A recent book chapter by KLI alumnus Luis Alejandro Villanueva and KLI honorary president Gerd B. Mueller introduces an evo-devo model of musical evolution as an alternative to neo-Darwinian approaches to culture.

Abstract:

This chapter formulates an alternative to neo-Darwinian approaches to culture and their application to the evolution of music. It argues that musical evolution is not merely a process of selection of sonic variation but equally depends on numerous generative factors that are better addressed by an evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) approach rather than a gene-selectionist analogy. Using a study of the revitalization process of the Mexican musical genre son jarocho, the chapter defines three domains of non-sonic conditions—material, functional, and social—that constitute key elements of an evo-devo approach to music. Based on this example, it outlines an evo-devo model of musical evolution that relates these three contextual domains to inheritance and development. The model offers a productive heuristic for an interdisciplinary research program that includes the non-sonic dimensions of musical evolution.

Publication:

Villanueva, Luis Alejandro, and Gerd B Müller, 'An Evo-Devo Model for the Evolution of Music', in Andrea Ravignani (ed.), The Biology of Music: Interdisciplinary Insights (New York, NY, 2026; online edn, Oxford Academic, 7 July 2026), https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197775097.003.0014