American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)

An organization of "U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music." ASCAP "protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works." The site contains a "database of song titles licensed by ASCAP," articles and tips about songwriting and working in the music business, and more.

URL: http://www.ascap.com/

Bach Bibliography

This bibliography contains references to over 20,000 research materials related to composer Johann Sebastian Bach, including published scholarly books and articles and unpublished dissertations and conference materials. Provides many search options, including music type (such as vocal or instrumental), focus of the publication (such as biography or analysis), and language. Also includes book reviews. From a music professor at Queens University, Belfast.

URL: http://www.mu.qub.ac.uk/tomita/bachbib/

The British Beat Boom 1963-1966

Early Sixties British rock, known in Britain at the time as "Beat" (partly prompting the Beatles' name), was the music that supplied the "British Invasion" of American popular music. Mostly based on American r & b, it was created by such groups as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Them, the Animals, the Pretty Things, and scores of lesser-known bands. The phase lasted until late 1966, when tastes began to alter and the music metamorphosed into rock. This growing site seeks to list all the beat groups, with biographies, discographies, weekly British pop charts for 1963-1966, and a "Where are they now?" section.

URL: http://www.geocities.com/~fabgear/

The Classical Music Pages

"This web site provides you almost everything you need concerning classical music--its history, biographical information about composers (with portraits and short sound examples), explanations of the various musical forms....It is designed to be of use for everyone from 'beginners' to the music professional...."

URL: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/Welcome.html

Classical Net

Contains guides to building a classical music collection, articles and reviews, information on composers, links to related websites, and more. Searchable.

URL: http://www.classical.net/

Eighteenth-Century Resources

An annotated collection of websites on the "literature, history, art, music, religion, economics, [and] philosophy," of the 18th century, including links to scholars and full-text resources. Maintained by an associate professor of English at Rutgers University.

URL: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/18th/

The Evolution of Rap Music in the United States

Part of a program on minority artists in America, this 1993 essay includes guidelines for teaching about rap music (and graffiti) to middle and high school students. Includes a bibliography and brief lesson plans, and was written by Henry A. Rhodes of the Yale-New Haven (Connecticut) Teachers Institute.

URL: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1993/4/93.04.04.x.html

Gramophone: The Classical Music Website

One of the best features of Gramophone ’s online version is access to GramoFile , a searchable archive of over 30,000 CDs, with over 23,000 reviews from 1983 on. There are also feature articles, audio equipment reviews (under News ), the editor’s choice of 10 best recordings of the month, a directory of U.K. distribution companies and their labels, and an international classical music news service.

URL: http://www.gramophone.co.uk

Hearing America: A Century of Music on the Radio

Audio and transcript of a 2006 American RadioWorks documentary that explores the evolution of radio in the U.S. back to 1906. "Since then, music has dominated America's airwaves and it's been a cultural battleground." Illustrated essays discuss cultural impacts and issues, including "sex, race and rock & roll." Includes maps showing the growth of AM and FM stations in the U.S. from 1922 through 2006 and links to related sites.

URL: http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/radio/

JazzWorld.com

This site features contemporary performers. Each artist has his or her own page, with a biographical sketch, discography, and favorite links. This is a commercial site, offering musical jazz CDs for sale from smaller music vendors not otherwise readily available to jazz fans.

URL: http://database.jazzworld.com/

Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music

An online journal "published by the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music to provide a refereed forum for scholarly studies of the musical cultures of the seventeenth century. These include historical and archival studies, performance practice, music theory, aesthetics, dance and theater." From the University of Illinois.

URL: http://sscm-jscm.press.uiuc.edu/

Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music

Companion to a Michael Tilson Thomas and San Francisco Symphony mini-series that "focuses on the meaning of music, with episodes devoted to Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Copland, highlighting what made their music so revolutionary, and why it is still so powerful today." Features essays, related links, and video previews of the series broadcasting on PBS stations.

URL: http://www.pbs.org/keepingscore/

Listen: Making Sense of Sound

Website companion to a museum exhibit "that let[s] visitors investigate their perception of sound." Features guides to listening to nature, and listening to get around, to make music, to solve problems, and to process sound. Includes audio clips, online activities and real-world projects, samples from the museum exhibit, and links to related websites. Note: Headphones are recommended when using this site. From the Exploratorium.

URL: http://www.exploratorium.edu/listen/

Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Magnificent Master

This Web site presents information about the life and works of classical composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. It features a lengthy biography, a list of his works organized by genre, an image gallery, creation histories, and commentary from musicians and music critics. Also includes sections on Beethoven's relationship to other composers, artists, and thinkers and to other opera composers. Also available in German. From the Raptus Association for Music Appreciation.

URL: http://www.raptusassociation.org/

MENC: The National Association for Music Education

MENC provides music educators, students, and musicians with information on and links to education standards, career opportunities, financial aid, a job center, state-run festivals, suppliers of music products, teacher's guides, early childhood music workshops and resources, special events, and more. Searchable.

URL: http://www.menc.org/

Music History 102: A Guide to Western Composers and their Music from the Middle Ages to the Present

An extensive original collection of text, images, and audio clips of great works of Western classical music. From the Internet Public Library.

URL: http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/

Musictheory.net

A collection of music theory tutorials. Lessons include staff, clef, and ledger lines; note and rest durations; measures and time signatures; major and minor scales; and more. The site also has a chord calculator, staff paper, and matrix generators (utilities). The interactive exercises ("Trainers") for keyboard, guitar, brass, and ear include sight and audio recognition of notes, keys, chords, and other elements. The trainers and utilities may be downloaded.

URL: http://www.musictheory.net/

The Rap Dictionary

A lexicon of thousands of terms related to rap and hip-hop music, now a wiki. Be warned that some of the terms are crude.

URL: http://www.rapdict.org/Main_Page

SeattleNoise

Find profiles of hundreds of Seattle-area bands. Profiles are searchable, or browsable by name or by musical genre (such as cover, country, hip-hop, jazz, punk, and rock) and include a band description and photos, contact information, and, for selected band, downloadable music. The site also includes staff and reader blogs and weekly podcasts. From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I).

URL: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/bands/