Music

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We have selected these resources to help you find relevant information on your research topic. Please contact a librarian for help using the resources listed in this guide or for help with your research process.

Contents

Reference and Background Information

Search for Reference sources that contain information about your specific research topic here:


You may also consult the resources below for overviews of the topic that you have chosen to research. Use these resources to help you to put your topic in context and give you the big picture of what information exists about your topic. These resources may have bibliographies at the end of each entry that can help further your research.

  • Oxford Music Online
    Simmons Eresource
    This online database includes integrated, searchable, fulltext of the following reference sources:
    • Oxford Companion to Music
      Level 1 Reference ML100 .S37 1983 and Simmons Eresource
      Provides articles on musical ideas and terms, including composers, performers, conductors, individual works, instruments and notation, forms and genres, theory, aesthetics, and scholarship. It also includes surveys of musical forms and styles. Coverage includes jazz, popular music, and dance, with a concentrated focus on the Western classic tradition, from the Middle Ages to the present day.
    • New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
      Level 1 Reference ML100 .N48 and Simmons Eresource
      Part of the Oxford Music Online platform, this extensive, twenty volumed dictionary serves as a highly valuable and comprehensive reference source for researchers interested in anything to do with music. The source is split into five broad categories: 1)performers; 2)scholars, writers on music, theorists and administrators; 3)people eminent in other arts whose work was in some way important to music and musicians; 4)those influential on musical composition or performance; and 5)those within the business of music. Includes entires on music from virtually every country in the world.
    • Oxford Dictionary of Music
      Level 1 Reference ML100.K35 2006 and Simmons Eresource
      A highly concise, yet extensive dictionary, covering musical terms, trends, achievements, and history. Subjects covered within the text include composers, music, dances, musicians, musical terms, locations, ect. Entries contain a brief summary, detailed list of works, and some include examples of stanzas and diagrams.
    • New Grove Dictionary of Jazz
    • New Grove Dictionary of Opera
    • Oxford Companion to Music


  • Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
    Level 1 Reference ML105.B16 2001
    This six volumed, highly comprehensive reference source provides a biography and list of achievements for the subjected musicians, with names ranging from Swedish pop band Abba, to the rappers of the Wu-Tang Clan. Includes bibliographical references, discographies, genre index, nationality index, and women composers and musicians index. The nationality index exemplifies the broad international scope of this source.

  • Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians
    Level 1 Reference ML105.S67 1982
    The aim of this excellent reference source is to provide the researchers with concise biographical sketches of Afro-American and African musicians' professional lives. Entires are listed alphabetically by the musician's last name, provides a brief biography, and bibliography. Includes a selected bibliography, index, and three useful appendixes: 1) period of birth, 2)place of birth, and 3) musical occupations.

  • General Bibliography for Music Research
    Level 1 Reference ML113.M595.G4 1996
    An excellent source that serves as guide to the music student, music historian, and researcher who is pursuing bibliographic material in the field of music. Contents include a basic research guide, bibliographies of bibliographies, national and trade bibliographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, biography and autobiography, bibliographies, indexes and directories, bibliographies and indexes for vocal texts, union lists and library catalogs, and name and title index.

  • Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
    Level 1 Reference ML105 .H38 1996
    A companion to The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, this reference source provides in depth information about the history of concert music and musicians, predominately of the Western tradition. Entires are detailed, with a biography of the musician, their works, and a bibliography; several entries include a picture of the featured musician.

  • Music Reference and Research Materials
    Level 1 Reference ML113.D83 1997
    An exceedingly useful and comprehensive reference book, which discusses music-subject reference sources and their uses. Contents include: dictionaries and encyclopedias, histories and chronologies, guides to musicology, bibliographies of music literature, bibliographies of music, reference works on individual composers and their music, catalogs of music libraries and collections, catalogs of musical instrument collections, histories and bibliographies of music printing and publishing, discographies and related sources, yearbooks, directories, and guides, electronic information resources, and bibliography, the music business, and library science.

  • New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments
    Level 1 Reference ML102.15 .N48 1991
    From ancient times to modern, this three volumed dictionary covers the subject of musical instruments incorporating both Western and non-Western, art and folk, history, their structure, their invention, their makers, and their uses. Some entires are quite lengthly, and many include educational graphics, black and white pictures, images, charts, examples and bibliographies.

