Musicology is the scientific and historical study of music, primarily in the European classical tradition. Ethnomusicology is the study of music outside this tradition. In these programs, students learn about the cultural styles of different musical traditions. They also learn to study music using tools from different fields such as anthropology, sociology, and music theory.

Does your music collection include flamenco, English folk songs, Brazilian bossa nova, Cantonese opera, and South African gospel? Do you collect every bluegrass recording you can find? Are you convinced that there are connections between the restless, jazzy strains of Miles Davis's trumpet and the rich melodies of African-American spirituals?

If any of these profiles seem to fit you, you may feel impatient with people who say things such as, "I like all music except for country music," or, "classical music is boring."

If you're someone who understands that learning about culture is as important to studying music as learning music theory, this program may be the one for you. As a musicologist, you dedicate yourself to studying all aspects of music, from the life of a composer, to the development of the instruments used, to the history and culture of the place in which a piece was composed. You learn to appreciate different musical traditions based on a deeper understanding of their influences.

These different musical traditions might refer to music from different countries or geographical regions. This is called comparative musicology or ethnomusicology because you're comparing the music in these different cultures.

But you could also study different historical periods of the same genre of music, such as the baroque and romantic periods of classical music. You might also focus on different genres of music such as jazz, rock, and country.

In both musicology and ethnomusicology programs, you study music methodology and theory, relating them closely to music history and criticism. A background in these programs of study prepares you to research, write, and teach. You could manage a music library or write music reviews. The broad scope of this program provides you with endless career possibilities.

A few colleges and universities offer graduate degree programs in both musicology and ethnomusicology. You can typically earn either a master's or a doctoral degree. A few schools also offer bachelor's degree programs in related fields such as music or folklore, where you could concentrate in musicology or ethnomusicology.

In general, a bachelor's degree takes about four years of full-time study after high school and a master's degree about one to two years after that. A doctoral degree usually takes three to four additional years on top of a master's degree.