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Cultural evolution of music

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  • Patrick E. Savage

    (Keio University)

Abstract

The concept of cultural evolution was fundamental to the foundation of academic musicology and the subfield of comparative musicology, but largely disappeared from discussion after World War II despite a recent resurgence of interest in cultural evolution in other fields. I draw on recent advances in the scientific understanding of cultural evolution to clarify persistent misconceptions about the roles of genes and progress in musical evolution, and review literature relevant to musical evolution ranging from macroevolution of global song-style to microevolution of tune families. I also address criticisms regarding issues of musical agency, meaning, and reductionism, and highlight potential applications including music education and copyright. While cultural evolution will never explain all aspects of music, it offers a useful theoretical framework for understanding diversity and change in the world’s music.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick E. Savage, 2019. "Cultural evolution of music," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:5:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-019-0221-1
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-019-0221-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Emma Marris, 2008. "Language: The language barrier," Nature, Nature, vol. 453(7194), pages 446-448, May.
    2. Mason Youngblood & David Lahti, 2018. "A bibliometric analysis of the interdisciplinary field of cultural evolution," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Mason Youngblood & David Lahti, 2018. "Correction: A bibliometric analysis of the interdisciplinary field of cultural evolution," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-2, December.
    4. Brand, Charlotte Olivia & Acerbi, Alberto & Mesoudi, Alex, 2019. "Cultural evolution of emotional expression in 50 years of song lyrics," SocArXiv 3j6wx, Center for Open Science.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sally E. Street & Tuomas Eerola & Jeremy R. Kendal, 2022. "The role of population size in folk tune complexity," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Ethan L. Fulwood, 2022. "Quantitative similarities between the banjo and a diverse collection of West African lutes," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Liang Xu & Min Xu & Zehua Jiang & Xin Wen & Yishan Liu & Zaoyi Sun & Hongting Li & Xiuying Qian, 2023. "How have music emotions been described in Google books? Historical trends and corpus differences," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Gabriel Aguirre-Fernández & Chiara Barbieri & Anna Graff & José Pérez de Arce & Hyram Moreno & Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra, 2021. "Cultural macroevolution of musical instruments in South America," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Daniel Harasim & Fabian C. Moss & Matthias Ramirez & Martin Rohrmeier, 2021. "Exploring the foundations of tonality: statistical cognitive modeling of modes in the history of Western classical music," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson, 2020. "Hidden musicality in Chinese Xiangsheng: a response to the call for interdisciplinary research in studying speech and song," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, December.

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