- Grand Valley State University
- Subject Guides
- Music
- Articles/Databases
Music: Articles/Databases
About articles
Articles are collected into journals, magazines, newspapers, and other types of "periodicals" that are produced on a regular basis, or "periodically." Most databases let you select or limit to scholarly or academic articles or publications, as well as dissertations, conference reports, etc.
Content from RILM, IPA Source, and Met Opera on Demand are not included in the "Find articles, books & more" search. This makes it important to use these specific databases!
- Music Periodicals in RILM PowerPoint tutorialClick the speaker icon in the upper right of each slide for audio.
Music-specific databases
- RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new windowScholarly material in many languages on all aspects of music & related fields. RILM content is not included in the "Find articles, books & more" search. Also includes dissertations: then use WorldCat to request Doc Delivery from other libraries.
- Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowMusic Periodicals Database covers all aspects of music, including genre, music education, performance, ethnomusicology, musical theatre, theory, popular music forms, and composition in both scholarly and popular music journals.
- Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall This link opens in a new windowClick on "Start Institutional Access", then register (create) a free account using your GVSU email address.
Includes concert videos: symphonies, concertos, and vocal works by all the major composers from the Baroque to the present day. - IPA Source This link opens in a new windowContains phonetic transcriptions & literal translations of opera arias, German Lieder, French mélodies, & Italian art songs, featuring the texts to the works of all the great song & opera composers as found in the most common anthologies.
- Met Opera On Demand This link opens in a new windowMet Opera On Demand provides instant access to more than 650 full-length Metropolitan performances.
RILM Database search example
General Databases
To cover all the bases. Remember to use the Education library subject guide as well, if you are working on your Master's degree.
- America: History and Life This link opens in a new windowfor U.S. and Canadian music topics or composers
- Biography Index Past and Present This link opens in a new windowof composers and musicians. try Biography Index as well.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowfor non-U.S. / non-Canadian music topics or composers
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowThe Music Collection contains the full text of scholarly research & theory journals. Includes journals published in the Netherlands, Croatia, Hungary, Germany, & France.
- WorldCat This link opens in a new windowFind scores & recordings from other libraries: Click the box for Sound Recordings or Musical Scores.
Databases on the web
- RoJaRocovers hip hop, rap, rock, jazz
Music Periodicals Database search example
- Music Periodicals DatabaseAdvanced Search
Search tips for finding articles
- use "quotation marks" around phrases
- truncate - shorten a word to its trunk or root to get alternate endings - with an asterisk * (shift 8), e.g., truncat* finds truncate, truncated, truncation
- apply Boolean connector AND to combine unlike ideas, e.g., dance AND promotion
- apply Boolean connector OR to connect synonyms, e.g., advertisements OR campaigns
Put it all together:
- "hip hop dance" in one box
- AND (promot* OR advertis* OR campaigns) in the next box
- use parentheses in single-box searching - when you don't have another set of boxes, e.g.,:
- "hip hop dance" AND (promot* OR advertis* OR campaigns)
Use the left or right menus to narrow your results, e.g., by language, date, subject, etc.
Databases have a citation (information about an article such as the title, author, name of the journal or magazine, volume and issue (which correspond to the date), date, and pages) and sometimes they will also contain an abstract, or summary, of the article.
Databases also often cite multiple types of resources - books, essays or chapters, government documents, etc.
Some databases will also have the complete item (called the full text): you should see a link to an HTML or PDF document. Or click on - this will check the other library databases for the full text of the article.
- Last Updated: Mar 4, 2024 9:56 AM
- URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/music