Music

For more help, see our guides to Books and Electronic Resources.

Books

The Music Library contains over 32,000 books dealing with all aspects of music, including music history, music theory, music education, biographies of musicians and composers, and so forth. All books in the Music Library are classified according to the Library of Congress classification system.

• ML - books on literature of music (i.e., biography, history, etc.)
• MT - books dealing with musical instruction, analysis, or theory

The David Walker Collection is a special collection of books devoted to music education. This collection is located across from the elevator on the first floor.

Scores

Almost 40,000 scores are housed in the Music Library. These include vocal and orchestral scores, chamber music, music for solo instruments, and popular and folk music.

Try searching for scores using Preferred Titles. Libraries give pieces of music preferred titles so that a single search can find every version of the piece. Preferred titles (aka, uniform titles) are helpful because musical works could have: 

• Titles in multiple languages (Brandenburgh Concertos vs. Brandenburgische Konzerte)
• Form titles and numbers (Sonata No. 3)
• Well-known but unofficial descriptive titles (Moonlight Sonata)
• Collective titles (Songs, Works, etc.)

For a more on Preferred Titles, see this handy guide from the Indiana University Music Library.

For parts for ensembles of 10 or more instruments, contact Thomas Lee in the Aaron Copland School of Music.

Finding Books, Scores, and Recordings in the Music Library

Once you have found what you need, go to the appropriate section of the Music Library.

Ask for the following at Circulation Desk

• Circ CD, CD, Schwarz CD, DVD, Vid, LP, Laptops
• Reserves
• Storage 
• X (rare books and scores)

Look for the call number within the appropriate section.

• Call numbers are shelved in alphabetical and numerical order.