Performer Guides

Use this guide to find resources for music performance, including LC call number browsing ranges for repertoire, books, and journals..

Can't find what you are looking for?

Email Kate Linton the Music Librarian for Instruction and Outreach for research assistance and searching strategies.

Library Search

Check out the Library Search which finds print and electronic items, including journal and newspaper articles, book chapters, books, reviews, legal documents, and much more. Note: Due to licensing restrictions, some content is only available to current students, faculty, and staff.

Search help: https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/searchhelp/

Finding Repertoire for the Violin:

If you're looking for new repertoire to perform, it is often helpful to browse the Music Library's scores. The following call number ranges are for violin music; individual works within these numbers are arranged alphabetically by composer.

M40-44, Violin alone
M217-223, Violin and piano
M351, String trios
M452, String quartets
M1012, Violin with orchestra (full score)
M1013, Violin with orchestra (piano reduction)
M1112, Violin with string orchestra (full score)
M1113, Violin with string orchestra (piano reduction)

Excerpts, etudes, and instructional materials are classified in the MT range and housed in the same location as books about music (MLs):

MT260, General works
MT262, Systems and methods
MT265, Studies and exercises
MT266, Orchestral studies (excerpts)

Selected Books on the Violin and Violinists

Purple cover of The Cambridge Companion to the Violin with color picture of a violin next to a piece of sheet music.

The Cambridge Companion to the Violin

Cover of Bach's Solo Violin Works with color picture of two violinists playing on a stone balcony next to a large flower arrangement.

Bach's Solo Violin Works

Black book cover of The Violin with close-up color photograph of a violin.

The Violin: A Social History of the World's Most Versatile Instrument

Teal and black cover of violin secrets with black and white photo of a violin.

Violin Secrets: 101 Strategies for the Advanced Violinist

Pale cream cover of The Canon of Violin Literature with a picture of a violin.

The Canon of Violin Literature: A Performer's Resource

Pale lavender cover of The Early Violin and Viola with drawing of a performer in Baroque costume with wig playing a violin or viola.

The Early Violin and Viola: A Practical Guide

Black and cream cover of America's Concertmasters with black and white photographs of various concertmasters in the background.

America's Concertmasters

White cover of the Beethoven Violin Sonatas with a sepia photograph of a violin and text in blue.

The Beethoven Violin Sonatas: History, Criticism, Performance

Pale lavender cover with color photograph of a violin.

The Violin and Viola: History, Structure, Techniques

Black cover of the Contemporary Violin with purple silhouetted image of a violin.

The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques

White and maize cover of The Violin: A Research and Information Guide with a black and white photo of the scroll of a violin resting on a piece of sheet music.

The Violin: A Research and Information Guide

Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto

Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces

Brahms's Violin Sonatas: Style, Structure, Performance

The Sound of Memory: Themes from a Violinist's Life

The Fractured Self: selected German letters of the Australian-born violinist Alma Moodie, 1918-1943

Last Updated: Sep 5, 2025 9:56 AM
URL: https://researchguides.library.vanderbilt.edu/performer_guides
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Subjects: Music

Tags: brass, guitar, harp, piano, plucked strings, singing, strings, woodwinds

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