It's Easy!
1) Search for articles in more than one database, and use the databases suggested by your subject librarian.
2) Know that some databases index full article text, some index abstracts, and some index only citations. All are useful!
3) Try searching several different keywords. Don't be shy! Keep a keyword list and keep trying.
4) Once you find an article, click "view full text" or "PDF" to read it.
5) Don't see a full-text link? Click SU Links 
to find full-text in another database, find it in print in the library, or request the article through inter-library loan.
Many databases have a search limiter that says "Peer Reviewed."
Some databases instead have a limiter of "Scholarly Journals," or "Scholarly Articles." The majority of articles that are scholarly are peer-reviewed, but not necessarily all of them.
To confirm if an article is peer reviewed, look up the journal name in:
Music Scholarly Literature Databases
Additional Scholarly Databases in Related Fields