Thinking Musically, the central book in the series, incorporates musicfrom many diverse cultures--including the Americas, Asia, Africa, andEurope--and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music aroundthe world. It sets the stage for a variety of accompanying single-volume casestudies, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case studyuses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, coveringhistorical information and traditions as they relate to the present.Thinking Musically discusses the importance of musical instruments anddescribes their significance in a culture's folklore, religion, and history. Italso defines basic musical terms and concepts including rhythm, pitch, sound,scale, and melody, exploring ways that they have been conceived and used bypeople around the globe. Considering the effects of cultural influences such asgender and ethnicity on the perception, interpretation, and performance ofmusic, the book also looks at how the forces of nationalism, acculturation, andwesternization can affect musical traditions. The book concludes with a chapteron how to conduct fieldwork in ethnomusicology. Many of the musical examples arecoordinated with material in the case studies. Thinking Musically is packagedwith a 70-minute CD that features selections from the wide variety of musicalcultures discussed in the book.