Applied ethnomusicology is a growing trend across arts and humanities, towards the societal usefulness of academic work. In the second half of the twentieth century, it involved a variety of activities, such as holding festivals to preserve traditional music. In the 21st century, the second major trend in applied ethnomusicology has emerged i. e. music is seen as a tool to solve social problems. Some of the most common areas in applied ethnomusicology are: trying to realize the rights of deprived cultural and musical groups, protecting musical rights in the form of archival projects, trying to realize cultural and musical rights of minorities, efforts to protect the natural and social environments of musical cultures, participation in crises such as war and health and, cross-cultural music education. Applied ethnomusicology, in its modern sense, has no place in the current discourse in Iran. In other words, no trace of applied ethnomusicology can be found among the approved lectures and post-graduate dissertations in this field. In short, the potential of applied ethnomusicology has been widely neglected in the cultural policy of Iran. Among cultural opportunities offered by applied ethnomusicology include: redefining deprived cultural-musical groups and supporting them within the framework of popular festivals in the country, Establishment of regional music archives in deprived areas in order to have a lasting impact on the musical life of those regions, provide solutions to improve cultural-musical conditions of Afghan immigrants.

This article takes a critical look at Alan Merriam's book Anthropology (1923-1980), while the history of ethnomusicology considers this work as one of the foundations of the field. The knowledge of musicology and its relation to anthropology after the second half of the twentieth century is somehow gradually tied to the connection between music and Human. This article intends to examine this work in contemporary theories by considering the basic and fundamental axes of “ Human Musical” . Probably, the design of some of Merriam’ s principles in this book, if he were alive today, would face challenges. The process of this critique will have comparisons in the methods and ideas of comparative musicology that have been revived in the last decade or two with international music associations. But the main focus of this article is the interdisciplinary critique within the field of Ethnomusicology, which believes in the use of theories and methods more independent of the humanities or social sciences.

Iranian ethno music which undermined during Pahlavi regime under modernization policies inclined to western culture and art, raised again after Islamic revolution and was focused by artists and researchers. The main question of the paper is; How the elite oriented toward ethno music during post revolution thought transformations? The main aim is describing the importance of ethnicity art and ethnomusicology studies in Iranian contemporary music in the viewpoint of music experts. As cultural-artistic or artistic magazines represent the thought approach toward ethno music, this paper by analyzing the constructed themes in these magazines has shown the thought foundations of elite viewpoints toward Iranian ethno music. The research is based on thematic analysis. The research sample consists of 10 cultural- artistic or music magazines including; “Honar quarterly”, “Golestaneh”, “Soureh”, “Adabestane Farhng & Honar”, “Asre Adineh”, “Magham”, “Adineh”, “Donyaye Sokhan”, “Kelk and “Mahour”. These magazines have studied on the music after Islamic revolution. The data extracted from the mentioned magazines based on purposive sampling and the process of data collecting continued till data saturation. Saturation is a core principle used in qualitative research. It is used to determine when there is adequate data from a study to develop a robust and valid understanding of the study phenomenon. Saturation is applied to purposive (nonprobability) samples, which are commonly used in qualitative research.The findings show that 3 general approaches toward music was formed in the mentioned magazines:1. The centrality of western music and absence or peripheral situation of ethno music 2. The originality of ethno music and religious approaches toward this kind of music 3. The originality of ethno music and it`s recognition through ethnomusicology studies.

Ethno-musicology is an academic field encompassing various approaches to the study of music that emphasize its cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dimensions or contexts instead of its isolated ‘sound’ component or any particular repertoire. The term ‘Ethno-musicology’ became common in1950, although the emergence of the field can be traced back to the late nineteenth century. Anthropological study of folk music of Gilan province, in Iran with regards to its richness and long history is the subject of this paper. Folk music of Gilan is a part of folklore since it represents the type of thoughts, feelings and behavior of Gilanian People. Nowadays, some Gilani music is on the verge of ‘getting forgotten’ The problem is not only the loss of a kind of music but it is feared that this change will cause another change in thinking and behavior, Therefore, the task is to identify, document and analyze Gilani folk music. In this paper, Informal interview and participant observations comprise the methods of data collection. Functional theory has been used for analysis.

