Ethnomusicology

"A Short Guide to Writing about Music" parallels musical skills to writing skills, examining a wide range of writing tasks for undergraduate and graduate courses. Intended for all writers on music -- college through budding professional -- and far more than a course textbook, this brief and inexpensive text coaches writers how to approach, research, and write about music. "A Short Guide to Writing about Music" is written in a clear and conversational style, and employs a variety of writing samples (both student and professional) as a means to illustrate effective writing.

In "A Style and Usage Guide to Writing About Music," Thomas Donahue presents a collection of guidelines to help express through the written word the special notations, terms, and concepts found in the discipline of music. It concentrates on questions of style and format in the interest of good formal writing within the context of United-States English, so that writers may communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. The book draws on profuse musically-oriented examples and is arranged by topics both musical and typographic, such as the proper use and spelling of composer names and musical concepts; the use of notes, pitches, and octave delineations; letters and numbers employed to describe form and harmony; when, where, and how to apply compound words and hyphenation of terms and names; and the proper citation of musical and audiovisual sources. The book concludes with a glossary of typographic terms, a bibliography, and a comprehensive index, making this a valuable resource for students, scholars, teachers, and writers.

Helping users write clear, convincing, persuasive prose on musical topics, this practical guide focuses on general writing issues as well as special challenges of writing about music-with clear, step-by-step explanations of the process of writing a paper. Updated to reflect the latest research methodology, resources, and technology, it continues to offer strong coverage on research, organization, drafting and editing-and includes a thorough section on basic writing skills.

Where do you place the hyphen in "Beethoven" if it breaks between two lines? How do you cite John Coltrane's album A Love Supreme? Is it "premiere" or "première"? The answers and much more can be found in this definitive resource for authors, students, editors, concert producers--anyone who deals with music in print. Extending the principles devised for the classical repertoires, this revised and expanded edition now includes examples from world music, rock, jazz, popular music, and cinema. This essential volume covers some of the thorniest issues of musical discourse: how to go about describing musical works and procedures in prose, the rules for citations in notes and bibliography, and proper preparation of such materials as musical examples, tables, and illustrations. Cited as the authority by The Chicago Manual of Style, this classic handbook is the go-to source for anyone writing about music.