该领域目前命名为1950年代，但民族音乐学起源于19世纪后期的“比较音乐学”。与19世纪欧洲人对民族主义的关注联系在一起，比较音乐学作为一个记录世界不同地区不同音乐特征的项目而出现。音乐学领域由奥地利学者Guido Adler于1885年建立，他将历史音乐学和比较音乐学划分为两个独立的分支，而历史音乐学仅关注欧洲古典音乐。早期的比较音乐学家Carl Stumpf于1886年在不列颠哥伦比亚省的一个土著群体上出版了最早的民族志之一。比较音乐学家主要关注记录音乐实践的起源和演变。他们经常拥护达尔文主义的社会观念，并认为非西方社会的音乐比西欧的音乐“简单”，因为西欧认为音乐的复杂性达到了顶点。
英国利兹大学文学Assignment代写：比较音乐学
The field is currently named in the 1950s, but ethnomusicology originated in the “comprehensive musicology” of the late 19th century. In connection with the attention of Europeans in the 19th century to nationalism, comparative musicology emerged as a project to record different musical characteristics in different parts of the world. The field of musicology was founded in 1885 by the Austrian scholar Guido Adler, who divided historical musicology and comparative musicology into two separate branches, while historical musicology focused only on European classical music. Early comparative musicologist Carl Stumpf published one of the earliest ethnographies in an indigenous group in British Columbia in 1886. Comparative musicologists are primarily concerned with the origin and evolution of recorded music practice. They often embrace Darwinian social ideas and believe that non-Western music is “simple” to Western European music because Western Europe believes that the complexity of music has reached its peak.�Y\3