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Music Research Guide

Subject Icon Subject Specialist:Joseph Deodato
Email:joseph.deodato@csi.cuny.edu
Telephone:718-982-4008

Table of Contents:
Subject-Specific Databases
Related Databases
Reference Sources
Internet Resources and Web sites
Journals, Magazines, Newspapers
Sheet Music


Core databases for finding articles in this subject area.

Humanities Full Text
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Abstracts of scholarly literature in the humanities published since 1984. Full text is available for select content published after 1994. Subjects covered include archaeology, history, philosophy, religion, art, music, literature, and film.


JSTOR
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Full text access to complete back runs of scholarly journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Journal coverage begins with the first issue but does not include the last 3-5 years. Users can search across the entire database or limit their search to journals in specific subject disciplines. Click here for a search tutorial


Oxford Music Online
Information Help Funding Source Full Text Subscription Resource - Proxy Access CUNY Access
A comprehensive music reference work covering all aspects of popular and classical music. Find artist/composer biographies, definitions of key terms, descriptions of major musical works and instruments, and encyclopedia articles on musical genres, styles, and traditions.


Project MUSE
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Full-text articles from scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences primarily covering the fields of literature, history, cultural studies, political science, religion, and the arts.


Related databases for finding articles in this subject area.

Academic Search Complete
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Large multi-disciplinary database providing abstracts and select full text of scholarly and popular publications in a wide variety of subject disciplines, including art, literature, education, history, sociology, science, and engineering. Because of its broad subject and full text coverage, Academic Search Complete is a good starting point for research on virtually any topic. Click here for a search tutorial


America: History and Life
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Citations and abstracts of journal articles, book reviews, and dissertations covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Includes major titles such as Journal of American History, American Historical Review, and American Quarterly. (For world history see Historical Abstracts).


Art Index
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Citations from over 400 leading art publications throughout the world covering the fields of art history, architecture, graphic design, photography, sculpture, and museology. Find feature articles, artist profiles, exhibit reviews, and art reproductions.


Arts & Humanities Citation Index
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Part of the Web of Science, Arts & Humanities Citation Index provides citations to journal articles in the arts and humanities, including architecture, art, classics, dance, literature, music, philosophy, film, religion, and theater.


Biography Reference Bank
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Find biographies of noted individuals as well as links to biographical profiles, articles, interviews, and obituaries published in books and periodicals since 1984. Includes some full text.


Communications and Mass Media Complete
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Abstracts and select full text from over 650 journals in communications and mass media. Covers topics in journalism, film, television, marketing, business communication, health communication, and more.


Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Science & Humanities
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Part of the Web of Science, Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Science & Humanities provides citations to papers and proceedings of social science and humanities conferences from 1990 to present.


Historical Abstracts
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Abstracts of articles, books, and dissertations on world history (excluding U.S. & Canada) from 1450 to the present. Covers all branches of world history, including political, military, economic, social and cultural, as well as the history of science, technology, and medicine. (For U.S. & Canadian history see America: History & Life)


Encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and other reference works available in print or online.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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Biographical encyclopedia of rock, pop, and jazz artists from 1900 to the present. Also includes entries covering popular music genres, trends, styles, record labels, venues, and festivals.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML102.P66G84 2006


Gale Virtual Reference Library
Information Help Funding Source Full Text Subscription Resource - Proxy Access CUNY Access
Digital reference collection containing over 400 full text encyclopedias, almanacs, handbooks, and specialized reference books. Search all titles or browse titles by subject.


Garland Encyclopedia of World Music
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10-volume encyclopedia covering music from all cultures of the world. Each volume includes an overview of the region, a survey of its musical heritage, traditions and themes; and a description of specific musical genres, practices, and performances.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML100.G16 1998


Great Composers and Their Works
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Biographies of 19 noted composers from Bach to Shostakovich. Each entry consists of a biographical essay followed by commentary on individual works.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML160.S48 2000


Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History
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6 volumes, each dealing with a distinct period of rock history from the 1950s until today. Each volume offers information about important musicians, songs, trends, and styles of the era as well as a resource guide listing related books, articles, and websites for further research.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML3534.G754 2006


Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians
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Offers definitions and descriptions of musical terms, different forms of musical composition, individual works, and instruments, as well as biographies of musical composers, performers, and theorists.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML100.H36 1999


Icons of R&B and Soul: An Encyclopedia of the Artists Who Revolutionized Rhythm
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Chronilogically arranged biographies of R&B and Soul legends. Each entry includes a detailed summary of the artist's life, an assessment of his/her legacy, a selected discography, and suggestions for further reading.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML3479.G85 2008


Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever
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Biographies of influential rock musicians from Chuck Berry to Bob Dylan. Each entry explores the issues, trends, and movements that defined the cultural and social climate of the artists' music.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML3534.S336 2008


Lissauer's Encyclopedia of Popular Music in America: 1888 to the Present
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Offers reference information on American popular music from the late 19th century until the mid-1990s. Each entry includes song title, composer, date, performer(s), and a brief background.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML128.P63L57 1996


Music Reference and Research Materials: An Annotated Bibliography
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An annotated bibliography of music research materials such as dictionaries, encylcopedias, handbooks, biographies, discographies, directories, websites, and much more.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML113.D83 1997


