Thursday, September 1, 2011

Score Browsing Guide to the Rescue!


While the Music & Media Center can offer you more than 33,ooo CDs to listen to (along with over 13,000 DVDs to watch!), just a floor below are hundreds of music scores (a.k.a. sheet music) that you can check out of the library. If you know what piece you're looking for to read along with as you listen to a CD you just checked out of the Music & Media Center, then you can look up the call number by searching for the composer and title in the Catalog (don't forget to limit your search to music scores!).

Sometimes though you just need a score but you're not quite sure which piece you want to work on. Whether you're looking for an audition piece to get ready in 24 hours, orchestral excerpts to practice, or a piece to study and maybe prepare for your junior or senior recital, we have it! Finding it, however, can seem challenging. Not to worry though, your Music & Media Resource of the week, the Score Browsing Guide, will come to the rescue!

Each instrument has its own tab in the Score Browsing Guide where you'll find call number ranges specific to your instrument for different musical genres. For example, the guide for violinists will tell you that you can find solo pieces in the call number ranges M40-M44, concerti in the call number range M1013, and etudes at MT265. Pretty handy.

You can link to it via the Music Research Guide or access the Score Browsing Guide directly at http://libguides.tulane.edu/scorebrowsing.