Music as a field of study encompasses scholarship, performance, composition, and criticism, as well as "applied" areas such as education, therapy, advocacy, archiving, librarianship, production, and management.

Musicians and music scholars may:

• listen to or watch audio and video recordings, including accompanying notes and artwork
• analyze, perform from, or adapt written musical notation in scores, performance parts, songbooks, and leadsheets
• read scholarly books, journal articles, theses and dissertations
• consult music references like encyclopedias, discographies, repertoire guides, song and tune indexes, and anthologies
• work with primary sources, including unpublished field recordings, concert recordings, interviews, oral histories, photographs, notes, correspondence, and ephemera such as concert posters and programs

This guide is a starting point for anyone searching for music or music-related materials. For help using these resources, questions that aren't answered here, or more extensive research needs, you can schedule a personal research session with a librarian.