This article introduces a research project to be used in a larger study that aims to investigate how around-the-globe musical practices have become tied up with political movements and functioned as conflict-coping mechanisms in contexts of social and political upheaval. A series of historical as well as recent cases are explored in this preliminary study, drawing from research undertaken separately on Solentiname Islands, Nicaragua (by Mery A. Pérez),Zanzibar, Tanzania (by Shani Omari), Australia (by Lesley J. Pruitt) and from the USA (the author). This piece in particular is concerned with the different musical movement’s engagement with tradition and change.