Expression Elements
Additional commentary on specific expression elements will be provided in later versions as necessary.
medium of performance of musical content
MARC recommendations from the MLA Encoding Standards Subcommittee's MARC Cataloging Inefficiency Task Group:
- For new bibliographic records, prefer recording medium of performance in field 382 over field 048. In existing records, generally do not update field 048 unless directed by local policy.
This recommendation is reflected in the MLA Best Practices in the RDA Toolkit.
form of musical notation
The October 2024 Toolkit update included the addition of four new terms to add to the RDA Form of Musical Notation Vocabulary Encoding Scheme. These new terms, which are linked to images for visual reference, included chord symbols, chord diagrams, figured bass notation, and shape note notation. These terms can all be recorded as controlled vocabulary terms in field 348 $c.
format of notated music
The October 2025 Toolkit update included the addition of the term keyboard reduction score to the RDA Format of Notated Music Vocabulary Encoding Scheme to describe instrumental scores in which the instrumental accompaniment has been reduced for keyboard or another chordal instrument. This term can be recorded as a controlled vocabulary term in fields 300 and 348 $a.
| 300 | 1 keyboard reduction score (28 pages) ; $c 31 cm | |
| 348 | keyboard reduction score $2 rdafnm | |
| 382 | 01 | flute $n 1 $a keyboard instrument$n 1 $2 lcmpt |
| Work originally written for flute and orchestra; orchestral accompaniment reduced for keyboard instrument. | ||