A Short Guide to Writing About Music correlates the skills acquired in music composition, playing, and studying to the skills needed for successful writing -- commitment, practice, revision, balance, and control. This writing guide offers clear instruction and a wide range of writing tasks -- from reaction papers and concert reviews, to program notes and abstracts, to persuasive essays and research papers. Many student and professional writing samples are included to illustrate these assignments, with accompanying commentary and suggestions for students. Highlights of the second editon: New research paper and opinion paper examples provide fresh models of successful writing; A new subsection on postcolonial criticism broadens the scope of music analysis and interpretation; Treatment of rock, pop, and world music coverage has been expanded; An expanded section on citation formats provides readers with more examples of how to properly cite sources from a variety of genres (and countries/languages). - Back cover.