507730 - MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE WORLD

courses

ID:

507730

Duration (hours):

36

CFU:

SSD:

ETNOMUSICOLOGIA

Located in:

CREMONA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Primo Semestre (29/09/2025 - 23/01/2026)

Course Objectives

The course introduces the fundamental topics of the ethnomusicology of musical instruments and their classification. By the end of the course, students will be able to: Recognize and classify the main families of musical instruments from any cultural background Understand key issues related to the preservation, handling, analysis, and musealization of musical instruments from around the world Navigate the major collections of ethnic musical instruments in Italy and Europe

Course Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required for this course, although an introductory course in Ethnomusicology might help understanding.

Teaching Methods

Most of the teaching will be structured as lectures, during which the instructor will use PowerPoint presentations, audio and audiovisual materials to introduce students to sound forms and musical instruments from various historical, geographical, and cultural backgrounds. Some sessions will include direct encounters with musicians, offering students the opportunity to interact with them. Finally, part of the course will be dedicated to hands-on practice in cataloging.

Assessment Methods

The examination will consist of: - a written paper to be delivered to the professor by e-mail within fifteen working days from the date of the examination call. The paper consists of a text of approximately 6000 characters (including spaces) on the historical morphological characteristics of a musical instrument of the student's choice and agreed with the lecturer. Alternatively, an ICCD SM file of an instrument of the student's choice may be produced, combined with an introductory text in which the motivations that led to the choice of the instrument being filed are specified. - an oral interview in which the student will be asked to classify a musical instrument, possibly by listening to the CD Instruments de musique du monde in the bibliography and to present one or two of the articles/chapters in the bibliography chosen by the teacher. The ability to link the proposed topics and the acquisition of language appropriate to the discipline will be appreciated. The marks will be awarded according to the following criteria: 40% - the paper 50% - oral examination 10% - participation in the tutorials (for those not attending the course, it will be allocated to the texts of your choice) For students with special needs see "other informations" section.

