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A Guide for Music Citation - Chicago/Turabian Style

This guide supports music students by providing examples and tips for Chicago/Turabian style citation. It covers all types of music sources, including texts, scores, and recordings.

Two or Three Authors

F:

1. Maria Susana Azzi and Simon Collier, Le grand tango: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 159–61.

B:

Azzi, Maria Susana, and Simon Collier. Le grand tango: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • List authors in the order given on the title page.
  • For bibliographies, the name of only the first-named author are in reverse order (Last, First). The names of the other authors are in normal order (First Last).

Four or More Authors

F:

1. Diethard Hellmann et al., Musikalische Aufführungspraxis und Edition: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven (Regensburg: G. Bosse, 1990), 84-85.
B:

Hellmann, Diethard, Hubert Meister, Franz Beyre, Ute Jung-Kaiser, and Johannes Fischer. Musikalische Aufführungspraxis und Edition: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven. Regensburg: G. Bosse, 1990.
  • In the footnote, only the first author's name is given, followed by et al.
  • In the bibliography, all names are given.

No Author

If there is no author, you begin the citation with the title.

F:

1. Compleat Instructions for the Fife: Containing the Best and Easiest Directions to Learn that Instrument, with a Collection of the Most Celebrated Marches, Airs, &c., Perform’d in the Guards and Other Regiments, Performers’ Facsimiles 158 (New York: Performers’ Facsimiles, [1998]), 5–6.
B:

Compleat Instructions for the Fife: Containing the Best and Easiest Directions to Learn that Instrument, with a Collection of the Most Celebrated Marches, Airs, &c., Perform’d in the Guards and Other Regiments. Performers’ Facsimiles 158. New York: Performers’ Facsimiles, [1998].

Editor / Translator / Arranger

Editor as Author 
If your book only has an editor, the editor's name begins the citation, and the "ed." establishes the editor role.

F:

1. Lynne Jarman, ed., Canadian Music: A Selected Checklist 1950-73 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976), 137-39.

2. Roberta Gottesman and Catherine Sentman, eds., The Music Lover's Guide to Europe: A Compendium of Festivals, Concerts, and Opera (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992), 33-34.
B:

Jarman, Lynne, ed. Canadian Music: A Selected Checklist 1950-73. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976.

Gottesman, Roberta, and Catherine Sentman, eds. The Music Lover's Guide to Europe: A Compendium of Festivals, Concerts, and Opera. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992.
  • If there are multiple editors, use "eds." 
  • For a translator, use "trans." For an arranger, use "arr."

 

Editor and Author
If your book has both an author and an editor, you must cite both.
The author comes first, and the editor comes after the title.
Note that "translated" is fully spelled out in the bibliographic (B) citation.

F:

1. Marin Mersenne, Harmonie Universelle: The Books on Instruments, trans. Roger E. Chapman (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1957), 130.

2. Willi Apel, The History of Keyboard Music To 1700, trans. and rev. Hans Tischler (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1972), 116–17.

B:

Mersenne, Marin. Harmonie Universelle: The Books on Instruments. Translated by Roger E. Chapman. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1957.

Apel, Willi. The History of Keyboard Music to 1700. Translated and revised by Hans Tischler. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1972.

Institution/Organization as Author

F:

1. College Music Society, Directory of Music Faculties in Colleges and Universities, U.S. and Canada, 2013–2014 (Binghamton, NY: College Music Society, 2013), 25.
B:

College Music Society. Directory of Music Faculties in Colleges and Universities, U.S. and Canada, 2013-2014. Binghamton, NY: College Music Society, 2013.