Blended Modes of Music Learning: Shaping Intermusicality in Kathmandu

This article examines the acquisition of popular music by young musicians for whom local traditional music holds a prominent place in the musical learning process. Focusing on the particularities of musical learning in Kathmandu, Nepal, this study shows that the acquisition of unfamiliar popular music is subject to cultural constraints and musical challenges. Through a series of interviews and analysis of music videos, I demonstrate that learning unfamiliar music requires intermusical blended modes of appropriation, that is, the merging of local and unfamiliar musical learning strategies and skills.