CCAC: Library: Resources by Subject: Music

Books & Audio-Visual

AlleyCat: Use AlleyCat, the CCAC online catalog, to find materials at any of the CCAC libraries

Reference & Overview Sources

Full Text?	Database Name	Vendor	Help
yes	Credo Reference / Xreferplus - Music	Credo	info

Magazine & Journal Articles

Full Text?	Database Name	Vendor	Help
yes	Academic Search Premier	EBSCOhost	infoinfo
yes	MasterFILE Premier	EBSCOhost	infoinfo
no	Arts & Humanities Search	FirstSearch	info

Web Sites

African American Sheet Music: 1850-1920: This digital collection, made available through the combined efforts of Brown University Library and the Library of Congress, is a unique way for users to explore the history of African American Music. There are thousands of scores available to view, as well as pictures of performers. Users may search by Keyword or browse by Subject, Name, or Title.
All About Jazz: As the title suggests, this website is all about jazz. It is a useful tool for both jazz enthusiasts and for those new to this genre. Included on the site are more than 3,600 jazz biographies, as well as news, reviews, festivals, new and archived interviews, a jazz timeline, audio downloads, and tons of photos. There is also a helpful search feature to better navigate the site.
The Aria Database: For opera performers and enthusiasts, few online sources can match the Aria Database. The database is easily navigated using Search and Browse features. There are close to 1300 arias contained on the site (by more than 60 composers), and "besides providing basic information about each aria, the database includes translations for many arias and aria texts for those that are not affected by copyright restrictions." Also included on the site are 170 operas, 381 translations, 1027 aria texts, and 223 MIDI files.
Blues Bibliographic Database: Although this website is no longer updated, it remains a very useful tool for those conducting research in Blues Music. Simply type the artist's name or blues movement in the search box to be linked to citations for magazine and journal articles. The Blues Bibliographic Database is not full text, though many of the articles can be located either online, through a research database, or from the original print sources.
Blues Online: The Blues was one of the original musical styles of the United States, and its influence can still be seen today in everything from rock to rap. Blues Online is a perfect starting point for those with little background in the blues. The Directory of Styles breaks down the blues into fifteen subcategories that include brief entries discussing each style and the artists traditionally associated with them (as well as many great pictures). Also included on the website are links to other blues sites for further research.
Classical Archives: Offers MIDI files and full-length recordings from the classical repertoire in streamed Windows Media Audio and downloadable MP3s.
The Classical Music Pages: This is an interesting resource all about classical music- history, composer biographies, explanation of movements, and a dictionary of musical terms are all covered on the website. Users can search for information by Musical Epoch, Musical Form, and Composer's Name. Also included on the website is a "Short History of Western Music," as well as three articles on melody, harmony, and rhythm.
DW3 Classical Music Resources: Comprehensive site for links under Composer Homepages, Chronologies and Necrologies, National and Regionally Oriented Pages, Organizations and Centers for Scholarly Research, Electronic Journals and Newsletters, Genre-Specific Pages, and Databases. Provides additional links under such topics as Music Theory and Composition, Ear Training/Solfege, and Sound/Image Databases and Collections for MIDI files and MP3 formats.
E-Tabs.org: E-Tabs.org is an essential stop for guitar players of all skill levels. The site, updated hourly, contains nearly 40,000 guitar tablatures! To locate a specific tab, simply enter the artist's (or group) name or song title in the search box at the top of the page. Also included on the website are news and current events in the world of popular music.
Essentials of Music: Provides basic information about classical music organized by Eras and Composers. A Glossary
Historic American Sheet Music: Maintained by the Duke University Library system, this is an absolutely fascinating digital library collection. Duke University has long been renowned for its 19th and 20th century sheet music collection, and the "Historic American Sheet Music Project provides access to digital images of 3042 pieces from the collection, published in the United States between 1850 and 1920."
International Alliance for Women in Music: This is an interesting website devoted entirely to women in music. The website contains more than 4,500 pages of archival material and, among many other things, has links to art, music, online articles, festival/concert listings, image and photo archives, as well as links to libraries housing significant women in music collections.
Multimedia Music Dictionary: This site, maintained by Virginia Tech University, is among the best music glossaries on the Internet. There are hundreds of terms included on the website, each with a clear definition, hyperlinks to related terms, and examples (scores, charts, etc.) where necessary. In addition, each term is pronounced audibly simply by clicking it.
Music History 102: Maintained by the Internet Public Library (IPL), Music History 102 is a one stop shop for basic research about "western composers and their music, from the Middle Ages to the present." Included on the site are detailed entries on the six major movements in western music (Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth Century), explanations of various musical styles, biographies of more than thirty influential composers, and sound clips from each period.
