are common: anthropological and musicological. Those using the anthropological approach study how culture affects music. Seeger differentiated the two approaches, describing the anthropology of music as attempting understand music as a part of culture and social life, while musical anthropology considers social life as a performance.

Alan P. Merriam and Mantle Hood expanded on Seeger's framework and sought to integrate culture in the study of music. Merriam built upon the foundation of the anthropology