Research Guides: Music Research Guide: Databases

DATABASES FOR MUSIC JOURNAL ARTICLES

Some of these are general databases covering a wide variety of subjects including music. Others are solely focused on music.

Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new window
Full-text journals (including some peer-reviewed), books, and other published humanities sources

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using this EBSCO database
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text electronic access to back issues of core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using JSTOR
Music Index This link opens in a new window
Journal articles covering every aspect of classical and popular music with coverage since 1970

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Index
Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Indexing and abstracts for international periodicals, including some full-text, covering a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry such as dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, and television

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Performing Arts Periodicals Database

Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, some with full text, that are international in scope and that cover the full spectrum of subjects and all aspects of music, including music education, performance, ethnomusicology, musical theatre, theory, popular music forms, and composition

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Periodicals Database
Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window
Audio streams of classical music along with background information of both standard and rare repertoire with representation of jazz, world, and pop/rock along (Updated monthly)

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Naxos Music Library
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly books and journals in the humanities and social sciences from the world’s most distinguished university presses and scholarly societies

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Project Muse
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new window
Citations, abstracts, and subject indexing for music-related articles published in journals and conference proceedings, covering all levels from classical to popular music, from ethnomusicology to music therapy, from elementary music education to advanced music theory (Updated monthly)

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using this EBSCO database
Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, books, and reference resources covering a wide variety of disciplines

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Wiley Online Library

REFERENCE SOURCES FOR MUSIC

Cambridge Core:
We are the world’s leading publisher in music books and journals, with a wide-ranging coverage of the discipline. Our publishing encompasses music history, music theory, opera, ethnomusicology, music criticism, and popular music. We provide books for all areas of the market, including university libraries, scholars, students, and music enthusiasts.
Can also be found under Databases by Letter. On the "C" page it is listed as Cambridge Core.

Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online This link opens in a new window
Brings together together materials in multiple formats. Is indexed with a controlled vocabulary. Has contributions from scholars in the field.
Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Music Online is the gateway to access and cross-search multiple music reference resources in one location. Includes Grove Music Online, Oxford Companion to Music, and Oxford Dictionary of Music.
World Folklore and Folklife This link opens in a new window
Reference works, handbooks, classic folk tales, contextual material, multimedia resources, images, and maps that address holidays, festivals, language, stories and fairy tales, proverbs, foodways, and folk remedies that define our society and our place within it

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using World Folklore and Folklife

WORSHIP MUSIC

J. S. Bach Fanny Crosby The Jubilee Singers

Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials Plus This link opens in a new window
Full-text journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays across all fields of religion and theology including Biblical studies, world religions, church history, and religious perspectives on social issues from 1949 to the present

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials Plus
Christian Periodical Index This link opens in a new window
Index of Christian magazines and journals with strong emphasis on evangelical perspectives, including a broad range of topics such as religion, science, literature, music, philosophy, history, nursing, and education from the mid-1970s to the present

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using this EBSCO database
Religion Database (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Journals and magazines, many full-text and scholarly, as well as titles from religious publishing bodies and nondenominational organizations covering diverse religious and spiritual topics from the perspectives of many worldwide religions with coverage since 1986

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Religion Database (ProQuest)
Religion and Philosophy Collection (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Full-text journals and magazines, many peer-reviewed, covering theology and philosophy research, including world religions, religious history, political philosophy, and philosophy of language with coverage dating back to 1911

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using this EBSCO database

Michael W. Smith Bill & Gloria Gaither Andrea Crouch

SCORES - SHEET MUSIC

Library Music Source This link opens in a new window
Digital sheet music, including obscure and hard-to-find pieces, classics, vocal solos, opera solos, opera scores, orchestral parts, and more

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Library Music Source
Music Online: Classical Scores Library This link opens in a new window
Full, study, piano, and vocal scores of classical major and lesser known composers, including works from the Middle Ages to the 21st century

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: Classical Scores Library
Naxos Sheet Music This link opens in a new window
Downloadable and printable sheet music for all classical genres, spanning from Medieval times to the 21st century and including composers from Bach to Arvo Part

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Naxos Sheet Music

MEDIA DATABASES FOR MUSIC

Music Online: American Music This link opens in a new window
Audio streams of sound recordings of songs by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers and cowboys as well as songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests, and more

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: American Music
Music Online: Classical Music Library This link opens in a new window
Audio streams of sound recordings of music from the earliest times to the present, featuring the world's great artists recorded by the foremost record labels (Updated monthly)
Music Online: Contemporary World Music This link opens in a new window
Audio streams of sound recordings of music of all regions from every continent, including reggae, worldbeat, neo-traditional, world fusion, Balkanic jazz, African film, Bollywood, Arab swing, and jazz, Indian classical, fado, flamenco, klezmer, zydeco, gospel, gagaku, and more

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: Contemporary World Music
Music Online: Jazz Music Library This link opens in a new window
Audio streams of sound recordings of jazz, including a variety of artists, ensembles, albums, and genres

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: Jazz Music Library
Music Online: Opera in Video This link opens in a new window
Video of the most important opera performances, including staged productions, interviews, and documentaries that represent the world’s best performers, conductors, and opera houses and are based on a work’s importance to the operatic canon

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: Opera in Video
Music Online: Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries This link opens in a new window
Audio streams of sound recordings of the world's musical and aural traditions in diverse musical forms

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries
Naxos Video Library This link opens in a new window
Streaming videos of classical music performances, opera, ballet, live concerts, and documentaries

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Naxos Video Library

Naxos Music Library
Audio streams of classical music along with background information of both standard and rare repertoire with representation of jazz, world, and pop/rock. Allows the creation of playlists as well as providing premade playlists. Has a limited number of work analyses.

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

Ethnographic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Streaming video of human culture, behavior and society around the world, including ethnographic films, documentaries, select feature films, and previously unpublished fieldwork

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Ethnographic Video Online
Music Online: African American Music Reference This link opens in a new window
Full-text of reference works, biographies, chronologies, sheet music, images, lyrics, liner notes, and discographies chronicling the history and culture of the African American experience through music, including blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrels, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other forms of black American musical expression

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: African American Music Reference
Music Online: Contemporary World Music This link opens in a new window
Audio streams of sound recordings of music of all regions from every continent, including reggae, worldbeat, neo-traditional, world fusion, Balkanic jazz, African film, Bollywood, Arab swing, and jazz, Indian classical, fado, flamenco, klezmer, zydeco, gospel, gagaku, and more

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: Contemporary World Music
Music Online: Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries This link opens in a new window
Audio streams of sound recordings of the world's musical and aural traditions in diverse musical forms

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using Music Online: Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries
Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online This link opens in a new window
Brings together together materials in multiple formats. Is indexed with a controlled vocabulary. Has contributions from scholars in the field.
World Folklore and Folklife This link opens in a new window
Reference works, handbooks, classic folk tales, contextual material, multimedia resources, images, and maps that address holidays, festivals, language, stories and fairy tales, proverbs, foodways, and folk remedies that define our society and our place within it

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using World Folklore and Folklife

Music Research Guide: Databases

MUSIC DATABASES BY TYPE

DATABASES FOR MUSIC JOURNAL ARTICLES

REFERENCE SOURCES FOR MUSIC

WORSHIP MUSIC

SCORES - SHEET MUSIC

MEDIA DATABASES FOR MUSIC

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY