Music Research Guide

This style guide was modified from one created by Professor Suzannah Clark, for Music concentrators writing theses. Have a question about a type of source or situation not listed here? Check the Chicago Manual of Style Online or ask a librarian for more help.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Book

Abbate, Carolyn. Unsung Voices: Opera and Musical Narrative in the Nineteenth Century. Princeton University Press, 1991. https://muse-jhu-edu.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/book/41659/.

When you cite an ebook, include the URL, the name of the database you got it from, or the format (i.e. Kindle, iBooks, etc.). Look for a DOI (digital object identifier) and use it when you can; it's a permanent URL others will be able to refer to. You don't need to include the date you accessed it. No page numbers? Refer to a chapter or section if you can, or just cite the entire work. 

For more details and examples, see CMOS 13.21–26 and 14.2–62.

 

Translated book

Adorno, Theodor W. Beethoven: The Philosophy of Music. Translated by Edmund Jephcott. Polity Press, 1998.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.5-7.

 

Edited book

Bent, Ian, ed. Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century. 2 vols. Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Bent, Ian, ed. Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, 1994.

[NB: This is a multi-volume book. Format your citation like the first example if you referred to both volumes; copy the second example if you referred only to volume 2.]

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.9-14.10.

 

Review of a book

Biddle, Ian. Review of Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Ian Bent. Music and Letters 79 (1998): 120–126.

[NB: Observe the use of the colon because it appears in a journal.]

Szalai, Jennifer. "Toward New Ways of Looking and Listening." Review of Liner Notes for the Revolution, by Daphne Brooks. New York Times, February 17, 2021. NexisUni.

[NB: Book reviews may or may not have titles; the first citation is an example of how to cite a review without one; the second is a review with a unique title (note that the citation also includes the name of the database - NexisUni - that I retrieved it from).]

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.100.

 

Article in a book

The page range for a chapter in a book is no longer required in bibliography entries (see CMOS 14.8). In a footnote, cite specific pages as applicable.

Burnham, Scott. “How Music Matters: Poetic Content Revisited.” In Rethinking Music, edited by Nicholas Cook and Mark Everist, 193–216. Oxford University Press, 1999.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.8-14.12.

 

Article in a journal

Journal articles often list many authors. For works by two authors, list both in the bibliography and in a footnote. For three or more authors, list up to six in the bibliography; for more than six authors, list the first three, followed by “et al.” (“and others”). In a footnote, list only the first, followed by “et al.”

Levy, Janet. “Covert and Casual Values in Recent Writings About Music.” Journal of Musicology 5 (1987): 3–27. https://doi-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.2307/763822.

When you cite an online article, include the URL or the name of the database you got it from. Look for a DOI (digital object identifier) and use it when you can; it's a permanent URL others will be able to refer to. You don't need to include the date you accessed it.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.67-86.

 

Article in Grove – old printed edition and online

Powers, Harold S. “Mode.” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 1980. 12: 376–450.

Boyden, David D., and Peter Walls. “Chin Rest.” Grove Music Online, edited by Deane Root. Accessed July 12, 2021. https://doi-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05615.

 

Revised book

Rosen, Charles. Sonata Forms. Rev. ed. W.W. Norton, 1988.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.15.

 

Book in a Series

Sipe, Thomas. Beethoven: Eroica Symphony. Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridge University Press, 1987.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.25-14.28.

 

Multi-authored book/article

Saslaw, Janna K., and James P. Walsh. “Musical Invariance as a Cognitive Structure: ‘Multiple Meaning’ in the Early Nineteenth Century.” In Music Theory in the Age of Romanticism, edited by Ian Bent, 211–232. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

[NB: note also that the quotation within a quotation is put in single quotation marks.]

For more details and examples, see CMOS 13.23.

 

Recording

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453. Angela Hewitt. Recorded July 11-13, 2011. Hyperíon CDA67919, 2013, compact disc.

Farrenc, Louise. Symphonies 1 and 3. Insula Orchestra. Laurence Equilbey. Recorded March 4–6, 2021. Erato 190296698446, 2021, compact disc. Naxos Music Library.

"2021 Fromm Players at Harvard co-curated by Anne Shreffler and Miranda Cuckson." Harvard Music Department Events, April 16, 2021. Video, 58:12. https://youtu.be/aFnaBp9oOpA.

Citations for recordings, videos, and other multimedia can be more variable, depending on what aspect is most important to your argument: the composer, the performer, the director, and so on. Include the label number and format if you're using a physical object like a CD or DVD; include a URL or the name of a streaming service if you're using online multimedia. 

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.261.

 

Score

Eben, Petr. Happy Birthday: Praeludium für Orgel. Pro Organo, 2004.

Cite scores like books. For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.155-156.

 

Webpage

Wikipedia. “Style Guide.” Last modified October 6, 2024, at 21:26 (UTC). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_guide.

[NB: If a website doesn't have a date of publication or last modified date, list the date you accessed it, instead, like this: Accessed July 12, 2021].

Citations for websites can be variable, depending on what information you're able to gather from the page. 

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.104.

 

Social Media Content

Loeb Music Library. “A few seasonally appropriate nursery rhymes to finish out the week! The songs in this children’s book were compiled and arranged by L.C. – that is, Lucy Crane – and illustrated by her brother, Walter Crane, and dedicated in 1878 to "The Friends of Babies, and of 'Baby's Opera,'* in England, America, & Elsewhere.".” Instagram, October 8, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/DAtlnzspG1J/?img_index=1.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.106.

 

Video or Podcast

Cunningham, Maya. “The Ethnomusicology of Jazz: Freedom Sounds.” Podcast, 2:06:13. https://soundcloud.com/musicinculture/the-ethnomusicology-of-jazz-freedom-sounds?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.167–69.

 

Interviews

Robin, William, and Kerry O’Brien. “Minimalism: a story told in 8 pulses.” Interview by Noah Caldwell, Deceptive Cadence, NPR, July 20, 2023. Audio, 8:00. https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2023/07/20/1188809648/interview-on-minimalism-documenting-a-musical-movement.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.108-14.110.

 

Personal Communications

Personal communications, including email and text messages and direct messages sent through social media, are usually cited in the text or in a footnote only; they are rarely included in a bibliography.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.111.

 

Thesis or Dissertation

Gómez, Jonathan A. ““The Way We Play”: Black American History, Humanity, and Musical Identity.” PhD diss., Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2022. DASH: Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (29327954).

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.113.