Music: ...in print

1. Use the search box within the "Search our catalog" box on this page to input your keywords.

2. Look to the column on the right under the "Material type" section and click "Books."

3. Now look to the right column again under "Show only." Click "Available in the Library."

4. See a title that looks interesting? The information you need to find it in-person is right there in the list of results. The entry itself often has other information to help you determine if it's useful, so click on the title if you want to know more about it first.

5. Before coming to the library, check our hours and make sure you have your UMass Pass to check out the book!

Attributed to Neri da Rimini, Leaf from an Antiphonary, 1300-1325, tempera, ink, and gold on parchment,
20 5/16 x 14 15/16" (51.6 x 38 cm), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/leaf-from-an-antiphonary-53389.

Our library uses Library of Congress Classification to organize our books by call number. If you know a little bit about what the call numbers stand for, you can browse the stacks more efficiently.

Here are some relevant call numbers for Music students and what they represent.

3rd Floor

M - Music

M 1.A5-3.3 - Collections

M 5-1480 - Instrumental music

M 1495-2199 - Vocal music

ML - Literature on music

ML 47-54.8 - Librettos. Texts. Scenarios.

ML 159-3785 - History and criticism

ML 3790-3792 - Music trade

ML 3795 - Music as a profession. Vocational guidance.

ML 3797-3799.5 - Musical research

ML 3800-3923 - Philosophical and societal aspects of music. Physics and acoustics of music. Physiological aspects of music.

MT – Instruction and study

MT 5.5-7 – Music theory

MT 40-67 – Composition. Elements and techniques of music

MT 68 – Improvisation. Accompaniment. Transposition

MT 70-74 – Instrumentation and orchestration

MT 75 – Interpretation

MT 90-146 – Analysis and appreciation of musical works

MT 170-810 – Instrumental techniques

MT 820-915 – Singing and vocal techniques

MT 955-956 – Musical theater

MT 960 – Music in the theater

Click here to see a more thorough explanation of the Music call numbers.

Here's a quick guide on how to read call numbers in our library (and most other academic libraries).

The first line is read in alphabetical order.

• ex. This would be before the PQ's but after the PM's.

Read the second line in numerical order.

• ex. This would be after PN 6746 and before PN 6747.1 or PN 6748.

The third line is tricky. Read the letter in alphabetical order then the number as a decimal.

• ex. PN 6747 .S245 would come before PN 6747 .S5, because .5 in decimal is really .500!

Sometimes the fourth line will look like this and you read it exactly like the other line.

• ex. PN 6747 .S245 P4713 would come before PN 6747 .S245 P8, because .8 in decimal is really .800!

When you see a line near the bottom that looks like a year, it is a year! This goes in numerical order.

• ex. If there was a book just like this except the date was 2003, it would go before the 2007 edition.

You could think of a call number like a detailed address in reverse: planet, country, state, city, street, street number. Each line helps you narrow down the book's exact location!