Music : Style Tips for Music

Style Tips

(From Lisa Hooper's Music Research Guide at the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library,Tulane University).

Tip # 1 - Spell out key signatures and chords.

         Example: E-flat major; the triad C-E-G

Tip # 2 - Italicize foreign terms unless they are common to the English language.

         Example: tempo, opera; tempi, opera comique

Tip # 3 - Know when to italicize a musical title, enclose the title in quotes, or use no italics or quotes.

•  Titles of long musical compositions (such as tone poems, operas, oratorios, etc.) should be italicized.

                  --Example: Idomeneo, Till Eulenspiegel,

                     Messiah

• Song titles and titles of short compositions should be enclosed in quotes.

                  --Example: "Amazing Grace"

• Generic titles should be capitalized but not italicized nor enclosed in quotes.

                  --Example: Beethoven's String Quartet

                    No. 1, Op. 18

For more tips, visit the Citing Music Sources in Your Essay and Bibliography

• According to the University Code, students are bound to comply with the University Code of Conduct  which includes, but is not limited to, the Standards of Academic Integrity.
   
• According to these standards, violations include plagiarism, cheating, falsification, unapproved collaboration, and other violations of academic integrity.

Please click on the Citation page above as well as the subpages linked to it to learn why and how to document sources.

Three common style guides are presented: APA Style, MLA Style, and the Chicago Manual of Style. Kate Turabian's style follows the Chicago Manual.

See specific examples from Indiana University for citing music using the Chicago Style by clicking on the Citation subpage "Chicago Manual of Style" above.