Style Book

Reference books:

The Chicago Manual of Style, 13th Edition
A Manual for Writers, 5th Edition, Kate L. Turabian
Writing About Music, D. Kern Holoman

 

Abbreviations Spacing between abbreviations using two periods.

• N.Y. (no space)
• T. S. Eliot (space between initials)

Abbreviate United States when used as an adjective; otherwise, spell out.

• The U.S. army
• The United States and China concluded talks.

a cappella Lowercase, italicized. (Holoman)
Try to avoid; use "unaccompanied" instead.

Abstract pitches Capitalized, without quotation marks; keys are always capitalized, and
are hyphenated only if they key precedes a generic title.

• Beethoven’s famous C-Major Symphony ends in C Major.

• From this point, the basses maintain a D pedal tone.

• The soprano part ascends twice to g2.

 

Active voice Use whenever possible.

 

all of Choral Journal style calls for dropping the "of" when it follows "all," except when "of" is followed by a pronoun.

• From "all of the pieces" to "all the pieces"

• "All of us want to go camping.

 

and/or In general, use "or" instead of "and/or."

 

biblical lowercase (Chicago 7.84)

 

Boosey & Hawkes All references to music published by Boosey & Hawkes in the United States should use the ampersand (&), not the word "and."

 

Britishisms Avoid them. (Holoman 2.62)

 

call-and-response Hyphenate.

 

Capitalization

-- of Associations & Conferences (Chicago 7.58)

Full official names of associations, societies, unions, meetings, and conferences are capitalized; "A" or "the" preceding a name is lowercase pr in textual matter, even when part of the official title.

• Democratic National Convention

• the national convention

• the convention

• ACDA national office

• 1993 San Antonio National Convention

• San Antonio Convention

• ACDA National Convention

• our national convention

-- of regions (Chicago 7.34)

Certain nouns and some adjectives designating parts of the world or regions of a continent or a country are generally capitalized. Descriptive adjectives not part of an accepted appellation are lowercase:

• Central America; central Europe

• North Atlantic; northern Atlantic

• southwestern United States; Southwestern desert

 

-- of geographical areas (Chicago 7.35)

Lowercase unless referring to political rather than geographical divisions.

• Western Europe (political)

• western Europe (geographical)

 

-- of choral ensembles (Chicago 7.58)

Capitalize the following group names if they are shortened versions of formal titles:

• Concert Choir, A Cappella Choir, Festival Singers, etc.

• the Chorale, Singers, etc.

• lowercase "choir" or "chorus" as generic designations

 

-- of civil, military, religious, and professional titles (and nobility) preceding a personal name (Chicago 7.15)

• President Johnson

• Emperor Maximilian (but, the emperor Maximilian)

Exception: some titles of a more generic nature that are not capitalized:

• James J. Jones is in his sixth year as choral director.

 

-- of professional titles following a personal name

In formal usage, such as acknowledgements and lists of contributors, titles following a personal name are also usually capitalized. A title used alone, in place of a personal name, is capitalized in such contexts as toasts or in
formal introductions (Chicago 7.16)

• Thomas Moore is Director of Choral Activities.

• We thank C. R. Dodwell, Fellow and Librarian of Trinity College, Cambridge

• Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.

In text matter, titles following a personal name or used alone in place of a name are, with few exceptions, lowercase (Chicago 7.17)

• William Henry Seward, secretary of state

• Secretary (of State) Seward

• the secretary of state

• the secretary

Exceptions include : Named professorships and fellowships are usually capitalized where they appear, especially if they include a personal name; i.e., Ferdinand Schevill, Distinguished Service Professor, but Fulbright scholar.

 

Centuries

--as adjectives (Turabian 2.53)

Hyphenate such references only when they serve as adjectives, as in the first example below:

• seventeenth-century literature

• the eighteenth century

• the mid-twentieth century

• the twenty-first century

 

-- capitalization (Turabian 2.53 and 4.7)

References to particular centuries should be spelled out, uncapitalized (within text). A rule of thumb for capitalizing compound words (when such capitalization is called for) is always to capitalize the first element. Capitalize the second element if it is a noun or proper adjective, or if it has equal force with the first element.

• Twentieth-Century Literature in the Making

• Computer-aided Graphics: A Manual for Video-Game Lovers

 

CD notes Use this in the CD Reviews column when referring to the booklet which comes with CDs.

 

choir Treat as singular. (The same applies to chorus, singers, etc). Also, lowercase.

