LibGuides: American Music: Finding Books

Introduction

This page explains how to search for books on American music using the library catalog. The box below includes recommended subject headings so that you can do some searching on your own, and the box at the bottom includes selected materials to get you started.

Recommended Subject Headings

Conducting a keyword search in the Library catalog is always a great place to start. Use the "Material Type" filter on the right of the "Advanced Search" screen to limit your results to "Books."

After finding a relevant book in the catalog, use the topics (listed in the subject field of the record) to find related materials. At this point, if you've identified several promising materials that have the same subjects listed, consider clicking on any of the subject headings to launch a new search for similarly classified items.

You can also try searching by subject heading to start.

Here are some suggested subject headings to help you retrieve the most helpful resources from the catalog:

Music--United States (or add a modifier before music, e.g. "Popular Music--United States" or "Rock Music--United States")
Music--United States--history and criticism (instead of "history and criticism" you could also try "social aspects" or "criticism and interpretation", depending on your interest)
Composers--United States

Selected Books from the Catalog

The Cambridge History of American Music by David Nicholls (Editor)
Call Number: Online and MPAL ML200 C35
The Cambridge History of American Music celebrates the richness of America's musical life. American music is an intricate tapestry of many cultures, and the History reveals this wide array of influences from Native, European, African, Asian, and other sources.
America's Musical Life by Richard Crawford
Call Number: MPAL ML200 C72 A42
An illustrated history of America's musical heritage ranges from the earliest examples of Native American traditional song to the innovative sound of contemporary rock and jazz.
Music in Black American Life, 1600-1945 by Laurie Matheson (Compiled by)
Call Number: HPNL ML200 .M88 2022
Publication Date: 2022-08-23
This first volume of Music in Black American Life collects research and analysis that originally appeared in the journals American Music and the Black Music Research Journal, and in the University of Illinois Press's acclaimed book series Music in American Life. In these selections, experts from a cross-section of disciplines engage with fundamental issues in ways that changed our perceptions of Black music.
Music USA : the rough guide
Call Number: MPAL Reference Non-circulating ; ML3477 U58M8
The ideal handbook for every rock-n-roll pilgrim, Music USA tours the musical heritage of America, from New York to Seattle, stopping at all the shrines of sound in between. Coverage includes background on the development of local music styles, with details on clubs and venues, radio stations and record stores nationwide.

Music in the USA by Judith Tick (Editor); Paul Beaudoin (Editor)
Call Number: MPAL ML200 M895
This anthology of primary sources charts a path through American musical life from 1540 to 2000, using as guides the words of composers, performers, writers and lovers of music.
To Stretch Our Ears by James Heywood Alexander
Call Number: MPAL ML200 T678
A collection of documents covering five hundred years of American music history in the words of professional musicians, talented amateurs, and bystanders.
Music in America : an anthology from the landing of the Pilgrims to the close of the Civil War, 1620-1865
Call Number: MPAL M2 M8681
An anthology of scores tracing the development of music in America.

Rethinking American Music by Browner, Tara and Riis, Thomas Laurence, eds.
Call Number: Online and MPAL ML200 .R46 2019
In Rethinking American Music, Tara Browner and Thomas L. Riis curate essays that offer an eclectic survey of current music scholarship. Ranging from Tin Pan Alley to Thelonious Monk to hip hop, the contributors go beyond repertory and biography to explore four critical yet overlooked areas: the impact of performance; patronage's role in creating music and finding a place to play it; personal identity; and the ways cultural and ethnographic circumstances determine the music that emerges from the creative process.
Digging: the Afro-American soul of American classical music by Amiri Baraka
Call Number: Online and MPAL ML3556 .B1612 2009
Publication Date: 2009-05-26
For almost half a century, Amiri Baraka has ranked among the most important commentators on African American music and culture. In this brilliant assemblage of his writings on music, the first such collection in nearly twenty years, Baraka blends autobiography, history, musical analysis, and political commentary to recall the sounds, people, times, and places he's encountered.
Music and the Road
Call Number: Online and MPAL ML3477 .S6M8 2017
Publication Date: 2017-11-02
In a collection of 13 essays, Music and the Road explores the origins of road music in the blues, country-western, and rock 'n' roll; the themes of adventure, freedom, mobility, camaraderie, and love, and much more in this music; the mystique and reality of touring as an important part of getting away from home, creating community among performers, and building audiences across the country from the 1930s to the present.
American Popular Song by Alec Wilder; Robert Rawlins (Editor)
Call Number: Online and Main Stacks ML3477 .W59 2022
Composer Alec Wilder's American Popular: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950 is widely recognized as the definitive book on American popular song. In this volume, which achieved immediate praise and recognition upon its publication, Wilder discusses some 800 songs from the American Songbook, offering a composer's insight, acceccible music analysis, as well has his strong personal biases.
Exploring American Folk Music by Kip Lornell
Call Number: Online and Main Stacks ML3551 .L67 2012
Exploring American Folk Music: Ethnic, Grassroots, and Regional Traditions in the United States reflects the fascinating diversity of regional and grassroots music in the United States.