Search our library catalog and many (but not all) of our databases simultaneously, or in any number of combinations that you select. JumpStart combines the library's catalog and about half of our online databases into a single search. Coverage: varies. Some full text.
Many of the library's scores and print books about music are arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification System. You can browse the library virtually (via the Library Catalog) according to the specific topics and subtopics represented by the classification numbers.
The three broadest music subclasses are:
M Scores
ML Music history, criticism, biography, bibliography
MT Music instruction and study
Below are several sample classification numbers:
M1001 Symphonies (scores)
M1500 Operas (scores)
ML100 Dictionaries and encyclopedias about music
ML410 Biographies of individual composers (arranged alphabetically by composer)
ML420 Biographies of singers
ML1700 Opera (books about opera)
ML2075 Motion picture music History and criticism
ML3533.8-ML3534.6 Rock music
ML3790 Music trade (the business of music)
ML3916-ML3918 Social and political aspects of music
The numbers above are just the beginnings of complete call numbers. For example, ML410 .M9 S815 1991 is the complete call number for the book The Mozart Myths: A Critical Reassessment by William Stafford. The .M9 represents Mozart, and S815 stands for the author's last name, Stafford.
In addition to browsing by call number, you may search the Library Catalog or JumpStart in other ways, such as by keyword, author, title, and subject. Here are several selected Library of Congress subject headings to enter as a subject search in the catalog:
Motion picture music History and criticism
Rock music History and criticism
or, Composers [Country] Biography (for example, Composers Germany Biography)
African American composers Biography
You can also perform a subject search using a musician's name to find biographies and criticism. You do not have to enter dates. Examples:
The subheading "Sources" following a topic or name indicates the work contains primary sources. For example:
Music History and criticism Sources
Stravinsky, Igor, 1882-1971 Sources
Primary sources are created by the musician being studied, or by contemporaries and associates. Primary sources include a composer's autobiographies, diaries, letters, interviews, annotations, and manuscripts of scores. Video and audio recordings of performances by musicians of their own works are primary sources. Scores and recordings created under the composer's supervision are also primary sources, as are reviews, correspondence, and biographies by contemporaries and associates.
You can narrow down the databases list by Music Scores & Sheet Music under Type (https://libguides.dickinson.edu/az/databases?t=60178), or browse the list below.
Explore resources from various national libraries across Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Portugal and Spain. This collection includes literary works, audio recordings, musical scores, maps, drawings, magazines and newspapers. Coverage: varies, contains primary sources. Some full text.
Tip: Select Document type Música impresa for printed music, or Música manuscrita for handwritten music
Access primary sources related to arts and popular culture in the Victorian era. Documents range from playbills, scripts to operas and complete scores to archival documents, such as personal letters, annotated programs, meeting minutes, and financial records. This collection is part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO). Coverage: 1726-1968, but varies by collection. Contains primary sources. Full text.
Access documents related to the life and work of Renaissance writer Ben Jonson. This collection includes major works, letters, diaries, music scores, and contextual documents. Full text.
Tip: Click on "Music edition" under Special Features from homepage
Access works catalogued in the eighteenth-century section of the English Short-Title Catalogue. The collection includes a wide variety of materials from books and directories, Bibles, sheet music and sermons to advertisements and works by many well-known and lesser-known authors. It is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1700-1801, contains primary sources. Parts I & II. Full text.
Access books and other materials from across the disciplines, including but not limited to fiction, nonfiction, music scores/sheet music, and scholarly works. Approximately 51% of content is in English, the other 49% consists of materials in over 450 different languages. Most content dates from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries. Items in the public domain are in full-view for everyone and items held in copyright are searchable. Coverage: varies, contains primary sources. Some full text. See our special access instructions.
Tip: There is a "Musical Score" format filter
This database is on-campus access only. IMSLP, also known as the International Music Score Library Project or Petrucci Music Library, was started in 2006. IMSLP has over 102,959 works, 342,314 scores, 38,827 recordings, 13,705 composers, and 353 performers. Coverage: varies; full text access on campus only, limited access off campus.
Duke University Libraries: Online Scores / Sheet Music
Great list of online resources for scores and sheet music.
Music Library Scores and Books Collection
Titles from the University of Michigan Music Library.
The Open Music Library is an initiative from Alexander Street to build the world’s largest free index of digital resources for the study of music. Curated by a community of music scholars, students, teachers and librarians, the Open Music Library brings together peer-reviewed journal articles, books and music scores from the world’s digital collections.
A collection of mostly 19th- and early 20th-century musical scores by women composers held at the University of Michigan Music Library.
