Subject Guides: Music: Music Literature (Secondary Sources)

Music & Education

Education Database
Education Research Complete
The Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library (LHCADL) is an initiative established by the Alberta Government. It was created as a legacy to the late, the Honourable Lois Hole to continue her vision of greater learning opportunities for all Albertans.
For additional information, go to the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library information site.
ERIC (via EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window

Secondary Sources:

Critique, interpret, or evaluate primary sources* such as scores, recordings, and performances
You will likely use many secondary sources when you write a music paper

*Remember that it is important to use a variety of primary sources whenever possible.

Below are some of the most common secondary sources used in music research, and how you might use them:

Type	Example	Uses
Biography	Patti Smith: America's Punk Rock Rhapsodist	For information on the life and works of performers and composers. Often includes critical assessments of their impact on musical life
History & Criticism	Punk Rock, So What?: The Cultural Legacy of Punk	For information on various musical subjects, with a critical historical perspective
Analysis	Song Interpretation in 21st Century Pop Music	For analyses of music works, genres, and composers
Scholarly Article	‘nor Did I Socialise with Their People’: Patti Smith, Rock Heroics and the Poetics of Sociability	For peer-reviewed information that reports on original research, or evaluates the research of others. *You are often required to use this type of source in your papers
Popular Article	Patti Smith: At Last, The Lower Manhattan Show	For journalistic account of musical performances, music criticism, etc. *Especially helpful in researching popular music
Thesis/Dissertation	"She's So Busy Being Free": The Dynamics of Utopia in Popular Music by Women, 1968--2008	For an in-depth treatment of a topic. *Use the bibliographies from theses and dissertations as a starting point for finding sources for your assignments

Whether you are searching for books and articles through our library catalogue or in individual databases, the process is similar.

Ensure you are in the "Advanced Search" interface
Search for sources using a combination of terms and fields, e.g.:
- ives (select SU Subject in the drop down menu) AND dissonance (as keyword term)
- (dissonance OR consonance) AND theory (try it as a keyword term or SU Subject) AND 20th century
Finally, limit to relevant source types: e.g. books, academic journals...

Here is a somewhat comprehensive list of Music Databases.

Select databases:

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
Over 500 scholarly journals are represented. Articles, books, bibliographies, catalogues, conference proceedings, discographies, dissertations, Festschriften, films, and videos are all covered by RILM. Concert reviews, recording notes, and pedagogical manuals are included if they are of scholarly interest. Includes RILM Retrospective Abstracts of Music Literature.
Performing Arts Periodicals Database
Oxford Academic (Journals, Books, and Handbooks)
JSTOR
Bloomsbury Collections
Ebook Central
Cambridge Core

For further information on conducting searches, please see Starting Your Research