Three things your mother says you shouldn't do.

Did the history of the hot-air balloon begin with a sheep, a duck and a chicken?

One day in 1777, Joseph Montgolfier was relaxing in front of the fire with his laundry drying nearby, wasn't he?

Did he notice that one of his shirts or suits had started to float upwards?

Why did he throw some small pieces of paper into the fireplace?

Who loved science and wanted to become an inventor?

Did he start trying to think of a craft that would be able to capture smoke and heat and lift people off the ground?

What did he begin performing experiments on?

It was heat and not smoke that had the power to lift things, wasn't it?

When did they present their first hot-air balloon?

Was the first hot-air balloon made from paper and cloth?

The Montgolfier brothers were too nervous to go up in the balloon themselves, weren't they?

Whom did they put in the basket that hung below the balloon for the two-mile journey?

Who gathered to watch the balloon floating high in the sky?

Did the first flight consisting of human passengers take place in Paris or in London on 21st November 1783?

Clarify the topic and narrow it down. Keep in mind that a paper about the history of the trumpet could end up becoming a Ph.D. dissertation-scale project entailing years of research. More than likely, such a general topic already has numerous published articles and books which are available through your university library collection or Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The key is to refine your topic and see what is possible given the time constraints of your semester and the library's resources. Ask your professor for suggestions if you have difficulty identifying an interesting topic.

You will need to engage in the four step research process that is outlined in the Webpage Guide to Music Research:

Step One: Clarify & Consult

Step Two: Identify & Evaluate

Step Three: Refine & Redirect

Step Four: Note & Cite

After locating, reading, and taking notes from numerous sources, you are ready to write.