If you have the excellent fortune of studying music at school you might like to use MyGateway databases when you’re doing some research or analysing a piece of music in its historical context.

1) Oxford Music Online
This is a database bristling with the most well-respected music reference titles, including The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, The Oxford Companion to Music and The Oxford Dictionary of Music. Apart from a huge collection of articles and biographical entries, tools also include timelines,  topical guides and research resources. You need to enter your library card number and surname to access the database.

2) Naxos Music Library and Naxos Jazz Library
Wanting to listen to what you’re studying? Whether it’s the Brandenburg concerto in D Major, or Keith Jarrett, you should find what you’re looking for. Again, these databases require your library card number and surname.

3) Allmusic.com
Heaps of info on popular music, including bios, discographies, reviews, recommendations. Definitely more information than you could possibly want, organised in a very easy to use format.

Also have a look at the popular topics classical page; it’s got links to other websites, recommended journals and lots of advice on how to find classical stuff in the library (since it can be a bit of a mission).

ps: totally confused about the difference between an acciaccatura and an appoggiatura? Don’t laugh, these can be important little things. Music theory books are to be found here on the catalogue.