 

chorus Treat as singular. (The same applies to choir, singers, etc). Also, lowercase.

 

Clichés Try to avoid using clichés like "singers and audience alike," etc.

 

Colons

• Use in introductory phrases (see Introductory phrase) and introducing

long quotes preceded by incomplete sentences (see Quotations).

• Colons should be placed outside quotation marks or parentheses.

• When the item quoted ends with a colon, the colon is dropped (Chicago 5.81)

• Italicize colon following an italicized word.

 

Commas

-- in a series (Chicago 5.50)

In a series consisting of three or more elements, the elements are separated by commas. When a conjunction joins the last two elements in a series, a comma is used before the conjunction.

• Can lyrical, narrative, rhetorical, and expository conventions. . . . .

 

-- after a date (Chicago 5.60, with adaptations by Choral Journal )

Do not use a comma after a date, unless it is followed by a proper noun (or unless the lack of a comma creates confusion).

• In 1976 he . . .

• In 1976, Volkswagen built a new model . . .

Chicago 5.60 says no commas are used in the following example to mark off the year; however, Choral Journal style calls for using them.

• On October 6, 1966, Longo arrived in Bologna.

 

-- after italicized words Italicize comma following an italicized word.

 

Common prayers Choral Journal style lists the following as common prayers:

• Mass movements

• Anglican service movements; e.g., Te Deum, Magnificat

All common works listed in this category are kept in Roman type, not italicized.

 

Compound adjectives The hyphen is used in a compound adjective, one element of which consists of two words or of a hyphenated word. (Chicago 5.94 and 6.26)

• twenty-four-voice choir

• non-English-speaking countries

 

Compound words in Titles A rule of thumb to use in capitalizing compound words in titles is

- always capitalize the first element

- capitalize the second element if it is a noun or proper adjective, or if it has equal force with the first element. (Chicago 7.124 and Turabian 4.7)

• Twentieth-Century Literature

• Risk-Taker

Do not capitalize the second element if it modifies the first element, or if both elements constitute a single word.

• English-speaking People

• Medium-sized Library

• Re-establish

 

Computer language Computer language is written as follows:

• e-mail

• Web site

• e-mail and Web site addresses are preceded and followed by < >

as in <emailaddress> or <www.webaddress>

 

Convention See above, Capitalization of associations and conferences.

 

CPP/Belwin Any references to this company in the Choral Journal must include the full name, which is: CPP/Belwin, Inc., Music Publishers

 

di Lasso (Orlando) Use di Lasso, not Lassus or Lasso.

 

Dynamic nuances Italicize (e.g., crescendo , decrescendo , pianissimo , etc.)

 

Dvorák Choral Journal style.

 

Ellipsis

- A continuous ellipsis should not be split between lines. (Turabian 5.33)

- In general, no ellipsis points should be used: (Turabian 5.27)

• before or after an obviously incomplete sentence

• before or after a run-in quotation of a complete sentence

• before a block quotation beginning with a complete sentence or an incomplete sentence that completes a sentence in the text

• after a block quotation ending with a complete sentence

 

Em Dash

-- to denote missing word (Chicago 5.96)

Use three em dashes (with space on each side) to denote a whole missing word in quoted material.

• A vessel that left the ——— in July . . .

(Em Dash: on Apple keyboard = option, shift, hyphen keys simultaneously)

 

-- in bibliographies (Chicago 5.96 and 15.94-97)

Use three em dashes in bibliographies to indicate same author as

preceding entry. (See Chicago 15.94 for example)

 

En Dash

-- in inclusive numbers (Chicago 5.92)

The principal use of the en dash is to indicate continuing, or inclusive,

numbers: dates, time, or reference numbers.

(en dash = command [Apple] or control [PC] + minus key from number pad)

• 1968–72

• May–June 1967

Exceptions:

• from 1968 to 1972 (never from 1968–72)

• from May to June 1967 (never from May–June 1967)

• during 1863 to 1864

• during 1863 and 1864 (never during 1863–64)

• between 1968 and 1970 (never between 1968–70)

• between 10:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.

 

Endnotes

-- author’s initials

According to Choral Journal style, authors’ full names must be given in all endnotes. An exception can be made, however, if two initials appear before an author’s surname.

