MUSIC THEORY
WRITING ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES

1. All writing assignments must be word processed.

2. They should be double spaced.

3. Proofread, proofread, proofread, and get someone else to proofread.

4. Use the spell check feature of your word processor.

5. If you have a choice of font, use Times, Times New Roman, or Helvetica, 12 pt. size.

6. Do not use contractions (such as don’t or can’t), except in a direct quotation.

7. Titles of major works should be Italicized (for example: Messiah, or Symphony No. 5). Titles of smaller works or individual movements should be enclosed in quotation marks (for example: “Hallelujah” or “Allegro Vivace”.

8. Footnotes, except for direct quotations, should not be necessary for most reviews and research papers done for this class. If you use a quotation and it is more than three lines it should be single spaced and indented, and listed in a works cited page(s) at the end of the paper. You must also include a bibliography page(s) of all sources consulted on the paper.

9. For this class you should use the Modern Language Association style of bibliographic citation. I get very suspicious when I read flowery prose or technical terminology I have never heard you use in real life conversation. To use someone else’s words without crediting them is plagiarism and a violation of the honor code, which could subject you to the appropriate punishments. If you are uncertain about how to do this, go to the Writing at Longwood web page <http://www.longwood.edu/english/wal/>. This site contains excellent information as well as reference tools, such as online dictionaries, thesauri, and other resources.

10. Articles from large encyclopedias and dictionaries are often signed by their authors, who should be listed as the authors in any footnotes and bibliography. The encyclopedia or dictionary may have a general editor who should also be listed. For example,

Brandel, Rose “Africa,” Harvard Dictionary of Music, second edition, Willi Apel, editor. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1972.

In this example it is important to note that even though Willi Apel’s name is on the cover of the book, he is not the author, and therefore his name should not be listed first. The author of the individual article should be given credit. Similarly, Stanley Sadie is not the author of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. He is the editor, and his name should appear in the citation, but it should be listed alphabetically according to the last name of the author of the article. The authors’ names are often given by their initials or an abbreviation, which you will need to look up in an index, either at the beginning or end of the of book, or in a separate volume in the case of a multiple volume set.

11. Do not use the term “song” unless someone sings or the word “song” is specifically part of the title. You may call it a composition, a work, a piece, an opus, or even a number.

12. When you cite information from an on-line web site, list whatever bibliographic information is available (author’s name, if it is given; the title of the site; the date of publication; if given). The last item is the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) enclosed in angle brackets to distinguish them from the text and show exactly where they begin and end (for example: <http://www.longwood.edu/music>

13. Proofread, proofread, proofread!