The methods one uses in order to do research on music are extremely important for achieving satisfactory results. It is useful to examine the methods that experienced musicologists (or researchers from other areas) use, in order to combine one or more methods according to one’s aims and the music that is being examined. Imagination and listening is extremely important. Yet, using the right methods or developing new ones are also part of the creative process.

Since the 1990s musicology, especially the so-called “New musicology” tends to openly discuss its methods.