In 1968, the Folklore Division (now Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies), National Museum of Man, Ottawa, invited me to carry out a research project based on some of its field recordings. As a result, I transcribed and analysed 117 French-Canadian folksongs and song versions. I wish to acknowledge the release of this material by the Museum for publication.

In various studies scholars have asserted that two or more melodies are similar. In many cases the scholar does not offer a method by which the reader can determine that the melodies offered are indeed alike; He merely places the melodies in juxtaposition and assumes that the reader will perceive, as the author apparently does, that they are similar. This is the procedure followed by George Pullen Jackson in his attempt to prove that Black spirituals derive from white hymn tunes (Jackson 1933:242–261). On examining the melodies presented by Jackson, I find them similar in some respects and dissimilar in many other respects. I am by no means certain that they are versions of the same melody. In other cases the scholar does not offer full melodies or even full first sections of melodies. This occurs, for example, when Peter Gradenwitz offers melodic analogues of the Zionist and Israeli anthem, “Hatiqvah” (Gradenwitz 1949:302–303).

Despite the importance of the scripture to any study of Islamic beliefs, customs or creations, little attention has been paid by musicologists and ethnomusicologists to the chanted recitation of the Holy Qur'ān. Muslim scholars of literature, of etymology, of grammar and syntax, of phonetics and vocal production have developed exhaustive studies based on the Qur'ān, but they have neither analyzed nor explained the musical aspects of the chanted recitations of the one hundred and fourteen sūrahs ('chapters') revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century.

The fixed pitch instruments of Java are justly famous for the flexibility of their tuning. The absolute pitches of various ensembles differ substantially, and within an ensemble, tones of a given name vary greatly in pitch when produced on different instruments. Causes for these differences include the gradual changes which occur in the metals used in the instruments’ manufacture, and the high value placed on the production of acoustical beats among the instruments of a single ensemble (Kunst 1973:251; Hood 1966:31–33). Concordant with this diversity is the practice of assigning proper names, such as “Venerable Dark Cloud”, to individual gamelans.

The liturgy of the Falasha of Ethiopia has existed as an oral tradition throughout its history. Although the source and date of origin of the liturgy are the subject of frequent speculation, there is no evidence that a system of musical notation has ever been used. Therefore, when studying this liturgy, the researcher is confined to the experiences of living informants and to the current liturgy.

Le chant lapon, ou juoigos, a donné lieu à un grand nombre de travaux, presque exclusivement scandinaves. Ces travaux portent surtout sur l'aspect musicologique, et sur le recensement des thèmes traités. Sans être entièrement absents de la littérature spécialisée, les aspects psychologiques et sociologiques du juoigos sont beaucoup moins connus. Les meilleurs observateurs nous ont laissé nombre de notations intéressantes sur ce sujet, mais elles restent très disparates. Le chercheur qui tenterait de rassembler ces observations pour en tirer un tableau général de la sociologie du juoigos risquerait fort d'aboutir à des conclusions erronées: en effet, il semble bien que cet aspect du juoigos soit soumis à des variations importantes, d'une communauté à l'autre. D'où le danger des généralisations, que l'on rencontre chez les auteurs les plus qualifiés. Widstrand, travaillant en collaboration avec Ruong, lui-même d'origine lapone, est par exemple dans l'erreur lorsqu'il écrit que chez les Lapons du nord, le juoigos est presque exclusivement réservé aux hommes (Widstrand 1961:74).