Symbolic aspects of human culture have been generally known by interpretive anthropologists as the most considerable and significant aspect of the human culture embracing unresolved significances and meanings of human cultural existence. The scientific method for studying and interpreting symbols, known as semiology, roots in linguistic works of Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) which has obviously influenced structural and symbolic approaches in anthropology. Music and its rituals, according to anthropological studies, would be undoubtedly categorized as an integral part of human culture and no culture could be assumed without its musical aspects. Moreover, Music realm, considering its intangibility and subjectivity, has always revealed its potential for being culturally symbolized and musical instruments, therefor, would expectedly represent these cultural symbols. The study of music in its cultural and social context is known as ethnomusicology and the science of musical instruments, embracing the study of their technical, historical and cultural aspects, is called Organology. This study aims to interpret symbolic characteristics of Guilan’ s Naqā re, a double-conical percussion instrument (comparable with Indian Tabla) in its social and cultural context. The Naqā re is traditionally played with wooden drumsticks and due to the context, would be played in solo form or with the accompaniment of Sornā (a local wind instrument). The accompanied form, known as Sā z-o-Naqā re, has historically been a common form in Iranian culture relating to joyful rituals and ceremonies. Morphologically, furthermore, the word Sornā is composed of Sor (ceremony) and nā (fife) which clearly indicates to this social and cultural function. The role Naqā re plays in these situations seems to be confined to a musical accompanier performing background rhythm for the wind instrument. But, in some other more transcendental occasions and religious rituals, the Naqā re is played solo and sometimes the smaller drum is to be veiled. This prohibition is so comparable with the fact that in Guilan’ s traditional culture, as recorded in my ethnography, the smaller drum of Naqā re is known as š eytune (attributed to Satan, devil). Although the act of veiling the smaller drum and the prohibition of its more treble sound might initially encourage us to attribute this symbol to religious beliefs of Satan, but Looking on this issue from the symbolic anthropology viewpoints shows that the concept of Satan here has a cultural meaning rather than religious one. Since, in a traditional musical tight rope walking ceremony in Guilan called Lā fand-Bā zi, the same phenomenon would be seen. The scene has two different and contradictory characters: the hero and the clown (anti-hero). During the play, Naqā re and Sornā are played to enthusiast the scene. The Hero attempts to maintain his balance on the rope and the clown, who is called š eytā nak (a little Satan), tries to fail the hero by ridiculing him which makes the audience laugh. Comparing these two symbols, š eytune (small drum of Naqā re) with š eytā nak (clown of the play) could demonstrate that the concept of Satan in the traditional culture of eastern Guilan has a cultural meaning which will assist to interpret Naqā re’ s different symbolic characteristics.

Music and festivals are similar to one another, both of which are performed based on a general pattern that allows them to improvise on a pre-designated framework. They both have their zeniths and nadirs, tensions and serenities, and their occurrence is time- related. Meanwhile, a festival, as a location for performing and presenting music, is also regarded as a conservatoire. With the help of music, a festival can mobilize the public and by allotting time to sociality, emphasizes on the social division and differentiation at the kernel of this sociality. Music and festivals in the Iranian culture, whether within the formal borders of the country or beyond its borders in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan or Azerbaijan reveals the above characteristics and trends in many cases.

Music and football are both identity-enhancing phenomena that come together in a third phenomenon called fan chanting. Fan chants are considered a musical behavior from the perspective of ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicology does not have an object-oriented approach and emphasizes more on performance. In the duality of music/work-performance, ethnomusicology gives more importance to performance. Music is a social activity through which people create their identity. In relation to the issue of identity, ethnomusicology specifically deals with the contribution of music in the formation of social identity. In this connection, four aspects are examined: 1. music as a symbol of identity, 2. music as an opportunity to share identity, 3. music as a factor in creating an emotional quality for identity, and 4. music as a factor in creating a positive capacity for identity. The formation of fan chants is based on participatory performance, where the emphasis is on the maximum participation of people and there is no mention of the duality of artist-audience. With this perspective, performance does not exist for the sake of presenting musical works, but musical works exist so that they can provide artists (fans) with something to perform. One of the common functions of music among different cultures is the issue of expressing identity. One of the aspects of identity is ethnic identity, and fan chanting becomes a vehicle for the manifestation of this type of identity in multi-ethnic countries. Based on field research conducted in Tabriz and using the netnographic method, the main musical sources used by Tractor fans to make chants are as follows: Iranian, Turkish and Azerbaijani popular music, religious music, political slogans related to the Islamic Revolution, chants by fans of Turkish football teams and folk music. Melodies are used from mentioned musical sources, with changes in the original texts. After changing the text, two modes are possible,either the original melody is used in a simpler way, or basically "de-melody" happens and the slogan is sung on the platforms with an emphasis on keeping the rhythm of the original source and with new words. Of course, we should not consider "simplification of melody" and "de-melody" as an absolute binary, but in fan slogans, the use of melody is dynamically changing between "simplification of melody" and "de-melody". These chants, especially since 1388 (2009), with the re-ascension of Tractor to the Premier League of Iran, are widely associated with identity themes. From 1388 (2009) to the beginning of the 1390s (2010s), under the influence of ethnic movements in the 1380s (2000s) in Azerbaijan, these chants took on a political aspect and emphasized issues such as autonomy. After that and with the security measures, the political aspects become less prominent and the cultural aspects become more prominent in the chants. Emphasizing Azerbaijan as a motherland is one of the most important concepts raised in the repertoire of fans' chants in recent years. Emphasis on Azerbaijani identity often occurs in the text, and in terms of musical genre, there is no limit to the use of non-Azerbaijani music.

