Ethnomusicology This article is about the concept. For the society and academic journal, see Society for Ethnomusicology.Ethnomusicology is a branch of musicology defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts." Coined by Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos (nation) and μουσική mousike (music), it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music.