Research Guide - Music
Axe Online Catalog & Other Book Sources
Other Book Sources
Journal Databases
Primary Databases
Secondary Databases
- CAIRSS for Music (Computer-Assisted
Information Retrieval Service System) -
CAIRSS
is a bibliographic database of music research literature in music education,
music psychology, music therapy, and music medicine. Citations have been
taken from 1,354 different journal titles; 18 of which are primary journals,
meaning that every article ever to appear is included
- CMPI -
Canadian Musical Periodical Database -
focuses
on articles and news items touching various aspects of musical activity in Canada. It includes
nearly 30,000 entries on articles dating from the late-19th century to
the present day. 500 Canadian music journals, newsletters and magazines
are represented here, almost 200 of which are currently active and continue
to be indexed.
- Humanities & Social Sciences Index
Retrospective: 1907-1984
Multidisciplinary Databases Covering Music
- With Full Text
- Indexing, abstracts, and occasional links to full text
"Serials Solutions"
Search by title, title keyword or subject group. The category
"Fine Arts & Music" includes Music
Browse journal titles that begin with:
# |
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z.
Online Reference Sources
Dictionaries, Glossaries & Encyclopedic Sources |
Directories |
Record Guides
Dictionaries, Glossaries & Encyclopedic Sources
- Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Oxford Music Online (Formerly: Grove Music Online)
- Music
Cognition Handbook: A Glossary of Concepts -
Dictionary
definitions for some 300 technical terms and concepts related to the field
of music cognition.
- Music Dictionary Online (Dolmetsch Foundation)
- Pronouncing Dictionary of Music and Musicians -
Pronouncing
the titles of classical music and the names of composers and performers
is a daunting task for many Americans because so many of the words are
foreign to us. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that some of the
names that look familiar are not pronounced as we would pronounce them.
This dictionary provides some help in the form of pronunciations by a
phonetic system devised by E. Douglas Brown of the staff of WOI Radio
at Iowa State University. Many of the pronunciations in the dictionary
were derived from tape-recorded pronunciations made by foreign nationals
who were were speaking their respective native languages.
- Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary -
Online dictionary with terms defined and pronounced (AIFF format).
Directories
- Music Yellow Pages -
is
a resource for musicians, dj's, sound contractors, touring and entertainment
professionals and consumers. Listings consist of every manufacturer, wholesaler,
distributor, and nationwide retailer within music, sound reinforcement,
lighting, dj and entertainment industries.
- MusicMoz Open Music Project -
Based
around the Open Directory editing model, MusicMoz aims to be a comprehensive
directory of music, built by volunteers around the world, with contributions
from the web public. Links categorized by topics such as Bands and
Artists, and music by Style and Region.
- DMOZ: Arts: Music, and
Yahoo! Entertainment > Music contains
thousands of links in a number of relevant music categories.
Record Guides
- AMG All Music Guide - Reviews, news,
articles on all styles of music from classical to easy listening. Search by composers
titles, time periods, genre, etc.
Selected Sources in Axe Library
Associations and Societies
- American Musical Instrument Society
(AMIS) -
The
American Musical Instrument Society is an international organization founded
in 1971 to promote better understanding of all aspects of the history,
design, construction, restoration, and usage of musical instruments in
all cultures and from all periods.
- American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
(ASCAP) -
is
a membership association of over 180,000 U.S. composers, songwriters,
lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP protects the
rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the
non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works. ASCAP's licensees
encompass all who want to perform copyrighted music publicly. ASCAP makes
giving and obtaining permission to perform music simple for both creators
and users of music.
- College Music Society
(CMS)
The
College Music Society is a consortium of college, conservatory, university,
and independent musicians and scholars interested in all disciplines of
music. Its mission is to promote music teaching and learning, musical creativity
and expression, research and dialogue, and diversity and interdisciplinary interaction.
- International Artist Managers' Association
(IAMA)
The
leading worldwide association for classical music artist managers and concert agents. Take the
IAMA > Members' Listings link to see
an annotated list of affiliated members, including contact information and web links.
Mostly European organizations, publishers, festivals, etc.
- Kansas Music Educators Association
(KMEA) - An organization
with the goal of advancing music in the state of Kansas. "Online Resources" section lists
job openings in Kansas.
- The Midwest Clinic: An International
Band and Orchestra Conference - is
devoted
to the study, teaching, and performance of music, with a particular focus
on music created for the numerous kinds of wind bands found throughout today's
musical landscape.
- The Music Publisher's Association
(MPA) -
is
the oldest music trade organization in the United States, fostering communication
among publishers, dealers, music educators, and all ultimate users of music.
- National Association for Music Education
(MENC) -
Formerly the Music Educators National Conference - the
"Big Audacious Goal" of MENC is to:
Be
the most authoritative and influential voice for music as an essential
part of formal education.
