'A commonsense view of all music' (Cambridge Studies in Ethnomusicology) Book

aking Grainger's views as his starting point and heading each chapter with a quotation from Grainger's writings, John Blacking restates and reflects upon observations and attitudes relevant to contemporary problems of ethnomusicology and music education. Professor Blacking discusses these issues in the light of his own research, musical experience and convictions. 'For those who wish to question current thought and practice in Western musical life and education, Blacking's testimony will be essential reading.' -- Music Teacher 'The first chapter ... evaluates Grainger's contribution to ethnomusicology ... through the succeeding six chapters Blacking discusses many philosophical and political points touching on the nature of art and art objects, the relationship of individual to universal musical experience, the task of ethnomusicology, the origins of musical ideas, the definition of music in terms of human behaviour rather than just an artifact of organised sound and, significantly, the extension of music education to cover world music ... [Blacking] comes close to the heart of all debate on the nature of musical art: from where do musical ideas come?' -- The Musical Times