Guides: Music History: Find Music History Resources

Databases & Web Resources

Use these databases to find music history articles and related content:

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new window
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Bibliography of music literature providing broad international coverage.

JSTOR - Music
Browse JSTOR for music journals, books, images, and primary sources.

Music Online Reference Databases This link opens in a new window
Cross searchable database of music reference sources that allows the user to search the following titles simultaneously: African American Music Reference, Classical Music Reference Library, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online, and Classical Scores Library. The subscription is limited to 3 simultaneous users.
Gale OneFile: Fine Arts This link opens in a new window
Access to scholarly journals and magazines that support research in in the arts, including music.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new window
A multidisciplinary index covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities. A component of Web of Science. Coverage: 1976 - present.
Oxford Music Online (includes Grove Music Online) This link opens in a new window
The gateway to all Oxford's music resources, including Grove Music Online, Oxford Dictionary of Music, and Oxford Companion to Music.

These databases provide a more general approach to music history research. Find articles, biographies, newspapers, and more.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
An archive of scholarly journals. Content spans many disciplines, primarily in the humanities and social sciences.
ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window
A multidisciplinary database with full-text articles in the arts, business, health, medicine, history, science, technology, social sciences. Includes scholarly articles, professional publication, and magazines.
Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
A broad, general full-text database that includes both popular and scholarly periodicals. It covers virtually all academic areas of study, including social sciences, sciences, and humanities.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies.

Dissertation Abstracts This link opens in a new window
ProQuest's comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses on humanities and social sciences.

When searching for Doctoral dissertations in ProQuest, be sure to select the 'Doctoral dissertations only' check box:

The web can provide a wealth of music history materials. All of the following resources are free and open to the public:

History of Classical Music Chronology
Brief overview of Classical Music by period.
Beethoven-Haus Bonn - Digital Archives
The Digital Archive makes the inventory of the Beethoven-Haus and its contents accessible for research, use and the general public. Contains music manuscripts, first editions, letters, pictures and many recordings.
Billboard Magazine: 1894-2017
Billboard Magazine, a popular American music magazine, first published in November of 1894.
Internet Archive
A non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
Journal of Music History Pedagogy
Bi-annual, peer-reviewed, open-access, on-line journal dedicated to the publication of original articles and reviews related to teaching music history of all levels (undergraduate, graduate, or general studies) and disciplines (western, non-western, concert and popular music).
Library of Congress - Music Division
Browse the LOC Music Division's Digital Collections.
World Radio History
Index of the music industry's most popular publications and magazines, including broadcasting and radio.

Use the following guide for assistance: