are more short-answer questions related to the primary area.
Part II General Ethnomusicology (3 hours)
This section focuses on the field of ethnomusicology at large. The format is exactly like part I otherwise. Normally there will be questions related to the history of ethnomusicology, methodology, key ethnographies and theories, genres, and substantive questions regarding musical sound (e.g. timbre, rhythm, harmony). The short-answer questions usually include the names of key figures, genres, musical instruments, musical concepts, and style descriptors in wide circulation. In studying for this part of the exam, be sure to keep abreast of current trends in ethnomusicology as well as historical roots.
Part III Interdisciplinary Approaches (3 hours)
This section will draw from the student’s two interdisciplinary areas: 2 questions from one area and 1 question from the other. The ethnomusicology faculty choose which area will be given two questions at the time of writing the exam. There are no “primary” or “secondary” interdisciplinary areas. Here you have 90 minutes to answer 2 questions of your choice. There are no short-answer questions. The questions adhere closely to assigned work from your syllabi or reading lists. Since the point is to bring work from outside the field of ethnomusicology to bear on ethnomusicological work, the format of the questions is often some variation of, “Consider the concept(s) X from the work(s) of Y for research on music.” We try to make the questions more interesting than this, but for the purpose of studying, this is a good starting point.
Part IV Analysis (2 x 8 hours)
Ordinarily, students will be given a choice of two pieces out of three to analyze from their primary and secondary areas.
Oral Exams
In the oral exams students are evaluated both on their knowledge and on their ability to “think on their feet.” Students will have a chance to review their answers and revise or comment on what they wrote before being asked specific questions expanding upon existing answers, or addressing questions not written about. Hence, in the two weeks’ interval separating the writtens and the orals, students should think about responding to all parts of the exam.
The orals proceed as follows:
1) You enter, are given water, paper and pencil, a moment to adjust, and are reminded that we are here to have a conversation.
2) You present your primary area and dissertation ideas for about 15 minutes.
3) We discuss the analyses in your primary and secondary areas (unless you have already done a Western example instead, in which case we only consider the primary area). 30 minutes.
4) We proceed through each of the other sections in order, about 15 minutes each.
5) You step out of the room and the faculty confer for about 5-10 minutes.
6) You are congratulated for completing this rite of passage. Occasionally there is extra work to be done and occasionally students will be recognized with “distinction.” These are decided on a case-by-case basis.