• C. J. Smith (not C. Smith)

 

-- book (Turabian 9.23)

• Name of author(s)

• Title and, if any, subtitle

• Name of editor, compiler, or translator, if any

• Name of author of preface, introduction, or foreword

• Number or name of edition, if other than the first

• Name of series in which book appears, if any, with volume or number in a series

• Facts of publication: place of publication, name of publishing agency, date of publication

• Page number(s) of the specific citation

 

-- dissertation citation (unpublished material) (Turabian 9.114)

• 1Sandra Landis Gogel, "A Grammar of Old Hebrew" (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1985), 46-50.

 

-- encyclopedias and dictionaries (Turabian 9.96)

For well-known reference books, such as the New Grove, Choral Journal style is to cite the author, if known, and the name of the article first, followed by the title of the encyclopedia or dictionary and information about the edition and the date of publication.

• 1J. W. Cosyns-Carr, "Blake, William," in Encyclopedia Britannica, 1980, 178.

Can omit facts of publication (place of publication, publisher, date) when citing from well-known reference books, but edition must be specified if it’s not the first. For less well-known, alphabetically arranged works, give the item (not the volume or page no.) preceded by "s.v." (Chicago 17.62)

• Columbia Encyclopedia, 3d ed., s.v. "Cold War." (Turabian 11.42)

 

-- journals and periodicals (Turabian 9.83)

First, full references to an article in a journal or periodical include the following, in this order:

- Name of author(s)

- Title of article

- Name of periodical

- Volume number or issue

- Publication date, if any, in parentheses

- Page number(s)

• 1 Elias Folker, "Report on Research in the Capital Markets," Journal of Finance 39, supplement (May 1964): 15.

Note : this type of endnote entry uses a colon before page numbers.

 

-- name of editor, translator, or compiler (Turabian 9.39)

Place ed., trans., or comp., after the title and before the name.

• 1 Edward Chiera, They Wrote on Clay , ed. George G. Cameron (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1938), 42.

Note : when there is more than one editor, translator, or compiler, use the same form—do not use the plural, such as "eds."

 

entitled Do not use. Instead, use titled.

• Hemingway’s new book, titled A Farewell to Arms , recounts . . .

 

Eras Capitalize eras in music history, whether in noun or adjectival form.

• The Baroque era preceded the Romantic period and the work of Romantic musicians.

 

festschrift Lowercase, not italicized

 

folk song / folk-song Two separate, unhyphenated words. Hyphenate when used as an adjective.

• arrangements of folk songs

• folk-song arrangements

 

Foreign words All foreign words, including Italian musical terms such as allegro, andante , dal capo , poco a poco , crescendo , p , mf f , etc. should be in italics.

The following brackets should be used when citing a translation of an expression or a title: [ ]

• Hvad est du dog skjøn [How Fair is Thy Face]

 

Geographical areas Lowercase unless referring to political rather than simply geographical divisions. (Chicago 7.35)

• Western Europe (political)

• western Europe (geographical)

 

Italics and punctuation Italicize the following punctuation marks when they follow italicized material: colons, commas, periods, semicolons

Do not italicize parentheses enclosing italicized material.

When typing a word in italics, leave one space after the word if the last letter leans over onto the next un-italicized word (such as f’s & t’s) to avoid the italicized word running onto the next word, and looking like there is no space between the words.

 

Italics and titles of musical compositions Italicize all music that exists as a separate entity, no matter what the
length of the piece, unless it is a Mass movement or common prayer, which are kept in Roman type (See Common prayers).

Use quotation marks for separate parts of works.

Italicize translated titles (e.g., from Johannes Passion to St. John Passion )

 

Impressionism Capitalize when it appears as a noun. Lowercase when it suggests an attitude or philosophical orientation; i.e., impressionistic. This same rule applies to other periods of music history. (Holoman 2.37, 2.38)

 

Introductory phrase A formal introductory phrase concluding with "thus" or "the following" is usually followed by a colon. (Chicago 10.16)

• Henry Fielding, at the beginning of his History of Tom Jones, defines it thus: (then comes the quote).

 

Josquin des Prez This is how it should appear in the Choral Journal. (Holoman)

 

Juilliard Use this spelling for The Juilliard School of Music.

 

Morten Lauridsen Use this spelling for the composer.

 

Letters to the Editor Use "Letters to the Editor" even when only one letter appears.

 

Lieder Choral Journal style is to uppercase Lieder.

 

Lyrics When dealing with the lyrics in a song, insert a slash with a space on either side between separate lines. (Chicago, 14th ed., 10.11)

• Row, row, row your boat / Gently down the stream

 

Major and Minor When a key is used preceding a genre, it becomes an adjectival construction and requires a hyphen. (Holoman 1.14)

• A-Major Sonata

• A-Minor Sonata

• Piano Concerto in A Minor

 

Mass Capitalize when referring to the Service.

