Cantometrics

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Cantometrics is the analysis of traditional or folk songs. Initially developed by Alan Lomax in 1959, this process includes measurements beyond the conventional elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm. In the forward to "Folk Song Style and Culture" (1968), Lomax contends that "[f]or the first time, predictable and universal relationships have been established between the expressive and communication processes, on the one hand, and social structure and culture pattern, on the other" (vii).

Cantometrics relates folk music to sociological traits, arguing that the characteristics of a culture's traditional music reflect that culture's social organization, including class stratification, gender relations, and sexual mores. This is an example of sociological homology.

[edit] Further reading

  • Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0-335-15275-9.
  • Lomax, Alan (1959). "Folk Song Style." American Anthropologist 61 (Dec. 1959): 927-54. [1]
  • Lomax, Alan (1968). Folk Song Style and Culture. New Brunswick, U.S.A.: Transaction Publishers, 2000. ISBN 0-87855-640-0


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