Fieldwork in ethnomusicology has changed greatly over time. Alan P. Merriam cites the evolution of fieldwork as a constant interplay between the musicological and ethnological roots of the discipline.<ref>Merriam, Alan. 1960. "Ethnomusicology: A Discussion and Definition of the Field." ''Ethnomusicology'' 4(3): 107-114.</ref> Before the 1950s, before ethnomusicology resembled what it is today, fieldwork and research were considered separate tasks.<ref>Nettl, Bruno. 2005. "Come Back and See Me Next Tuesday." In ''The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-One Issues and Concepts'', 139. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.</ref> Scholars focused on analyzing music outside of its context through a scientific lens, drawing from the field of musicology. Notable scholars include Carl Stumf and Eric von Hornbostel, who started as Stumpf’sStumpf's assistant. They are known for making countless recordings and establishing a library of music to be analyzed by other scholars.<ref>Christensen, Dieter. 1991. "Eric M. von Hornbostel, Carl Stumpf, and the Institutionalization of Comparative Musicology." In ''Comparative Musicology and Anthropology of Music'', ed. B. Nettl and P. Bohlman, 205. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.</ref> Methodologies began to shift in the early 20th century. George Herzog, an anthropologist and ethnomusicologist, published a seminal paper titled "Plains Ghost Dance and Great Basin Music", reflecting the increased importance of fieldwork through his extended residency in the Great Basin and his attention to cultural contexts. Herzog also raised the question of how the formal qualities of the music he was studying demonstrated the social function of the music itself.<ref>Herzog, George. 1935. "Plains Ghost Dance and Great Basin Music." ''American Anthropologist''37(3): 403-419.</ref> Ethnomusicology today relies heavily on the relationship between the researcher and their teachers and consultants. Many ethnomusicologists have assumed the role of student in order to fully learn an instrument and its role in society.<ref>Nettl, Bruno. 2005. "Come Back and See Me Next Tuesday." In ''The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-One Issues and Concepts'', 141. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.</ref> Research in the discipline has grown to consider music as a cultural product, and thus cannot be understood without consideration of context.
