Ethnomusicology is the study of music in culture and as culture. Africanist Ethnomusicology is concerned in the broadest sense with musical representations of social experience purposively focused on African indigenous experiences. It recognizes music as social practice embedded in a social context within a community. Musical practices are, thus, seen as taking shape within the framework of a people’s native experience. In the Nigerian context, music in culture is ubiquitous. Music accompanies life (living) experiences from cradle to grave. To this end, the value of music is unequivocal, yet there are certain parameters that should be assessed within a given cultural praxis and influences. Obviously, contemporary Nigerian experiences have been mixed with cultural diversities: intra-cultural, inter-cultural, bi-cultural, and multi-cultural (global). The inquiry into music and its value within the Nigerian culture amidst these complexes of global economic sense in the 21st century is what this paper seeks to explore. The study critiques the western approach to music advancement in Nigeria. The intent is to reveal the ethnomusicological trends and the practices of music in Nigeria, which have changed or are changing and why we should bother about such changes. The discourse highlights the need to focus on promoting music within its social context from the diversity of milieu and ensure that such content is tailored towards musical scholarship in Nigeria.
Africanist Ethnomusicology, Music, Value, Change, Education
