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Music Theory and History | Music Notation | Copyright | Song Research
Music Theory and History
- BasicMusicTheory.com – Scales, chords, intervals, and other music theory topics.
- Exploring Theory with Practica Musica – from Ars Nova Software. An online textbook with excellent discussions of music history and theory. Also available as a free iBook for Apple devices.
- Jim Fleser, The Chord Wheel – Helpful book for learning the Circle of Fifths. Also available as an iPhone app.
- Happy Birthday, Well Tempered Clavier – from JSTOR Daily, November 9, 2022. Has an interesting and concise discussion about tuning systems.
- Thomas Forrest Kelly, Capturing Music: The Story of Notation – About early music and how music notation evolved during the Middle Ages. Written for a non-academic, nicely illustrated. Print book has a companion CD; Kindle edition includes audio.
- Music Printing History – Cool site about technologies that have been used to get music on the page.
- MusicTheory.net – Free online theory course and paid apps for iPhone and iPad (Tenuto and Music Lessons)
- Teoria – Tutorials for note reading, intervals, scales, chords, and harmony
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Music Notation
- Scoring Notes – Blog and podcast covering music notation software and related technology. Includes news, tips, and tutorials about all the major notation programs. From NYC Music Services, in New York City
- Blank staff paper for barbershop – SSAA – free download; share as much as you like.
- Blank staff paper for barbershop – TTBB – free download; share as much as you like.
Finale
- Finale
- Finale Blog
- Conquering Finale – Excellent and extensive series of video tutorials covering all aspects of Finale
- Finale Quick Reference — Windows | Mac
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Dorico
- Dorico
- Dorico Blog
- Dorico YouTube Channel
- Dorico Quick Reference Card – Covers both Windows and Mac
- Leo Nicholson, Dorico Basics: Notation Tools and Techniques – Excellent introduction to Dorico, also available as an app for iPhone and iPad
- Dorico templates – Barbershop SSAA and TTBB, based on guidelines from the BHS, done in Dorico 4.3. Free download; share as much as you like.
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Sibelius
- Sibelius
- Sibelius Video Tutorials – from Avid
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Copyright
I’m not an attorney and this is not legal advice. The links below are for educational purposes and focused on US law. Questions about copyright should be addressed to a qualified attorney in your US state or home country.
- ASCAP – American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (performing rights organization in the US.)
- BMI – Broadcast Music Incorporated (performing rights organization in the US.)
- Copyright Books from Nolo Press – Nolo publishes law-related books aimed at the consumer market.
- Copyright and Fair Use – From Stanford University
- Copyright Term Lengths by Country – from Wikipedia
- Copyright Term and Public Domain in the US – From Cornell University
- Dear Rich: An Intellectual Property Blog – Answers to questions in all areas of intellectual property (copyright, trademark, patent) written by a practicing attorney.
- The Evolution of Copyright in Music – from Northwestern University, Pritzker School of Law. Discusses how technology has affected copyright, from piano rolls to today’s digital streaming.
- Evolution of Copyright Law – Online exhibit from the Library of Congress
- Performing Rights Organizations Around the World – from Wikipedia
- Public Domain Information Project – Helpful guide to public domain in the US
- Public Domain Sherpa – Helpful guide to copyright and public domain written by a practicing attorney
- The Rights Stuff – Podcast from Scoring Notes. The hosts discuss copyright with a practicing attorney. Has an excellent discussion of Fair Use.
- SESAC – Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (performing rights organization; has both American artists and European ones)
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Song Research
If you’re doing research for the Sweet Adelines Song Assessment Tool, these links will help.
Sweet Adelines Song Assessment Site
Has SAI’s Guiding Principles, Links to the Song Evaluation Database and other resources, and information about the Song Assessment Process.
American History and Popular Song
- African American roots of barbershop – From the Barbershop Harmony Society
- American Civil War Museum
- Joe Bebco, “Reconsidering Dixieland Jazz” – Syncopated Times, July 2021
- Brief history of Tin Pan Alley – From acousticmusic.org
- Brief history of Vaudeville – From acousticmusic.org
- Cafe Songbook – Songs, songwriters, and performers of the Great American Songbook. Not comprehensive, but a good source for the songs it covers. Includes information on composers and lyricists, origins of songs (i.e. written for a particular show, etc), song background, and links to performances.
- Rebecca Hersher, “Why You Probably Shouldn’t Say ‘Eskimo'” – from National Public Radio, April 24, 2016
- History of Blackface – Covers the history of Blackface and racist Black stereotypes in minstrel shows, Vaudeville, Broadway, radio, film, and television.
- How the term “Dixie” came to define the South – Story from CNN, June 27, 2020
- Internet Broadway Database – Excellent resource for Broadway shows and people connected with them, including songwriters.
- Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia – Ferris State University
- Mason and Dixon Draw a Line – From the History Channel. So many songs about the South mention the Mason-Dixon Line. But where was it and who were Mason and Dixon? This is a good, short summary of the history behind the Mason-Dixon Line.
- Musicals 101.com – “Cyber-Encyclopedia of Musical Theater, Film, and Television”
- Carla M. Ponti, The Musical Representation of Asian Characters in the Musicals of Richard Rodgers. Ph.D. dissertation in Music from UC San Diego. From ProQuest, published as open access.
- RadicalCopyEditor.com – A thought-provoking blog about the power of language to break down stereotypes and bias.
- The Radical Copy Editor’s Style Guide for Writing About Transgender People – From radicalcopyeditor.com
- Alyssa Taubin, The American Musical in Black and White: How Race Relations in the United States Directory Affected the Development of Musical Theater – from Howlround Theatre Commons
- Sabina Thalheim, A Hundred Million Messages: Reflections on Representation in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song. M.A. thesis, Ohio State University, 2013
- “Three Documentaries You Should Watch About the Tulsa Race Massacre” – Story from National Public Radio, May 30, 2021
- Thirty Everyday Phrases That Perpetuate the Oppression of Indigenous Peoples – From radicalcopyeditor.com
- John W. Work, American Negro Songs and Spirituals – Digital copy from the New York Public Library. Helpful book for researching Negro spirituals.
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Songwriters
- Irving Berlin – official site
- Cole Wide Web – Cole Porter official site
- George and Ira Gershwin – Official site
- Great American Songbook Foundation, Hall of Fame Honorees
- Songwriters Hall of Fame
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Selected Sheet Music Collections
- Sheet Music Consortium – Hosted by the UCLA Library; provides access to sheet music collections at more than 30 libraries all over the world
- Library of Congress online sheet music collections
- Archive of Popular American Music – UCLA Library
- IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana – Created by Indiana University; includes collections from Indiana University Lilly Library, Indiana State Library, Indiana State Museum, and Indiana Historical Society
- Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection – Johns Hopkins University Library
- Vocal Sheet Music Collection – Digital Commons, University of Maine
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Historic Recordings
- African American Band Music and Recordings, 1883-1923 – Library of Congress
- Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project – UC Santa Barbara, Davidson Library. Historic recordings from the era of Edison wax cylinders. Many pre-1938 barbershop quartets are in this collection, digitized and freely available.
- The Great 78 Project – Community project for the preservation, research, and discovery of 78rpm records. Part of the Internet Archive
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