Skip to main content

Reference tools

Encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies

References sources are great for finding facts & figures (dates of significant events, statistics, etc.), definitions, and background information.

*Connect off-campus*

  • Oxford Music Online

    Oxford Music Online provides cross-searchable access to:

    • Grove Music Online
    • The Oxford Companion to Music
    • The Oxford Dictionary of Music
    • Encyclopedia of Popular Music

       (These resources can be searched individually using the advanced search.)

  • Garland Encyclopedia of World Music

    The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online is the first comprehensive online resource devoted to music research of all the world's peoples. More than 9,000 pages of material, combined with entries by more than 700 expert contributors from all over the world, make this the most complete body of work focused on world music.

  • The Canadian Encyclopedia

    Contains the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, the most wide-ranging and scholarly resource on Canadian music. Available in both English and French.

  • All Music Guide

    In depth music website featuring discographies, track samples, biographies and more.

Discographies
  • Jazz Discography Online

    Discography created and maintained by Tom Lord including 175,000 jazz recording sessions from 1896 to today. It can be searched by musician, leader, record label, song, recording date, instrument, nationality of musicians, etc.

  • All Music Guide

    In depth music website featuring discographies, track samples, biographies and more.

  • Discogs

    A community-built database of music information that attempts to provide discographies of all labels, all artists, all cross-referenced.

Back to top

© Concordia University