­Musician: Ethnomusicologists studying music from radically different

Explanation

­Musician: Ethnomusicologists studying music from radically different cultural traditions should not attempt to transcribe that music using any system of standardized notation. Any such transcription is likely to filter out subtleties that the culture producing the music may regard as essential but that do not conform to notational categories imported from another culture.

The musician has concluded the following:

Ethnomusicologists studying music from radically different cultural traditions should not attempt to transcribe that music using any system of standardized notation.

The support for the conclusion is the following:

Any such transcription is likely to filter out subtleties that the culture producing the music may regard as essential but that do not conform to notational categories imported from another culture.

We see that the musician's point is about an issue with using a "system of standardized notation." The issue is that the use of such a system will not result in subtleties in the music regarded as essential being captured by the transcription. So, the system of notation is what causes the problem.

Which of the following principles, if accepted, would most help justify the conclusion of the musician's argument?

The correct answer will state a principle that "justifies the conclusion." In other words, the correct answer will be a statement such that the conclusion follows from the evidence if that principle holds.

So, this question works somewhat like an Assumption question in that the conclusion follows from the evidence if the principle is assumed to hold.

(A) When transcribing music from radically different cultural traditions, ethnomusicologists should do so in consultation with practitioners of those traditions.

Notice that the issue presented by the musician is not that ethnomusicologists don't consult with practitioners of cultural traditions. The issue is that ethnomusicologists' use of "any system of standardized notation" is likely to cause a transcription to "filter out subtleties."

Simply put, the problem is caused by systems of notation, not by lack of understanding of cultural traditions.

So, this choice is incorrect because the principle must support a point about the use of a system of notation, not a point about consulting with practitioners of cultural traditions.

Eliminate.

(B) Ethnomusicologists should never attempt to influence other cultures' musical preferences and judgments.

The musician's conclusion is about a problem caused by the use of a "standardized system of notation": transcriptions don't capture subtleties.

The musician doesn't say anything about ethnomusicologists attempting to "influence ... preferences and judgments."

Eliminate.

(C) Any culture's judgments about which features of its music are most subtle are more important than the judgments of ethnomusicologists from other cultures.

This choice is a little tricky to eliminate because it comes close to the heart of the issue presented by the musician, which is that subtleties are not captured in transcriptions.

So, what we need to see is that the issue is not that ethnomusicologists' transcriptions don't capture subtleties because ethnomusicologists make "judgments about which features of its music are most subtle." The musician doesn't say that ethnomusicologists judge anything.

The issue is that the use of a "system of standardized notation" causes the transcription to "filter out subtleties.''

Eliminate.

(D) Ethnomusicologists should transcribe music only in ways that capture the subtleties that the culture producing the music considers important.

Let's review the musician's argument.

The conclusion is basically that ethnomusicologists studying music from radically different cultural traditions should not attempt to transcribe that music in a certain way, which is by using a system of standardized notation.

Then, the reason the musician presents for why ethnomusicologists should not use a system of standardized notation is that "Any such transcription is likely to filter out subtleties that the culture producing the music may regard as essential."

So, the musician is saying, basically, "This way should not be used because it doesn't capture subtleties."

We see that the musician's argument works only if the principle that ethnomusicologists should transcribe music only in ways that capture subtleties holds. After all, if that principle does not hold, then there's no reason not to transcribe music using a system of notation that doesn't capture those subtleties. Sure it doesn't capture those subtleties, but there's no reason why it has to.

So, we can see that the musician's conclusion is justified by this choice.

Keep.

(E) When transcribing music from different cultural traditions, it is important to recognize which subtleties are essential to that music.

Notice that the topic of the argument and the topic of this choice are not the same.

The topic of the argument is that a "transcription is likely to filter out subtleties." In other words, the argument brings up the issue that a type of transcription will not capture subtleties.

The topic of this choice is that "it is important to recognize which subtleties are essential." In other words, this choice is about determining which of all the subtleties in a piece of music are essential.

Recognizing which subtleties are essential and capturing them are two different things.

Let's consider why exactly this difference means that this choice is not the correct answer.

The point of the argument is basically that transcribing music from radically different cultural traditions using a system of standardized notation "should not" be attempted since it WILL NOT WORK because essential subtleties will be lost.

OK, so, what if this choice is not true and it is NOT important to "recognize which subtleties are essential"? In that case, will transcribing music from radically different cultural traditions using a system of standardized notation work?

No, because regardless of whether anyone recognizes which subtleties are essential and which are not, such a transcription will likely filter out subtleties. So, the transcription will not capture the essential subtleties of the music. In other words, it won't be faithful to the original because such a transcription, by nature of the notations involved, simply cannot capture essential subtleties.

Simply put, the argument is not about determining which subtleties are essential. It's about not losing the essential subtleties.

Thus, the argument, which is basically that such a transcription should not be attempted because it won't be faithful to the original, works regardless of whether it is important to recognize which subtleties are essential.

Eliminate.

Correct answer: D­