Research Guides: Music Research Guide: Background Information

Getting Started

Reference books like encyclopedias, dictionaries, and bibliographies are a good place to start your research, to get a brief overview of a topic, and to find lists of additional resources on a specific subject.

Online Reference Collections

Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
Multiple music reference resources in one location, including the famous Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians.
Oxford Reference Online: Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
Dependable, reputable reference works for quick fact-checking and deeper research.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Includes the Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, the Harvard Dictionary of Music, The Bloomsbury/Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, and others.

Biographies

Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
Multiple music reference resources in one location, including the famous Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians.
Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
A biographical database offering in-depth, original profiles from the Current Biography and World Authors series, plus thorough periodical coverage from Biography Index and the specialist biographical content of Junior Authors & Illustrators. It provides biographical full-text articles, page images, and abstracts from today’s leading magazines and journals.

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
Publication Date: 2000
Contains entries on popular, jazz, country, and rock musicians, as well as 20th-century classical musicians not covered in previous editions. The genre index includes early music, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, modern, early jazz, bebop, swing, country, pop, rock, avant-garde, revivalist, and R&B/rap.
Dictionary of American Classical Composers by Neil Butterworth
Publication Date: 2004
Covers over 650 composers active from the eighteenth century to today. Covering all classical styles, it offers a comprehensive overview of key composers in the United States. Entries include basic biographical information and critical analysis of each composer's key works and ideas. Entries also include work lists and bibliographic information.

Subject Guide

Derrik Hiatt

Contact:

361.825.2329
derrik.hiatt@tamucc.edu

Music Research Guide:Background Information

Getting Started

Online Reference Collections

Biographies

Subject Guide