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Music Research Guide

This guide provides resources for Music Performance, Music in the Liberal Arts, Music Production and Recording Arts, & Music Education

Guidelines for writing program notes

This page provides guidelines and resources for writing program notes. The Solo Recital Program Note Style Guide and the two books, A Short Guide to Writing about Music and Writing about Music, will help you with content and format. Further down the page are suggested sources for information on composers, music selections, and cultural and historical context, followed by sample program notes. 

Composers

Get background information about composers from the sources listed below. Also check to see if there are any reputable websites about the composer.

Music selections

Get background information about music selections.

Cultural and historical context

Get background information about cultural and historical context of the time period during which the music selection was composed.