Texts

The introductory part about Ethnomusicology and issues relating to musical instruments of the world refers to the material produced by the teacher and made available on Kiro. Integral part of the overall preparation are also the following texts: - AA.VV. Instruments de musique du monde, Parigi, CNRS, CD con allegato libretto - BAUMANN, M. P. 2000, “The Local and the Global: Traditional Musical Instruments and Modernization”, in The World of Music vol. 42 n° 3, Local Musical Traditions in the Globalization Process, pp. 121-144 - DOURNON G., 2005, “Strumenti musicali del mondo: proliferazioni e sistemi”, in Enciclopedia della musica Einaudi, volume V, pp. 842-873 - GUIZZI F., “La conservazione e il restauro degli strumenti musicali della tradizione popolare”, disponibile on line alla pagina: www.rebel.lombardia.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Febo-Guizzi.pdf - GIANNATTASIO F., 2003, “Il concetto di musica in una prospettiva culturale”, in Enciclopedia della musica Einaudi, volume III, pp. 978-1004 - GUIZZI F., “Sistematica degli strumenti musicali Erich M. von Hornbostel - Curt Sachs” in Cristina Ghirardini (a cura), 2020, Reflecting on Hornbostel-Sachs’s Versuch a century later. Proceedings of the international meeting Venice, 3-4 July 2015, Quaderni di Etnomusicologia, Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi. pp. 281-341 - JOHNSON, H. M., 1995, An ethnomusicology of musical instruments: form, function, and meaning. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford, 257-269 - STAITI N., 2025, “Strumenti musicali, musica strumentale e forme di danza”, in Ascoltate miei cari signori: le musiche di tradizione orale in Italia. Udine: Nota, pp. 49-76 - STOCKMANN Eric, “Teoria e metodo per lo studio degli strumenti di musica popolare”, in Culture musicali, III, 5-6, pp. 3-17 Students have to choose other 2 text of their choice among: - AUBERT L. et alii, Pianeta musicale : strumenti musicali dei cinque continenti, Ivrea : Priuli & Verlucca, 1991 (uno o più capitoli a scelta) - BAILY J., “Struttura musicale e movimento umano”. In T. Magrini, Uomini e Suoni, 1995 - BARIAUX D. et Didier DEMOLIN, “Naissance de la voix d’un tambour à fente chez les Mangbetu. Du geste de l’artisan à celui du musicien et du danseur” In Cahiers d’ethnomusicologie n°8, 1995 - BATES E., “The social life of Musical instruments”, in Ethnomusicology vol. 56, n° 3, pp. 363-395 - BUBARIS, N. (2014). Sound in museums & museums in sound. Museum Management and Curatorship, 29(4), 391-402 - BIRLEY M., Heidrun EICHLER, and Arnold MYERS, with the CIMCIM Working Group for Education and Exhibitions, Voices for the silenced: Guidelines for Interpreting Musical Instruments in Museum Collections - Cahiers d'ethnomusicologie 2/1989 - Instrumental (un articolo a scelta) - Culture musicali 4, 1983 (scegliere uno o più contributi) - CREUTZENBERG J. and YATES-LU A., "Introduction: Korean Traditional Music on Global Stages", the world of music 11 (2022) 1: 5–21 - DEHAIL J., 2019, “De la classification scientifique des instruments de musique. Le rôle du musée dans le développement de l’organologie”, in S.A.C. | « Revue d'anthropologie des connaissances » 2019/3 Vol. 13, N°3, pp. 781-792 - DE KEYSER I. (ed.), Annual Meeting of the International Committee of Musical Instrument Museum and Collections CIMCIM 2011 – Tervuren. Reports. Collection digitale, pp. 81-114 - DOUBLEDAY V., 2008, “Sounds of Power: An Overview of Musical Instruments and Gender”, Ethnomusicology Forum , Vol. 17, No. 1, 'Sounds of Power': Musical Instruments and Gender (Jun.,), pp. 3-39 - FELD S. 1986 Sound as a symbolic system: the Kaluli drum, in C. Frisbie, ed., Explorations in Ethnomusicology in honor of David McAllester. Information Coordinators, pp.147-58. Reprinted in David Howes, ed. The Varieties of Sensory Experience, U. Toronto Press, 1991. - GHIRARDINI C. (a cura), 2020, Reflecting on Hornbostel-Sachs’s Versuch a century later. Proceedings of the international meeting Venice, 3-4 July 2015, Quaderni di Etnomusicologia, Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi. Un capitolo a scelta tra (a scelta tra i contributi di: Florence Gétreau, Marie- Barbara Le Gonidec, Margaret Birley and Arnold Myers, with Rupert Shepherd, Ghirardini) - HOUSSAY A. et Wolfgang FRÜH, 2011, “Restauration d’une kuitra du xixe siècle”, in CIMCIM 2011 Report of the Annual Meeting of the International Committee of Musical Instrument Museum and Collections, a cura di Ignace de Keyser, pp. 87-109 - IN-PYONG CHUN, "Korea's Unique "Kŏmun'go" Zither and its Roles in Korean Music: Challenging the Dichotomies of "Traditional" "Kugak" and "Creative" "Ch'angjak Kugak"", Korean Studies , Vol. 35 (2011), pp. 44-70 - ISOLABELLA M. and R. Jiménez PASALODOS, “From Mud to Music: The Production and Uses of Clay Drums in Morocco”, Etnografie sonore 219 - JAHNICHEN G., "Migrating lutes: silky strings and gendered ideologies", Asian ethnology 72 (1), 2019, pp. 127-151 - LECLAIR M., “La musique et ses instruments au musée du quai Branly”, La Lettre de l’OCIM. Musées, Patrimoine et Culture scientifiques et Techniques 112 | 2007 - LUC C.-D., “« Jouer », « sonner », « toucher » Une taxinomie française historique et dualiste du geste musical”, Cahiers d’ethnomusicologie [En ligne], 14 | 2001 - MEANDRI I. e Cristina GHIRARDINI (a cura), 2019, Sound Archives & Musical Instruments Collections, LIM. Capitoli 2 e 3 (pp. 27-102) - NEUENFELDT K., "Good Vibrations? The "Curious" Cases of the Didjeridu in Spectacle and Therapy in Australia", The World of Music , Vol. 52, No. 1/3, the world of music: Readings in Ethnomusicology (2010), pp. 82-103 - POLAK R., "A Musical Instrument Travels Around the World: Jenbe Playing in Bamako, West Africa, and Beyond", The World of Music , Vol. 52, No. 1/3, pp. 134-170 - QURESHI R. 2000, “How Does Music Mean? Embodied Memories and the Politics of Affect in the Indian "sarangi"”, American Ethnologist, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 805-838 - RANCIER M., 2014, “The Musical Instrument as National Archive: A Case Study of the Kaakh Qyl-qobyz”, in Ethnomusicology vol. 58 n° 3, pp 379-404 - RICCI A. R. TUCCI,1998, “Folk Musical Instruments in Calabria”, in The Galphin Society Journal, vol.41, pp. 36-58 - RICCI A. , 2005, “Musicisti e zampogne del Lazio meridionale” In Mauro Gioielli (a cura) Le zampoghe a sacco in Italia, pp. 131-154 - SACHS C., La signification, la tâche et la technique muséographique des collections d’instruments de musique, in Actes du Premier Congrès International de Musicologie, Parigi 1934. - SEYEMA T., "The Re-contextualization of the Shakuhachi (Syakuhati) and its Music from Traditional/Classical into Modern/Popular", The World of Music, Vol. 52, No. 1/3, pp. 104-117 - STAITI N., 2021, Il Museo cultura e musica popolare dei Peloritani, Etnografie Sonore/ Sound Ethnographies, 4, pp. 137 – 148 THE WORLD OF MUSIC Vol. 40 n° 2 – Old Instruments in New Contexts: Case Studies of Innovation and Appropriation (uno o più articoli a scelta) - TUCCI R. RICCI A.,1995,”The Chitarra Battente in Calabria”. in The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 38, pp. 78-105- WEISSER, S., & QUANTEN, M. (2011). Rethinking musical instrument classification: towards a modular approach to the Hornbostel-Sachs system. Yearbook for traditional music, 43, 122-146 - WON LEE B., Korean Court Music and Dance, The World of Music , Vol. 23, No. 1 (1981), pp. 35-51

The course provides an introduction to the knowledge and classification of musical instruments from around the world. At the beginning of the course, several sessions will be dedicated to introducing students to the concepts and methods of Ethnomusicology, which are essential for framing issues related to the analysis, classification, preservation, and restoration of world musical instruments. Subsequently, the course will address topics concerning the classification, morphology, and construction of instruments in various historical and geographical contexts. In addition, with the support of audio and audiovisual materials, the course will offer an overview of musical instruments from different historical, geographical, and cultural backgrounds. Specific insights into individual instruments will also be provided through direct contributions by professional musicians. Special attention will be given to the SM – Musical Instruments cataloging form, the official cataloging tool of the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione (ICCD) of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Course Language

Italian

More information

Where not available online or in the library, the bibliography can be obtained by contacting the instructor. Students eligible for special inclusive teaching accommodations are encouraged to contact the instructor at the beginning of the course to assess the suitability of the materials and, if necessary, to arrange for additional resources.