Hi all
I'm going to university next month, and thought it was about time I invested in a music dictionary.
Does anyone know of a good one that I should get?
Full Version: Music Dictionary
Oooh ok, thanks. I'm going to Bangor University.
You can't really go wrong with the Oxford Companion to Music.
I like the Harvard Dictionary of Music.
I also gather you can find quite a large number of musical definitions with the help of a new-fangled invention called the 'world-wide-web'.
QUOTE(Czerny @ Aug 23 2009, 06:01 PM) 
I also gather you can find quite a large number of musical definitions with the help of a new-fangled invention called the 'world-wide-web'.
Indeed - like this one for example.Car Expert
Theres soo many too chose from, and yes, I have used the web, but it's sometimes nice to be able to pick up the book
QUOTE(piano*cello*sax*boy @ Aug 23 2009, 06:14 PM)
Theres soo many too chose from, and yes, I have used the web, but it's sometimes nice to be able to pick up the book
Indeed. Any decent dictionary will be fine and, unlike school, they probably won't care which one you have as it won't be a set text. It's obviously just a quick reference guide and if you're writing an essay you'll probably need much more in-depth information than a dictionary can provide.
Bangor do not specify any dictionary, so feel free to get whichever you like.
QUOTE(Scaramouche @ Aug 23 2009, 10:44 PM)
Bangor do not specify any dictionary, so feel free to get whichever you like.
Would any decent university music department actually specify a dictionary? Is that not spoon-feeding? I thought universities were supposed to encourage independent thinking and intellectual resourcefulness?!
(Sorry Noodle, not meant to be a dig at your post.)
Assuming the Open University counts....we were told which music dictionary to get for our course. It was included in the reading list.
QUOTE(piano*cello*sax*boy @ Aug 23 2009, 06:14 PM)
Theres soo many too chose from, and yes, I have used the web, but it's sometimes nice to be able to pick up the book
Yes I agree, I love browsing books. I've picked up a few music dictionaries/companions at book fairs, charity shops and secondhand book shops. If you pass Frodsham (just off the M56) on your way to Bangor, try and call in at the secondhand book shop just outside the town - they've got a really good collection of secondhand music books (and sheet music too).
You probably know about the Dolmetsch online dictionary, but just in case, here's the link.
Thanks very much, although I doubt I will pass there.
QUOTE(skylark @ Aug 24 2009, 09:14 AM)
If you pass Frodsham (just off the M56) on your way to Bangor, try and call in at the secondhand book shop just outside the town - they've got a really good collection of secondhand music books (and sheet music too).
I don't know that one, where exactly ?? I pass along M56 all the time !
QUOTE(fsharpminor @ Aug 24 2009, 12:10 PM)
I don't know that one, where exactly ?? I pass along M56 all the time !
This is what I've posted about it in the past...
QUOTE(skylark @ Jul 22 2009, 09:41 PM)
If anybody going to Chester is going by car, I can recommend a slight detour to a brilliant secondhand bookshop for music books and sheet music. It's near Frodsham which is just off Junction 12 on the M56 (the motorway linking the M6 with Chester). It's only about 4-5 miles at the most I would say, and it's well worthwhile. I'll post more details about it on the Secondhand Bookshop thread in a minute 
QUOTE(skylark @ Jul 22 2009, 10:10 PM)
I discovered a wonderful secondhand bookshop today - it's part of a small antiques/crafts complex just outside Frodsham called Lady Heyes. There are a few units selling "collectibles" and some of those have baskets of sheet music, but the bookshop is something else. I wish I'd asked if I could take a photo of it... the book shelves filling the apex of the building are around 15 feet high 
Fortunately the section on music books is more accessible, and there's loads of sheet music as well. The sheet music is all mixed up (in a complete mess actually) but if you allow enough time to browse through the music books and sheet music you could be there a good couple of hours. Allow a day or two if you want to have a look at all the rest of the books 
Here's the link if anybody's interested... http://www.ladyheyes.co.uk/
The web site is very misleading because it doesn't actually mention the bookshop - I'd spent ages looking round the other units and it was only when I was driving out that I saw the Cheshire Books unit. By that time I'd nearly run out of time but I just managed to buy a few pieces The Cheshire Books shop has its own web site and it says they have 100,000 books in stock 
http://www.cheshirebookcentre.com/
Fortunately the section on music books is more accessible, and there's loads of sheet music as well. The sheet music is all mixed up (in a complete mess actually) but if you allow enough time to browse through the music books and sheet music you could be there a good couple of hours. Allow a day or two if you want to have a look at all the rest of the books Here's the link if anybody's interested... http://www.ladyheyes.co.uk/
The web site is very misleading because it doesn't actually mention the bookshop - I'd spent ages looking round the other units and it was only when I was driving out that I saw the Cheshire Books unit. By that time I'd nearly run out of time but I just managed to buy a few pieces
The Cheshire Books shop has its own web site and it says they have 100,000 books in stock http://www.cheshirebookcentre.com/
QUOTE(piano*cello*sax*boy @ Aug 23 2009, 04:56 PM)
Hi all
I'm going to university next month, and thought it was about time I invested in a music dictionary.
Does anyone know of a good one that I should get?
I'm going to university next month, and thought it was about time I invested in a music dictionary.
Does anyone know of a good one that I should get?
If you want a cheap music dictionary as opposed to a renowned one, I've just got a book catalogue in the post which is featuring Michael Kennedy's Dictionary of Music reduced to £4.99 from £10.99.
"Includes 14,000 entries on musical terms, works, composers, librettists, musicians, singers and orchestras. Also includes complete work lists for major composers. 815pp. Paperback." www.selections.com
FWIW and caveat emptor though.
I still think your best bet is to keep popping into charity shops, particularly Oxfam, who often get Oxford and Collins music companions/encyclopaedias which they sell for just a few pounds. Headingley in Leeds has a Oxfam shop devoted solely to books, and there are lots of music books there. Ditto Harrogate. You just have to know your Oxfam shops!
Thanks for that. I picked up one today, I think it was the oxford concise. I will look in some charity shops for music I never usally remember though.
Glad you've got sorted piano*cello*sax*boy, but in case anyone else is looking for a dictionary, I'm going to qualify what I wrote earlier...
I still think your best bet is to keep popping into charity shops, particularly Oxfam, who often get Oxford and Collins music companions/encyclopaedias which they sell for just a few pounds.
I've just been looking in my dictionaries for the word "anacrusis" and it's not in my Collins Encyclopaedia of Music published by Chancellor Press. This seems to be a glaring omission - it's not exactly an uncommon term, and even if it was, it's supposed to be an encyclopaedia not a pocket dictionary
QUOTE(skylark @ Aug 26 2009, 12:31 PM)
I still think your best bet is to keep popping into charity shops, particularly Oxfam, who often get Oxford and Collins music companions/encyclopaedias which they sell for just a few pounds.
I've just been looking in my dictionaries for the word "anacrusis" and it's not in my Collins Encyclopaedia of Music published by Chancellor Press. This seems to be a glaring omission - it's not exactly an uncommon term, and even if it was, it's supposed to be an encyclopaedia not a pocket dictionary
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