Other Guides

You may find the following guides useful when preparing your essay. The printed sources are all available in the Music Library or the Ralph Pickard Bell (RPB) Library. Sources from the World Wide Web will open in a new window; close that window to return to the present page.

Guides to Writing about Music

Bellman, Jonathan. 2000. A Short Guide to Writing About Music. New York: Longman.
ML 3797 .B4 2000 (Music Reference)

Citing Music Sources in Your Essay and Bibliography. World Wide Web site.
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/music/citemus.html
From the Music Library, University of Western Ontario. This guide is mostly concerned with citing sources, but also includes some information on other elements of formal style: use of hyphens and italics, naming pitches, and writing the names of musical compositions.

Holoman, D. Kern. 1988. Writing About Music. A Style Sheet from the Editors of 19th-Century Music. Berkeley: University of California Press.
ML 63 W68 1988 (Music Reference)
A brief but comprehensive guide to handling many of the picky details of presentation and style in musical writing: naming pieces, capitalization, foreign terms, pitch names, musical examples, and so on.

Irvine, Demar. 1999. Irvine's Writing About Music. 3rd ed., revised and enlarged by Mark A. Radice. Portland, OR: Amadeus Press.
ML 3797 I79 1999 (Music Reference)
An updated and valuable guide to many of the scholarly and stylistic issues that arise in writing about music.

LaRue, Jan. 1992. Guidelines for Style Analysis. 2d ed. Warren, MI: Harmonie Park Press.
MT 6 L146 G8 1992
On pages 247-260 of LaRue's book is a brief but valuable appendix called "Writing About Music." Among its several useful features are LaRue's lists of vivid and unhackneyed verbs and adjectives that students might use in their essays on music.

Wingell, Richard J. 1997. Writing About Music. An Introductory Guide. 3d ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
ML 3797 .W54 2002 (Music Reference)
A guide directed at the music student, this book covers most aspects of researching and writing essays on music, concert reports, essay examinations, and program notes. Especially relevant to students writing essays in music history, it includes advice on analysis, issues of format, and on good writing style.

Guides to Formal Style

The Chicago Manual of Style. 2003. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Z 253 .U58 2003 (RPB Reference; Music Reference)
An exhaustive professional guide to formal style and one of the final courts of authority on all aspects of the subject.

Gibaldi, Joseph. 1995. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: Modern Language Association of America.
LB 2369 .G53 1995 (RPB Reference and stacks)

Hoemann, G. H. 14 September 1998. Electronic Style...the Final Frontier. World Wide Web site: http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~hoemann/style.html .

Norman, Colin. 1987. Writing Essays. A Short Guide. Kinston, Ontario: Department of English, Queens University.
PE 1471 .N67 1987 (RPB Reference)
This slim and inexpensive guide to essay preparation and good writing style is available at the University bookstore.

Troy State University Regional Library. 14 January 1999. Citing The World Wide Web In Style. American Psychological Association and Modern Language Association Formats. World Wide Web site: http://www.tsufl.edu/library/5/citation.htm .

Turabian, Kate L. 1996. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Revised by John Grossman and Alice Bennett. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
LB 2369 .T92 1996 (RPB Reference; 1973 edition in Music Reference)
Based on The Chicago Manual of Style, Turabian's is a excellent guide to the production of good student essays.

Guide to Research

Barzun, Jacques, and Graff, Henry T. 1992. The Modern Researcher. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
LB 2369 B28 1992 (RPB Reference; earlier editions in stacks)

Guides to English Usage and Style

Follett, Wilson. 1966. Modern American Usage. A Guide. Edited and completed by Jacques Barzun, et al. New York: Hill & Wang.
PE 2835 F6 (RPB Reference)

Fowler, H. W. 1965. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. 2d ed., revised by Sir Ernest Gowers. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
PE 1628 F65 1965 (RPB Reference and stacks)

Hodges, John C. et al.. 1994. Harbrace College Handbook for Canadian Writers. 4th ed. Toronto: Harcourt Brace.
PE 1112 .H6 1994 (RPB Reference)
A practical guide to English style: grammar, writing mechanics, presentation, spelling, vocabulary, sentence structure, and essay composition.

Lynch, Jack. 1999. Guide to Grammar and Style. World Wide Web site: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/ .

Strunk, William, Jr., and White, E. B. 1979. The Elements of Style. 3d ed. New York: MacMillan.
PE 1408 S772 1979 (RPB Reference and stacks)
A classic guide to writing good English, The Elements of Style practices the brevity and clarity it preaches. Every student should own (and periodically re-read!) this inexpensive volume. By the way, Strunk's original guide (1918) is available from the World Wide Web; click here.