MUS 1021: Introduction to Music

Oxford Music Online is a scholarly digital resource that includes information from the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and several other music reference resources, and that will help you to learn about many different aspects of music from all over the world. In Oxford Music Online, you’ll find concise overviews of the life and works of musicians and composers, information on music genres, and more. This is a great places to start exploring a research topic and learning about its history and context. Better yet, it’s a scholarly source including entries written and reviewed by experts, so you know it’s trustworthy. 

To access this resource, follow the link below, log in,and  use the search bar in the middle of the screen to search for a relevant entry on your topic; usually, this should be an entry for a composer or a musical genre.

• Music encyclopedias are often organized by composer name or musical genre, not by the titles of individual pieces.

• While reading through your encyclopedia entry, keep track of any new keywords you come across; these will be helpful for future searches.

• Use the table of contents (made up of links on the side of the screen) to navigate through the entry, and try a Ctrl+F (on a PC) or a Command+F (on a Mac) search for keywords like the title of a piece that you're interested in.

• Many Oxford Music Online entries include lists of references at the end, and these bibliographies could also point you towards helpful sources for your research!