Musical Terms, Symbols, and Theory: An Illustrated Dictionary
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Divided into four sections: a glossary of music theory terms, instruments, notation, and playing instructions; a multi-language instrument guide listing instruments in five languages - English, Italian, French, German and Spanish; an illustrated notation guide showing the common notation symbols used in musical scores; and scales, keys and chords, giving the scales for all major keys, and for all harmonic, melodic and natural minor keys and the key signatures of all major keys.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML108.T46 1989


New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
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20-volume encyclopedia with articles on music history, instruments, movements, and composers of all different genres and styles. Also available online through Oxford Art Online.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML100.N48 1995


Oxford Dictionary of Music
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Dictionary of musical terms, composers, instruments, and related subjects.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML100.K35 1994


Oxford Music Online
Information Help Funding Source Full Text Subscription Resource - Proxy Access CUNY Access
A comprehensive music reference work covering all aspects of popular and classical music. Find artist/composer biographies, definitions of key terms, descriptions of major musical works and instruments, and encyclopedia articles on musical genres, styles, and traditions.


Oxford Reference Online
Information Help Funding Source Full Text Subscription Resource - Proxy Access CUNY Access
Digital collection of online reference books in all fields of study including dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, and subject reference works. Search by keyword or browse titles by subject.


Popular Musicians
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Biographies of popular musicians of rock, hip hop, country, R&B, and blues. Each entry includes a summary of the artist's life and musical style, select discography, awards, and cross-references to related articles.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML105.P66 1999


Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers
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Chronicles the shows, songs, and careers of the major composers of the American musical theater from the earliest to the latest hits on Broadway.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML128.M78S86 2000


This Business of Music: The Definitive Guide to the Music Industry
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Guide to all legal, economic, and financial aspects of the music business such as contracts, royalties, licenses, sales, technology, and copyright.
Location: 1st Fl Reference ML3790.S5 2000


Resources freely available on the Internet.

Allmusic
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The most comprehensive guide to recorded music on the web. Look up information about artists, genres, styles, albums, and track listings.


American Music Resource
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Offers reference information about all styles of Western music such as bibliographies and links to relevant websites.


Billboard
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Offers current and historical pop music charts, articles and album reviews, and industry news and analysis.


Internet Broadway Database
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Provides records of Broadway theatre productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today. Includes information about shows, performers, songs, and theaters.


Performing Arts Encyclopedia
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Guide to performing arts resources at the Library of Congress including scores, sheet music, audio recordings, films, photographs, and other materials. Users can find digitized items from the collections; articles and biographical essays; finding aids to collections; databases for performing arts resources; and a guide to other library collections, websites, databases and exhibits.


Performing Arts in America, 1875-1923
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NYPL's digital collection of textual, audio, and visual materials related to the performing arts of the early 20th century. Includes newspaper clippings, photographs, publicity posters, playbills, and sheet music.


WWW Sites of Interest to Musicologists
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Categorized directory of music websites from the American Society of Musicologists.


Journals available online or in print at the CSI Library.

Music, Dance, Drama & Film Journals
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All music journals available in print or online via the CSI Library. Click on a subject heading to see all of the journals associated with that subject.


Resources for locating sheet music on the web.

African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
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1,305 pieces of African-American sheet music from the Library of Congress dating from 1850 through 1920. Includes songs about abolitionism, black face minstrelsy, the civil war, and Reconstruction.


America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets
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American song sheets of the 19th century from the Library of Congress with the bulk of the collection focused on the 1850s to the 1870s.


Archive of Popular American Music
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Digitized sheet music from the UCLA Music Library's Archive of Popular American Music.


Choral Public Domain Library
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Find scores, texts, translations, and information about composers.


Gutenberg:The Sheet Music Project
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Free public domain sheet music from Project Gutenberg.


Historic American Sheet Music
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Digital collection of early American sheet music published in the United States between 1850 and 1920 from Duke University Libraries.


Historic Sheet Music Collection, 1800-1922
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Over 9,000 pieces of digitized sheet music published between 1800 and 1922 from the Library of Congress.


International Music Score Library Project
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Virtual library of public domain musical scores. Browse by composer, time period, genre or instrument.


Juilliard Manuscript Collection online
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Conists of 138 autograph manuscripts, sketches, egravers proofs, and first editions from classical composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Handel, and Mozart.


Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music
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Digital collection from John Hopkins University of over 29,000 pieces of American popular music from 1780 to 1980 with the bulk of the collection focused on the 19th century.


Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1820-1860
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Over 15,000 pieces of sheet music the Libray of Congress collection published between 1820 and 1860. Included are popular songs, operatic arias, piano music, sacred and secular vocal music, solo instrumental music, method books and instructional materials, and some music for band and orchestra.


Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885
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Over 47,000 pieces of sheet music from the Libray of Congress collection published between 1870 and 1885. Included are popular songs, piano music, sacred and secular choral music, solo instrumental music, method books and instructional materials, and music for band and orchestra.


Mutopia
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Offers sheet music editions of classical music in the public domain for free download. Includes works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Handel, Mozart, and many others.


Sibley Music Library
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Scores and books in the public domain from the Sibley Music Library at the Eastman School of Music.


Last Modified: Nov 5 2009 5:22PM