 

Metronome markings Use M.M. (small caps).

 

Mezzo-soprano Hyphenate.

 

"multi" Compound words using "multi" are not hyphenated. (Turabian 3.34)

• multicultural

 

musica ficta Two words, italicized.

 

Musical examples Two words. Never "music examples"

 

Music-making Hyphenate.

 

notes inégales Italicize.

 

Numbered streets Spell the names of numbered streets under one hundred. (Chicago 8.61)

• Fifth Avenue

• Twenty-third Street

(Choral Journal style calls for lowercasing the second number in the address.)

 

Numbers

-- exact (Chicago 8.3 and 8.4)

In nonscientific text matter, numbers of less than one hundred should be spelled, and numbers of one hundred or more should be expressed in figures, except for round numbers (approximate figures in hundreds, thousands, or
millions should be spelled).

• The first edition ran to 2,670 pages in three volumes, with 160 engravings.

• 2,500 should be spelled twenty-five hundred

• Officials estimated that forty thousand were killed.

Exceptions: Year numbers and numbers referring to parts of a book, which, except in rare circumstances, are expressed in figures.

• Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.

• For further data refer to figure 34 and table 8.

• In measures 4-8, the composer writes . . .

 

-- in a series (Turabian 2.31)

When numbers above and below one hundred appear in a series or group ofnumbers (each of which applies to the same kind of thing), apply the same rule to all the numbers.

• Of the group surveyed, 186 students had studied French, 142 had studied Spanish, and 36 had studied Latin.

 

-- initial (Chicago 8.9)

At the beginning of a sentence any number that would ordinarily be written in figures is spelled.

• One hundred ten men and 103 women will receive degrees.

 

-- continued numbers (Turabian 2.67)

Refers to the first and last number of a sequence of numerical designations (i.e., page numbers and inclusive year dates).

 

First Number Second Number Examples

• Less than 100 Use all digits 3-10; 71-72

• 100 or mult. of Use all digits 100-104; 600-613 100

• 101 through 109 Use changed part 107-8; 505-17; 1002- (in mult. of 100) only, omitting unneeded zeros

• 110 through 199 Use two digits, or 321-25; 415-432; 1536-38 (in mult. of 100) more as needed 11564-68; 13792-803

But if numbers are four digits long and three digits change, use all digits.

• These cities were discussed on pages 2-14, 45-46, 200-210, 308-309.

• He lost everything in the years 1933-36 of the Great Depression.

• This chapter covers the Napoleonic victories of 1800-1801.

 

Passive voice Avoid almost entirely, except when unavoidable.

Passive: The piece is based on an old Russian folk song.
Active: The composer based the piece on an old Russian folk song.

 

Parentheses Do not italicize parentheses when they enclose italicized material.

 

Part-singing, part-song Hyphenate

 

Percentages The figure preceding either percent or % is never spelled out. (Turabian 2.38)

• 15 percent

• 55%

 

Place names
Certain nouns and some adjectives designating parts of the world or regions of a continent are generally capitalized. Descriptive adjectives not part of an accepted appellation are lowercase. (Chicago 7.34)

• East, Middle Eastern, but eastern (direction or locality). (Note: Middle Eastern is not hyphenated.)

• Central America; central Europe

• North Atlantic; northern Atlantic

 

Quotations

-- changing (Chicago 10.6)

Direct quotations must reproduce exactly not only the wording but the spelling, capitalization, and the punctuation of the original. The initial letter, however, may be changed to a capital or a lowercase letter, and a final punctuation mark may be changed to make the quotation fit in the syntax of the text.

 

- from modern book, journal or newspaper

An obvious typographical error may be silently corrected, but in a passage from an older work or from a manuscript source, any idosyncrasy of spelling should be observed.

 

-- from older works

An author may consider it desirable to modernize spelling and punctuation for the sake of clarity. When he does this, he should so inform the reader, either in a footnote or in a book containing such quotations, by a general statement in the preface or elsewhere.

 

-- introducing long quotes (Chicago 10.18)

A quotation consisting of more than one complete sentence is usually introduced by a colon if the text preceding the quotation is not a complete sentence, but a phrase like:

• As the chairman of the committee suggested:

• And again:

 

-- introducing one-sentence quotes (Chicago 10.18)

If the quotation is only one sentence, a comma follows such a phrase instead of a colon. A colon is usually not used if the introductory text is a complete sentence:

• The chairman of the committee suggested an alternative.