- National Endowment for the Arts
(NEA) -
The
NEA is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both
new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership
in arts education.
- Sigma Alpha Iota
(SAI) - chapters of women
college students and alumnae who have a sincere interest in music
- Society of Composers, Inc.
(SCI) -
...dedicated to the promotion of composition, performance, understanding
and dissemination of new and contemporary music...
Selected Web Sites
Comprehensive Web Sites |
Music Search Engines |
Online Journals |
Musical Styles & Genres |
Music Libraries |
Career & Job Information |
Competitions & Festivals |
Musicology |
Copyright
Comprehensive Web Sites
Music Search Engines
Online Journals
Musical Styles & Genres
- Symphonic & Marching Band
- Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma -
are
honorary service organizations whose sole purpose is to serve the
college or university band programs through service projects,
fundraisers, social events and other projects as needed.
- College Band Directors National Association
(CBDNA) -
devoted
to the study, teaching, and performance of music, with a particular
focus on music created for the numerous kinds of wind bands found
throughout today's musical landscape.
- Bands of America -
Founded
in 1975, Bands of America has been making a difference in the lives
of young people for more than a quarter of a century. Bands of America
strives to provide QUALITY avenues for LEARNING and EXCELLENCE in music
education for the nation's high school students and directors.
- Drum Corps International -
Drum
Corps International (DCI) is a nonprofit youth organization serving junior
drum and bugle corps around the globe...
- Tales
from Band Camp - a diversion, at best, the cartoon archive may remind you
of "Funky Winkerbean". The links section, however is quite helpful.
- UIBands Library Resorces
Huge list of band resources from the University of Illinois Band Library. Band
camps, job listings, publishers, composers, equipment, much more.
- World Association for Symphonic Bands
and Ensembles "To
promote sympyhonic bands and ensembles as serious and distinctive
mediums of musical expression and culture."
- Choral & Vocal Music
- American Choral Directors Association
(ACDA)
- Choral Public Domain Library -
is
the largest web site devoted exclusively to free choral sheet music.
Begun in December 1998, the site has over 300 contributors and
7,600 scores. Adobe PDF
files of most scores are available and many are accompanied by
midi/mp3 files. Keyword searching and composer browsing.
- ChoralNet
"The Internet Center for Choral Music" -
A
central portal to online resources and communications for the
global choral music community
- Lied and Art Song Texts Page
is
an archive of texts to Lieder and other Classical Art Songs (Kunstlieder,
Mélodies, Canzoni, Romansy, Canciones, Liederen, Cançöes, Sånger,
Laulua, etc.) as well as many choral works and other types of classical
vocal pieces. It includes thousands of translations to English, French,
German, Spanish and other languages
- National Association of Teachers of Singing
(NATS)
a
nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging the highest standards
of singing through excellence in teaching and the promotion of
vocal education and research.
- Jazz & Blues
- Keyboard/Harp
- Piano
- Chopin Early Editions -
The
Chopin collection at the University of Chicago Library includes over 400
first and early printed editions of musical compositions by Frédéric Chopin,
maintained in the Special Collections Research Center. Because Chopin's works
were often published concurrently in several countries with variant texts,
scholars can establish a sequence of publication by comparing a range of printings... Chopin
Early Editions consist of digitized images of all scores in the University
of Chicago Library's Chopin collection. Users can search or browse Chopin
Early Editions via a variety of data points, including titles, genres, and
plate numbers.
- PianoNet, the official
site of the National Piano Foundation - Piano history, manufacturers,
artists, publications
- Van Cliburn Foundation
- Pianopedia - search engine and
reference source for the classical piano repertoire.
- Organ
- Harpsichord
- HPSCHD-L
is
an electronic mailing list devoted to early stringed keyboard instruments:
harpsichords, clavichords, fortepianos, virginals, and all similar instruments
except the modern piano. The list is an open forum for all topics related to
these instruments, including their theory and principles of construction,
decoration, and history and evolution from their earliest beginnings through
modern times. Other topics for discussion include performers on these instruments,
performance practice, literature, pedagogy, care and ownership.
- Harp
- Opera & Musical Theatre
- Operabase -
has
collected 115,000 performances of some 16,000 artists, formed a
close partnership with the Grove Dictionary of Music, been selected
as best music site on the net by Le Monde, chosen to provide the
worldwide performance listings to both Opera and Opera Now magazines,
and used on a daily basis by most opera companies around the world. Search
for details on past/upcoming operas worldwide.
- OperaGlass - Detailed information on opera
composers, performers, venues, libretti, histories, discographies, etc.
- The Aria Database -
is
a diverse collection of information on over 1000 operatic arias.
Designed for singers and non-singers alike, the Database includes
translations and aria texts of most arias as well as a collection
of MIDI files of operatic arias and ensembles.
