If you have already gone through the section of the music tutorial titled "Where are Music Materials Located in the Library?" then you can see that one way we organize materials in the library is by their physical format. The scores and books about music are on the 5th floor and the audio/visual music materials (CD's, videos and DVD's) are on the 2nd floor.

Within each of these formats there is a subject classification order for how the materials are arranged on the shelves. Our library -- like most university libraries in the United States -- uses the Library of Congress Classification system. Once you get familiar with it, you can find your way around in any academic library you might visit. Also, there is a high probability that the actual "call number" for an individual book or score will be the same in most academic libraries. Let's look more closely at the Library of Congress Classification for music.

Library of Congress Classification for Music and Books on Music

The Library of Congress Classification system uses letters and numbers to group materials by their subject. It's easy to remember the classification area for music since the Library of Congress Classification uses the letter "M" for all music materials. Whenever you want to find the music section in any academic library, just look for the "M's".

The Library of Congress Classification for music has three subsections: M, ML and MT.

M = Music Scores/Recordings

The first subsection - "M" - is used for scores and recordings. This area is for the music itself. It starts with anthologies of music and composers' collected works, followed by sections for instrumental music then vocal music. This means that you will find scores and recordings grouped by their instrumentation.

Some of the music anthologies and collected works of individual composers are huge sets with many volumes. And some of them do not have a table of contents, making it difficult to find the piece you are looking for. The two books listed below can help you find pieces in the large music sets and collections.

• ML 113 H52 1980
  Heyer, Anna Harriet.
  Historical sets, collected editions, and monuments of music; a guide to their contents.
• ML 113 C45
  Charles, Sydney Robinson.
  A handbook of music and music literature in sets and series.

Listed below are classification numbers for some of the largest categories of scores and recordings in the "M" subclass:

• M 3 = Collected works of individual composers (big classical music names like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, etc.)
• M 20 - M 39 = Piano music
• M 40 - M 44 = Violin music
• M 60 - M 111 = Wind Instrument music
• M 125 - M 129 = Guitar music
• M 177 - M 990 = Chamber music
• M 1000 - M 1356 = Orchestra/Band music
• M 1366 = Jazz
• M 1500 = Operas -the recordings or full scores
• M 1503 = Vocal scores for operas and musical comedy
• M 1619 - M 1621 = Art songs
• M 1626 - M 1853 = Music from various world cultures
• M 1630.18 = Popular/Rock music

ML = Literature About Music

The ML classification section includes:

• Directories with names and addresses of music-related businesses and organizations [many of these are in the REFERENCE SECTION on the 2nd floor]
• Music dictionaries and encyclopedias
• Biographies of musicians
• Music history and criticism
• Ethnomusicology

Listed below are some classification numbers for frequently requested subjects in the ML subclass:

• ML198 - ML 360 = History of music from various world cultures
• ML 385 - ML 429 = Biographies of musicians
• ML 3790 = Music business
• ML 3795 = Careers in music

MT = Music Instruction and Study

The MT classification section includes:

• Music appreciation
• Music theory and composition
• Musical instrument instruction
• Music education

Danette Cook Adamson
dcadamson@csupomona.edu
9/2008

Back to Music Tutorial Contents