• What, you might ask, are the alternatives?

 

-- with punctuation

 

colons and semicolons (Chicago 5.73 and 5.81)

The colon and semicolon should be placed outside the quotation marks or parentheses. When the quoted matter ends with a colon or semicolon, the colon or semicolon is dropped.

 

commas (Chicago 5.67)

When a comma is needed at the end of material enclosed in quotation marks, parentheses, or brackets, the commas should be placed inside the quotation marks but outside the parentheses or brackets.

• See Brighton’s comments on "political experience," in this volume.

 

periods (Chicago 5.10)

Periods should be placed within the quotation marks except when single quotation marks are used to set off special terms. When parentheses or brackets are used to enclose an independent sentence, the period belongs inside.

If the enclosed matter is part of an including sentence, the period should be placed outside the parentheses or brackets.

• He had not defined the term ‘categorical imperative’.

• "I have just read ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’ "

• Forelli insisted on rewriting the paragraph. (I had encountered this intransigence on another occasion.)

• The driver glanced at his rear-view mirror to observe the passenger (the one in the derby hat).

 

Rachmaninov Choral Journal style.

 

Recordings For records, broadcasts, etc., give a date if you can find it.

• D. Kern Holoman, jacket notes to Hector Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon Digital Stereo 410 895-1, 1984).

 

"re"-words Except in the following special situations, all words formed with the "re" prefix are spelled solid (except if main word is capitalized). (Chicago, table p. 136)

• reintroduce

Exceptions: To distinguish homonyms, such as re-cover and re-create.

 

Semicolon - Should be placed outside the quotation marks or parentheses. When the matter quoted ends with a semicolon, the semicolon is dropped.(Chicago 5.73)

- Italicize semicolon following an italicized word.

 

sight-reading Hyphenate.

 

singers Treat as singular. (The same applies to choir, chorus, etc.)

 

spiritual Do not capitalize.

 

State names Abbreviate state manes in lists; in running text or addresses not given in outline form, spell state names.

No space between letters (i.e., N.J. or N.Y.)

• ACDA national office, Post Office Box 2720, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73101-2720.

• ACDA National Office


P. O. Box 2720

Oklahoma City, OK 73101-2720

 

Superscript The superscript numeral follows a punctuation mark, if any, except the dash, which it precedes. (Turabian 9.9)

• . . . elsewhere.2

 

that/which Use "that" for restrictive clauses and "which" for non-restrictive clauses.

Commas should separate non-restrictive clauses from the rest of the sentence.

• The painting that won first prize is hanging in the foyer.

• The use of seat belts, which can prevent serious injury, is now mandatory.

 

Time of day Except when A.M. or P.M. (small caps) is used, time of day should be spelled in text matter. Never add in the morning after A.M. or in the evening after P.M., and never use o’clock with either A.M. or P.M.or with figures. Midnight is written as 12:00 A.M. and noon is written 12:00 noon (meridian). (Turabian 2.57)

 

Titles of works

-- foreign words or titles (Turabian 4.33 comes closest)

Titles of foreign works are followed by the title’s English translation, which is enclosed in brackets without italics or quotation marks.

• Hvad est du dog skjøn [How Fair is Thy Face]

Italicize titles of foreign works translated into English

• Johannes Passion to St. John Passion

 

-- musical compositions (Holoman)

• Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E-flat ("St. Anne")

• Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

• Death and Transfiguration, Don Giovanni

• "Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring"

• Piano Concerto no. 5 (Emperor), or the Emperor Concerto, by Beethoven

• "Wohin" from Die Schöne Müllerin

• famous prayers, such as Ave Maria, Te Deum, etc., are in Roman type with no quotes.

 

Titles Italicize titles of all works, no matter how small; never italicize movements or sections.

 

titled Use instead of entitled.

• Hemingway’s new book, titled A Farewell to Arms, is interesting.

 

unaccompanied Generally, use this term instead of a cappella

 

Voice-leading Hyphenate.

• In view of this, the technique of voice-leading in the European sense is irrelevant.

 

while/though Use "while" to introduce a clause if you are referring to time, otherwise use "though".

• While the basses are intoning the main theme, the sopranos enter with a quiet Counterpoint.

• Though the basses carry the main theme, the harmony remains static.

© 2008 ACDA