  • The New Harvard Dictionary of Music
    Level 1 Reference ML100 .A64 1986 and Simmons Eresource
    An important reference source for researchers interested in the multifaceted subject of music, this dictionary covers Western and non-Western music, popular music, musical instruments, culture, history, and musical terms. Entries vary in length, and some include images, stanzas, examples, charts, and bibliographies

  • New Oxford History of Music
    Level 1 Reference ML160 .N44 v.1-10
    An extensive and age specific reference source, which describes a different musical era throughout each of the ten volumes. The title of each volume describes the period discussed, including: Ancient and Oriental music; The Early Middle Ages to 1300; Ars nova and the Renaissance, 1300-1540; The age of humanism, 1540-1630; Concert music, 1630-1750; Opera and church music, 1630-1750; The age of enlightenment, 1745-1790; The modern age, 1890-1960; The Age of Beethoven, 1790-1830; Romanticism (1830-1890).

  • Norton Anthology of Western Music
    Level 1 Reference MT6.5.N67 1996


  • Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers
    Level 1 Reference ML105.N67 1995
    A subject specific dictionary that focuses on, the previously ignored, rich history of women composers, beginning from the 7th century BC, to the present time. Most entires contain a summary of the composer, a selective list of their works, and a bibliography. Also, includes a useful and lengthy chronology of historical women composers, illustrations, black and white pictures, musical scores, and historical images.

  • Oxford Companion to Popular Music
    Level 1 Reference ML102.P66.G35 1991
    A valuable reference source that serves as both a tool for research, and as an index listing popular music and related subjects, varying in genre and throughout several centuries. Entires focus on various kinds of subjects relating to popular music, with passages written about musicians, types of music, shows, songs, trends, scores, musical clubs, entertainers, etc. Includes three useful indexes: index to people and groups, index of shows and films, and index of songs and albums.

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Song Indexes

  • Find That Tune: An Index to Rock, Folk-rock, Disco & Soul in Collections
    Level 1 Reference ML128.R6 F56 1984
    A wide-ranging reference source that serves as an index to rock, folk-rock, disco, and soul music, from 1950-1981, and provides access to over 4,000 songs. Entries are brief, and supply information on composers and lyricists, performers, publishers, and copyright dates. Includes a collections index, title index, first line index, composer-lyricist index, and performer index.

  • Folk Music Sourcebook
    Level 1 Reference ML19.S26
    This versatile reference book covers a diverse cultural range of folk music, including Black American, North American, Chicano, Canadian Folk, Cajun, Anglo-American, Western Swing, Contemporary and Folk Song Revival, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Caribbean. Additional content covered within this text include listing other reference book that cover learning and playing folk music, as well as listing organizations, festivals, media, archives, publications, etc., that surround the topic of folk music. Includes black and white images and an index.

  • Great Song Thesaurus
    Level 1 Reference ML128.S3 L4 1989
    This multifaceted reference source includes 10,000 of the best-known songs in English-speaking countries. Contents include a list of the Greatest Songs, beginning with the Elizabethan Epoch of 1558 and moving to 1986; Award Winners, beginning with American awards, and moving to British awards; Themes, Trademarks, and Signatures; an interesting section entitled Elegant Plagiarisms; Song titles; British Song Titles; Lyricists and Composers; American and British Theatre, Film, Radio, and Television; Thesaurus of Song Titles by Subject, Key Word, and Category; and Lyric Key Lines.

  • Popular Music: An Annotated Index of American Popular Songs
    Level 1 Reference ML120.U5.S5
    This four volumed reference source serves as an index of America popular songs, beginning in the early to mid 20th century. Songs are listed chronologically by year within each volume, including: v. 1. 1950-59, v. 2. 1940-49, v. 3. 1960-64, and v. 4. 1930-1939. Entires begin with the song title, then list words by, music by, producer, singer, and where/how the song first became a hit.

  • Popular Song Index
    Level 1 Reference ML128.S3.H4


  • Popular Titles and Subtitles of Musical Compositions
    Level 1 Reference ML113.B39 1975
    The aim of this slim reference book is to catalog the nicknames and subtitles which have become associated with musical compositions from the year 1600, up until the present time. The editor lists a thematic catalogue used within this source, also, the content contains a popular titles and subtitles list, bibliography, and composer index.

