Waterman Critical Review

I believe that this article is a perfect example of the elitism that is often present in the field of ethnomusicology. Waterman’s first three sentences set the tone that the rest of the piece follows.

There are two reasons why African musical elements have influences the musical styles of the Americas. In the first place, American Negro groups have remained relatively homogeneous with regard to culture patterns and remarkably so with respect to in-group solidarity. This has almost guaranteed the retention of any values not in conflict with the prevailing Euro-American culture pattern.

Right away, Waterman makes it clear that he considers African music and culture to be less civilized than that of Europe and America. He groups all African cultures together by referring to them as “homogeneous” and that the only values that prevailed were those that didn’t overlap with those of Europe of America.

Also, I found it interesting that later on in his piece, Waterman uses harmony and rhythm to separate African music from European music. This relates directly to Hanlsick’s ideas about the hierarchy of musical concepts. He places harmony as the most civilized and cultured part of music theory while rhythm is the lowest.

I tried to find out a little bit more about Richard Waterman and wasn’t able to find much. I am curious as to whether he ever visited Africa. I think of this piece as being written from an etic perspective in that it’s hard for me to believe that someone who had experienced African culture first hand would say such critical things.