A Short Guide To Writing About Music

Written in a clear and conversational style, A Short Guide to Writing About Music examines a wide range of writing assignments for music courses at all levels of the undergraduate curriculum. Employing a variety of writing samples as a means to illustrate effective writing, this brief and inexpensive text teaches writers how to deftly research and write about music.

Music in Words is a compact guide to researching and writing about music, addressing all the issues that anyone who writes about music--from students to professional musicians and critics--may confront when putting together anything from brief program notes to a lengthy thesis. The book is a writing guide and a reference manual in one: the first part, a "how to" section, offers a clear explanation of the purpose of music research and how it is to be done, including basic introductions to the most necessary tools for musical inquiry (with special emphasis on strategic use of the internet), and how they can be accessed and used. The second part is a compendium of information on style and sources for quick reference, including a straightforward presentation of the purpose and use of citation and reference systems as they are applied to and in music. As a whole, the volume gives readers a clear picture of how to write about music at different levels and for different purposes in a handy, thoroughly cross-referenced format. This American edition has been thoroughly revised and expanded, and features an extensive section on writing for the Internet and new sections on writing for jazz, popular music, world musics, and ethnography. Additionally, a companion website presents a broad range of writing samples and links to key resources.

Writing in Music demystifies music writing conventions and methods by offering strategies for the types of writing that students most often encounter in college courses on music. The book offers guidance through the writing process and, for research assignments, through the research process. Geared for an audience of music majors and other students taking undergraduate music-major courses--as well as for master's students in music desiring more training in academic writing--Writing in Music covers the two approaches common to academic coursework in virtually all music-major programs: the study of music with a focus on its cultural and historical contexts, and the exploration of works using the tools of music analysis. Whether students want to apply a specific approach or take a broader, interdisciplinary stance, this guide prepares them to think and write about music.

If writing about music is like dancing about architecture, you'd do best to hone your chops and avoid clichés (like the one that begins this sentence) by learning from the prime movers. How to Write About Music offers a selection of the best writers on what is perhaps our most universally beloved art form. Selections from the critically-acclaimed 33 1/3 series appear alongside new interviews and insights from authors like Lester Bangs, Chuck Klosterman, Owen Pallet, Ann Powers and Alex Ross. How to Write About Music includes primary sources of inspiration from a variety of go-to genres such as the album review, the personal essay, the blog post and the interview along with tips, writing prompts and advice from the writers themselves. Music critics of the past and the present offer inspiration through their work on artists like Black Sabbath, Daft Punk, J Dilla, Joy Division, Kanye West, Neutral Milk Hotel, Radiohead, Pussy Riot and countless others. How to Write About Music is an invaluable text for all those who have ever dreamed of getting their music writing published and a pleasure for everyone who loves to read about music.

Table of contents: Preface 1. Music Terminology 2. Narrative Text 3. Citations 4. Musical Examples 5. Tables and Illustrations 6. The Printed Program 7. Electronics 8. Best Practices for Student Writers Appendix: Problem Words and Sample Style Sheet Bibliography.

This best-selling text is a succinct guide to thinking critically and writing precisely about film. Both an introduction to film study and a practical writing guide, this brief text introduces students to major film theories as well as film terminology, enabling them to write more thoughtfully and critically. With numerous student and professional examples, this engaging and practical guide progresses from taking notes and writing first drafts to creating polished essays and comprehensive research projects. Moving from movie reviews to theoretical and critical essays, the text demonstrates how an analysis of a film can become more subtle and rigorous as part of a compositional process.

This edition addresses such fundamental matters as: description versus analysis; critical approaches to art (e.g., formal analysis; cultural materialism; gender studies); getting ideas for an essay; developing paragraphs; organizing a comparison; using bibliographic tools, including the internet; writing a catalog entry; quoting sources; documenting sources, using either the Art Bulletin style or the Chicago Manual style; avoiding sexist and Eurocentric language; writing citations for illustrations; engaging in peer review; editing the final draft; writing essay examinations.