  • Song Index: An Index to More Than 12,000 Songs in 177 Song Collections Comprising 262 Volumes
    ML128.S3.S31
    Indexes everything from sea shanties to Bob Dylan. While this book does not contain the song lyrics, it tells you which books you can find the lyrics in. The index is arranged by the title of the song, including the first line of lyrics, and chorus lyrics, so that you do not have to know a song's exact title. There is also a bibliography and an index of songs arranged by composers.

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Finding Articles

Below are suggested databases and indexes for articles on the topic that you have chosen to research. These databases include articles from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals. Articles are shorter and more narrowly focused than books or reference materials so you should use them after you have narrowed your topic.

  • RILM Abstracts
    Level 1 Reference Ref ML1 .I83
    From the International Musicological Society, this reference work contains abstracts on all music literature from 1967 to 1998 from all over the world. You can look up a subject, such as dance or melody, and find what music literature was written about it in that year range.

  • Humanities Fulltext
    Simmons Eresource
    A database of article citations on topics in the Humanities, some available full-text. Includes content from more than 300 key humanities publications, including feature articles, book reviews, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original works of fiction (including dramas and poems), and reviews of plays, operas, ballets, dance, musicals, movies, and television and radio programs.

  • Academic Search Complete
    Simmons Eresource
    Academic Search Complete is a great place to start your search for both popular and scholarly articles, no matter what your topic is! It contains journals from almost every topic and is designed specifically for academic institutions. It provides more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, 4,400 of which are peer-reviewed journals. This resource also features content as far back as 1865.

  • Academic Onefile
    Simmons Eresource
    Academic Onefile contains 8,000 academic journals, the majority in full-text, available in HTML and PDF formats. In addition it contains hundreds of podcasts and transcripts from NPR, CNN, and the CBC.

  • Expanded Academic ASAP
    Simmons Eresource
    From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Access scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many with full text and images. Updated daily.
    TIP: Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search!

  • Arts and Humanities Citation Index -- ISI Web of Science
    Simmons Eresource
    This source is an index of citations and abstracts of scholarly articles from over a thousand arts and humanities journals.
    Note: Full text of the cited articles is not available through Social Science Citation Index. Click the link that says "Check for Full-Text Availability" to determine if the library has access to the article. Remember, if we do not have the entire article, it can be requested through Interlibrary Loan.


  • JSTOR
    Simmons Eresource
    JSTOR offers both multidisciplinary and discipline-specific collections. Provides full-text backfiles of many core scholarly journals, some dating back to the 1800s. However, JSTOR is not the database for current issues as it focuses on older journals.

  • Project MUSE
    Simmons Eresource
    Offers nearly 250 quality journal titles from 40 scholarly publishers. As one of the academic community's primary electronic periodicals resources, Project MUSE covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others. Project MUSE is setting the standard for scholarly electronic journals in the humanities and social science.

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Searching the Web

Tips for Searching the Internet:

  • Use the advanced search function, which is available from most search engines:
  • Limit your search to .edu and .gov sites. These often provide quality research, statistics, and commentary. Sites ending in .org often have good information, too, but are likely to espouse a strong stance or bias on the issues they cover and may not be objective.
  • Try Scandoo, which presents search results from Google, Yahoo! Search, or Live (MSN) with an evaluation about the objectivity, credibility, and overall reliability of the site.
  • Consider using a directory of pre-screened, annotated sites:

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Writing Style and Citation

For more information on style and citation for this discipline, please contact the Simmons College Writing Center

You may also consider consulting these resources:

  • Writing Resources
    Free Online
    The Writing Center provides online resources for citing your research. If you are unsure of which citation style to use, consult your professor and consider the following:
    • Use APA (American Psychological Association) when your topic is in the Social Sciences
    • Use ASA (American Sociological Association) when your topic is in Sociology
    • Use MLA (Modern Language Association) when your topic is in the Humanities
    • Use Chicago/Turabian when your topic is in Literature, History or the Arts
    • Use CSE (Council of Science Editors) when your topic is in the Sciences


  • RefWorks
    Simmons Eresource
    RefWorks is a great program for organizing articles, books, and other materials you need for research. You can also use RefWorks to create bibliographies, create in text citations in your paper (Write-N-Cite), and share your research with others. Access RefWorks from the A-Z list of resources on the library's web page, and then follow the instructions to create your own username and password. We hold RefWorks Clinics throughout the semester. For more information, ask a reference librarian

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Related Topics

Biography

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