This article aims to analyze the process of acculturation in music of Kojour district in Mazandaran province. Since the Safavid period, different ethnic groups have migrated to Kojour; their encounters and interactions over the years have led to emergence of two groups of "Gil" and "Eel", which after centuries of conflicts, have turned into mixed cultures. Since musical acculturation can be studied alongside other social and cultural changes of ethnic groups, authors of this article have analyzed this process in the music of Kojour according to concepts of "syncretism" and "substitution". The research is an ethnomusicological study and data have been gathered by interviewing with well-informed people about Kojour music and recording musical pieces. Field data have been analyzed by comparing melodies based on the acculturation process. Findings show that presence of different migrant groups in Kojour district since centuries ago and the interaction of their cultures have led to a cultural integration and it has deeply influenced the music of this district as an important cultural component.

After pointing out the importance and the essentiality of studying music in anthropological researches, some characteristics and features of Turkmen music is highlighted and in the succeeding sections a brief explanation about lāle and hudi vocal music, āytarek-gontarek and sārija qāvin vocal plays, various kinds of music therapy in Turkmen society such as porxāni, zekr and playing pipe and dotar by sick persons suffering certain diseases like measles. Music amid Turkmen, in addition to general characteristics that can be found in other societies and ethnic groups, has certain distinctive features, which can be related with a civilization of great antiquity, the sort of feelings and emotions people acquire through being brought up in this particular culture, geographical quality of their habitation, the surrounding nature, historical events, social factors, unfavorable and favorable memories.Generally in the Turkmen culture music has an eminent standing and shows a significant and meaningful existence, directly and indirectly, in different ceremonies and in diverse forms of instrumental, vocal and vocal-instrumental.In this research comparative method and fieldwork have been employed, note-taking from texts and books together with direct, regular observation, participatory observation and interviews were also put into practice. For this purpose various parties and receptions, in which music in its different forms was essential, was contributed to and people informed and involved in these receptions were interviewed.

Purpose-The main purpose of the essay is to study the symbolic role of time and place in Qaderi and Naqshbandi Tariqats. They are from several Islamic mystical approaches that could maintain their continuity in Kurdistan to the current time. Using music in holding the ceremonies and collective sema and dhikr are their main characteristics. The coincidence of these elements causes spiritual changes in some of the morids which is called Jazbe. Even though jazbe is short and it does not take longer than half an hour, it is accompanied by continuous screams of the morids and their movements of the head and upper body. Using Daf, Tas, Dou-Tapla, and Shimshal in khaniqas accompanied by a collection of intellectual, believable, and historic actions. So it seems necessary to study the popular musical instruments in them which include those musical instruments that were previously used in Kurdistan. To do that the essay first focused on the identification of the musical instruments and the categorization of their hidden meanings in different rituals. Using musical instruments in holding some of the ceremonies, the special form of sema and group dhikr and their combination with special time positions, presented the essay with the question of what meanings the use of these instruments and different temporal and spatial adumbration have in tariqats and what are they referring to? This essay is going to show how an Islamic discourse lays its ideology on a mythical framework and how it continues its cultural maintenance over consecutive years. Methodology- This essay uses a qualitative case-study approach and an analytical descriptive method to gain its goals. It is also a library and field research. The essay uses the theory of Mircea Eliade on the sacred and the profane entity to answer the questions already mentioned. It tries to find the symbolic aspects of the musical instruments and figurative features of dhikr majlis and sema. In his school of thought it is supposed that the binary of sacred/profane essence exists in the whole world and its components. And because this binary is more important for religious people, the essay uses it to investigate its data. Findings-The results show that time and place in Kurdistan’s khaniqas are the symbolic representation of mythical time and place in ancient times. It can be said that Kurdistan’s Tariqat facilitates the passage from sacred to profane by breaking the time and place in different rituals. The symbolic representation of time and place is divulged in diverse forms. The reflection of the sacred form of the circle is seen in the instrument’s forms as well as in the circular structure of sema and dhikr. The mythical aspects are revealed in the symbolic playing of the instruments and the regular holding of the rituals, too