Library Guides: Musicology and Ethnomusicology: Musicology

Develop your search terms

Do you know which search terms to use to find great articles on your topic?
Experiment with your keywords in one of these broad search options before diving into more specialised search locations.

Discovery searches across a large number of databases. Use Advanced Search and subject filters for the best results.
Proquest Central is similar to Discovery, searching across multiple databases
Google Scholar is a convenient search tool, but you'll need to set up Find it @ Unimelb links to effectively use Google Scholar for library research.

Once you've found a few good resources, explore some subject-specific databases and journals.

Why are there so many places to search?

Visit the Comparing Search Pathways guide for a quick explainer.

Journals are continuous publications issued regularly (daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly), and are the standard for scholarly communication. They can be published in print, microform and electronic formats.

Our collections include many journals relevant to the study of Musicology.

The list below is in no way exhaustive, and more can be found by searching in our catalogue, or databases. Other online musicology journals can be found by performing a keyword search for Musicology in the library catalogue and limiting the search to 'online journals.'

For comprehensive tips on searching for journal articles, please visit the Research Essentials guide.

Context: Journal of Music Research
Context is a peer-reviewed international music journal published online through the University of Melbourne. It publishes original research concerning all aspects of music and music-related fields.
19th-Century Music
A peer-reviewed journal that covers all aspects of Western art music between the mid-eighteenth and mid-twentieth centuries.
Acta Musicologica
Acta Musicologica is the official peer-reviewed journal of the International Musicological Society. It contains articles on musicological research of international importance.
Australasian Music Research
A University of Melbourne publication that aims to promote the study of various areas of research relevant to Australian music and musicians as well as institutions and organisations, in all styles and genres.
Current Musicology
A Columbia University publication that covers historical musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory, as well as music cognition, philosophy of music, and interdisciplinary studies.
International Journal of Musicology
A peer-reviewed journal that disseminates research and study into the theory of music throughout the ages.
Journal of the American Musicological Society
Publishes scholarship from all fields of musical inquiry: from historical musicology, critical theory, music analysis, iconography and organology, to performance practice, aesthetics and hermeneutics, ethnomusicology, gender and sexuality, popular music and cultural studies.
Music & Letters
A peer-reviewed journal that covers all fields of musical enquiry, from earliest times to present day. Includes wide range of reviews: scholarly editions of music of the past; new music.
Musicology Australia
A peer-reviewed journal that features articles on the music of Europe, America, Asia, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indigenous Australia, and Australian musical composition.
The Musical Quarterly
Contains original articles covering the entire range of musical composition and performance, from early music to the Classical-Romantic tradition to twentieth-century jazz and pop to the latest developments in theory and practice.
Nineteenth-century music review
A peer-reviewed journal that aims to locate music within the widest possible framework of intellectual activity pertaining to the long century (c.1780-1914).

Key Databases - Musicology

Databases aggregate content from many journal titles, and can be an excellent place to conduct your search. Databases like Google Scholar or Discovery, do not focus on a specific topic, and can return quite broad search results. The discipline specific databases listed below, will be much more likely to return relevant results for the study of Musicology.

The list below is in no way exhaustive, and more can be found by searching in our catalogue, or databases.

MGG Online
The authoritative German-language music encyclopedia, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, is now available as an online database under the title MGG Online. MGG is encyclopedic in the true sense of that term: it offers in-depth articles on every aspect of music as well as many related areas such as literature, philosophy, and visual arts. MGG Online contains the second print edition of MGG, published from 1994 to 2008, as well as current, continuous online updates and additions.
The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments
An extensive reference tool on worldwide musical instruments
Music Index (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
Formerly The Music Index Online by Harmonie Park Press, this database provides comprehensive coverage of the music field and every aspect of the classical and popular worlds of music. With coverage commencing from 1970 to the present, the Music Index contains cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts of articles about music, musicians and the music industry for more than 490 periodicals. It also provides selective coverage for more than 200 periodicals.
Music Periodicals Database (ProQuest)
This database provides indexing and abstracts for several hundred international music periodicals from over 20 countries, plus full text for more than 140 of the indexed journals. The database currently includes over 770,000 records, the majority from the most recent ten years of publication.
Oxford Music Online (Oxford University Press)
Oxford Music Online is a gateway offering users the ability to search multiple music reference resources in one location. With Grove Music Online as its cornerstone offering comprehensive coverage of music, musicians, music-making, and music scholarship. It includes updated versions of previous Grove publications as well as hundreds of articles commissioned specifically for the online edition. In addition, users can search and access the Oxford Reference titles: Oxford Companion to Music and The Oxford Dictionary of Music
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (EBSCOhost)
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature is a comprehensive bibliography featuring citations, abstracts and subject indexing of content from the early 1800s through to the present. The database includes coverage of relevant articles from more than 10,000 journals, many of which are not specifically devoted to music, as well as music-related articles published in conference proceedings; articles in Festschriften celebrating music scholars; and articles in anniversary volumes published in honor of musicians, composers and institutions dating back to the 18th century. Updated monthly.
RIPM Preservation Series: European and North American Music Periodicals (EBSCOhost)
Formerly known as the RIPM e-Library of Music Periodicals, the RIPM Preservation Series is a full-text collection of rare music journals. With extensive coverage of journals in 15 languages it offers searchable primary source material not available in any other online resource. The e-Library collection includes journals of focus and scope not treated in the RIPM Retrospective Index or RIPM Online Archive, including those focusing on specialized topics such as instruments, music education, musicology’s early periodicals, and jazz, with others combining both musical and non-musical content, such as theatrical journals.
RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with full text (EBSCOhost)
This database combines RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with the RIPM Online Archive of Music Periodicals to provide a unique full-text collection for the study of music and musical life from 1760 to 1966. The index covers nearly 200 music periodicals, selected by international specialists, with detailed indexing of articles, reviews, illustrations, music examples, advertisements, press reviews and more. This is supplemented by an extensive full text collection of rarely-available music periodicals dating from the Early Romantic to the Modern period. The database is updated 6 monthly.
RISM Series A/II: Music Manuscripts after 1600 (EBSCOhost)
RISM is the most comprehensive annotated index and guide to music manuscripts, containing more than 657,000 manuscript records by over 22,500 composers found in over 800 libraries and archives in 32 countries. It is is published by the Répertoire International des Sources Musicale - RISM (International Inventory of Musical Sources), an international, non-profit joint venture, which aims to comprehensively document the world's musical sources of manuscripts or printed music, works on music theory, and libretti stored in libraries, archives, monasteries, schools and private collections.

Full text journals in RIPM

The RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text (1760-1966) is a list of nearly 200 full-text periodicals that are indexed in RIPM.