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A Guide for Music Citation - Chicago/Turabian Style (17th ed)

This guide is largely based on the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. It does not yet incorporate changes in the 18th edition.

Formatting

A music example/figure is a quotation, so you must format and cite the example correctly. Turabian terminology uses "figure" instead of "example." You can insert a music figure into your paper by photocopying from a score, or using Finale, Sibelius, or other score-writing programs.

 

  • Include the clef(s). If the measures you've copied from the score do not include clefs, add them yourself on each line of the example.
  • Give a title to your figure. For measure numbers, remember to use mm. for multiple measures (ms. means "manuscript").

 

Figure 7. Johann Sebastian Bach, Adagio from Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C Major, BWV 564, mm. 26-31.5

Final measures of J.S. Bach's Adagio from BWV 564.

Citation

Insert a superscript at the end of your music example title and supply a corresponding footnote. The footnote gives publication information about the score you used for your example.

The note for the above example is:

5. Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe, vol. 15, Drei Toccaten für Orgel, ed. Wilhelm Rush (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1867): 258.