- IBDB - the Internet Broadway Database -
provides
a comprehensive database of shows produced on Broadway, including
all "title page" information about each production... historical
information about theatres and various statistics and fun
facts related to Broadway... records of productions from the beginnings
of New York theatre until today. Details include pertinent people
involved as well as interesting facts and production statistics.
Find out what played at a particular theatre or what shows opened
in a specified Broadway season.
- Musicals101.com - Extensive
insight into the world of musicals. History, reviews, articles, other resources.
- Orchestra & Chamber Music
- FINDACONCERT.COM -
is
intended to help you find a concert near you by a member orchestra
of the [American Symphony Orchestra]
League. It presents insightful context on a selection of
concerts for first-time concertgoers, and provides answers to frequently
asked questions about the live orchestra concert experience.
- Instruments Online
(Vienna Symphonic Library) - A fantastic site!
Each instrument is featured in several ways:
general description, history, notation/range, how sound is
produced on the instrument, playing technique (even R/L hand if it applies),
sound characteristics, sound combinations, and instrument repertoire.
@~@~

- League of American Orchestras
(Formerly: the American Symphony Orchestra League) -
provides
leadership and service to American orchestras while communicating to the
public the value and importance of orchestras and the music they perform [and] serves
more than 850 member symphony, chamber, youth, and collegiate orchestras of all sizes.
- OrchestraNET "Your
Internet Orchestra Guide"- lists worldwide orchestral information.
Home of the Classical Music Web Ring
- Southeast Kansas Symphony Orchestra - Links
to music resources related to the symphony orchestra, composers, instruments, and academic
music education.
- Popular
Music Libraries
- Physical
- Virtual
- Coral Public Domain Library (CPDL) -
is
the largest web site devoted exclusively to free choral sheet music... the
site has over 300 contributors and 7,500 scores.
- Mutopia - volunteer project
to typeset out-of-copyright classical music and make it available to the public.
Most pieces are available in A-4 and letter size PDF and postscript files and are
accompanied by midi files.
- Project Gutenberg's Sheet Music Subproject -
a la their book progect, the Sheet Music Subproject is an attempt to make
out-of-copyright music available. Volunteer to work on a transcription or
be a proofreader!
- VARIATIONS Prototype:
Online Musical Scores Part of the Indiana University Cook Music Library
"Variations" project. Public domain scores for the orchestra, opera,
chamber, piano and other instrumental enthusiast.
Career & Job Information
- MENC Career Center -
Answers basic questions on what aspect of a music career is right for you.
"Career Glossary" provides information on the different directions that
may be taken in the field. Limiting by area (early childhood, high school,
academic, administration, etc) makes it easier to pinpoint your career venue.
- MusicalChairs.info Symphony
job openings, instruments for sale, worldwide orchestra directory and performers list.
Competitions & Festivals
- World Federation of International Music Competitions
(WFIMC)
is
dedicaded to establishing a global network of internationally recognized
organisations that through public competition discover the most promising
young talents in the great tradition of classical music and further their
careers by presenting them before distinguished juries, general audiences,
the media, and the rest of the music community.
- Fischoff National Chamber Music Association - Competition
rules and schedules, educational and community programs.
Musicology
- American Musicological Society
(AMS)
was
founded in 1934 as a non-profit organization to advance research in the
various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship.
- DDM-Online (Doctoral
Dissertations in Musicology-Online) - is
an international database of bibliographic records for completed dissertations
and new dissertation topics in the fields of musicology, music theory, and
ethnomusicology, as well as in related musical, scientific, and humanistic
disciplines. Containing more than 12,000 records
- Music Conferences Worldwide:
Upcoming events in musicology and related fields - Listing of upcoming conferences,
organized by date. Links provide specifics on dates and locations, as well
as providing web site address, e-mail and other contact information. Sign up to
receive alerts in a particular area of interest.
Copyright
- Music Education Copyright Center - a joint
adventure of organizations such as MENC, the
Music Teachers National Association, and the ASCAP Foundation. This site
brings together major music copyright organizations, and addresses the
copyright questions raised by musicians.
- United States Copyright Office (Library of Congress) -
The source for the latest news in copyright. Search copyright
records, get answers to basic questions, along with information on how to
register a work, laws and policies.
- ACE - ACE
is a database of song titles licensed by ASCAP
in the United States. For each title, you can find the names of the songwriters
and the names, contact persons, addresses and, in most cases, phone numbers
of publishers to contact if you want to use the work. For most of the titles,
you'll find some of the artists who have made a commercial recording.
(similar searching may be done at the
BMI,
NMPA/Harry Fox Agency,
the Music Publisher's Association Copyright
Resource Center, and SESAC web sites)
Course Related Web Sites
PSU Music Department
PSU 2003-2005 University Catalog - Music
Last Modified: Apr 16, 2008 - 13:02
http://library.pittstate.edu/ref/resources/arts_sci/music.html