Writing English B: 11/13 board notes & style rules for artists' and musicians' names, titles of artwork & pieces of music

Hello! 

How are you? In this post are two (2) things: For one, the board notes for our class on 11/13, and for another, some stylistic rules for writing titles of works of art and pieces of music. 


To begin with, at the top are the main board notes. Below are the other notes: 

Now let's look at how to write titles of artwork and pieces of music! 

1. Names of artists, musicians, & musical groups

Names of artists, singers, and names of musicians (either their real or stage names) are written naturally, with only the first letters of their personal, and family, names in capital letters (大文字). For example:

claude monet   Claude Monet

Wolfgang Amadeus mozart   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

KUSAMA yayoi   Kusama Yayoi

taylor Swift   Taylor Swift

Eric clapton   Eric Clapton

SAKAMOTO Ryuichi   Sakamoto Ryuichi

Stage names or nicknames of musical artists, and names of musical groups, unless the artists state differently, also follow the same pattern. 

Lady Gaga
Freddie Mercury 
Prince
Aiko

The Beatles (only at the beginning of sentences; when in sentences - the Beatles; same for any other bands with "the" as the beginning of their names) 
Queen
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Babymetal 

2. Titles of works of art & music

Titles of paintings or sculptures are in italics, with the most important words in a multi-word title with capitalized first letters. For example: 

Mona Lisa 
Girl with the Pearl Earrings 
The Thinker (only at the beginning of sentences; when in sentences - the Thinker; same for any other works of art with "the" as the beginning of their titles) 
Painting #1

Titles of pieces of music are a little more complicated. Complex works of classical music and jazz, such as symphonies, concertos, suites, tone poems, and operas, are in italics, in English or even from another language. For example: 

Symphony No. 9
Concerto for Flute and Violin 
Trois Gymnopédies
Tristan und Isolde

Rhapsody in Blue
Porgy and Bess
The Far Eastern Suite (see the note above about works of art with "the" in their titles - pieces of music follow the same pattern) 

However - titles of songs, especially popular songs, are in quotes (" "). For example: 

"Like a Rolling Stone"
"Bohemian Rhapsody" 
"Gangnam Style"
"Gimme Chocolate!!" 

But - titles of musical albums are in italics. For example: 

Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the biggest-selling single off their 1975 album A Night at the Opera. 

The Beatles' final album Abbey Road had some of their last great songs, such as "Come Together," "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," and "Here Comes the Sun," and the Beatles as a band ended their time together on a high point.

I hope these notes help you with the writing of names of artists, musicians, and bands, and titles of works of art and music. 

See you next week!

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