Music Library Association Sheet Music Collection: This is a great resource that catalogues numerous digital sheet music collections offered by libraries throughout the United States. A brief abstract is provided for each link to assist users in selecting the appropriate collection.
Music Theory: This is the ideal website for those searching for comprehensive and easy to understand explanations of Music Theory. The website is suitable for both students and those looking to strengthen their knowledge of Music Theory. Included on the site are diagrams and discussions of Note Reading (Pitch, Values, Meter), Intervals and Scales (Intervals, Scales, Keys), Chords and Symbols (Triads, Inversions, Figured Bass), and Expression Marks (Tempo, Dynamics, Style).
Omaha Indian Music: This site, maintained by the Library of Congress, is an excellent source for researchers and enthusiasts of original Native American Music. The site contains recordings from the 1890's and 1980's, as well as historical photographs, spoken word pieces, and audio from two Omaha Pow Wows from the 1980's. This website is certainly one of the most honest and respectful looks at Native American culture on the Web.
Online Music Encyclopedia: The Online Music Encyclopedia is a helpful research tool for composer biographies, as well as pictures and descriptions of a multitude of musical instruments. Users may "Browse" the entries (Composers or Instruments) or utilize the "Search" feature. Also included on the website are links for further research, online music files, and a message board.
Red Hot Jazz Archive: Whether you are a jazz aficionado or just a newcomer, the Red Hot Jazz Archive is an essential stop for information on this art form prior to 1930. On the site, users will find hundreds of jazz biographies, lists of known recordings, essays on jazz, and tons of audio clips. Users may browse the collection by means of several index headings, or use the Search feature that can handle both basic and complex search queries.
The Society for American Music: By clicking on the "Resources" link, users can access a guide to "American Music Internet Sources"- a list of websites ranging from opera to jazz to hip-hop. Also included under the "Resources" link are links to "American Music Research Centers" and the Library of Congress' "Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music 1870- 1885"- a digital collection consisting of more than 47,000 pieces of sheet music.
Southern Mosaic: The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip: This fascinating digital collection, maintained by the Library of Congress, is ideal both for research and enthusiasts of American roots music. "The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip is a multiformat ethnographic field collection that includes nearly 700 sound recordings, as well as field notes, dust jackets, and other manuscripts documenting a three-month, 6,502-mile trip through the southern United States." In addition, there are numerous photographs available on the website that were taken during this historic trip. Users can Search the collection by keyword, or Browse the collection by Photo Subject, Audio Subject, Song Text, Audio Title, or Performer.
The Symphony: An Interactive Guide: This website is ideal for basic research about symphonies. Included on this site are detailed biographies of twenty of the most famous symphonic composers, ten symphonies (that can be listened to using RealAudio), a symphonic timeline, a "crash course in symphonic form," an in depth guide to instruments in the orchestra, and links to other quality, classical music websites.
Vintage Phonograph Recordings: 1900-1939: This website is invaluable for enthusiasts of early recorded music in America. There are "over 125 vintage jazz, dance band, swing and vocal recordings from the Roaring '20s through the Great Depression and the dawn of World War II," as well as "over 60 recordings from the acoustical (pre microphone) era - 1900 - 1925." All of the recordings featured on this site "have been transcribed into streaming Real Audio from the original 78 rpm discs." Also included on the site is a link to Radio Dismuke, "a 24 hour online radio station devoted exclusively to vintage pop and jazz from the decade 1925 - 1935."
Web Resources for Research in Music: This website, maintained by University College Cork ("one of Ireland's oldest institutions of higher learning"), is an excellent resource to consult for many areas of music. There are over thirty headings on this page, each with several links to quality websites. Some of the headings include: Music Technology, Medieval Music, Jazz and Popular Music, Women in Music, Music Librarianship, Music of the Renaissance, World Music and Ethnomusicology, and two dozen others.
Worldwide Internet Music Resources: The Indiana University School of Music has compiled one of the most comprehensive indexes of music research sites on the Internet. There are nine broad subject categories where users may begin their research: Individual Musicians and Popular Groups, Composers and Compositions, Groups and Ensembles, Other Sites Related to Performance, Genres and Types of Music, Research and Study, Journals and Magazines, The Commercial World of Music, and General and Miscellaneous. Each broad heading is then broken down into several subheadings, with each subheading consisting of dozens (even hundreds!) of links to valuable music websites.
Yahoo! Music: Daily news, reviews, charts, artist and album information for rock, jazz, country, and more.