Hi All,
I have seen different sheet music sites listed on the Resources forum. I have visited some pay per download sites, subscription sites, and also free sites. I would like to know what sites people here prefer / use / recommend. How do the different sites compare as far as accuracy, variety, print quality, and price?

Thanks for you opinions.

Any opinions?

I know there are a bunch I've bookmarked (mostly from the standard google search) however.. I find that, at least for me, sheet music is like shoes to my wife. Every time I goto the store I seem to want to get some

I've got, as most do, quite the collection. Now I've stopped for a while since I'm determined to actually learn how to play a whole bunch of them before buying anymore...

Prices tend to be on par with getting the "real" thing and since I love art / advertising I can always frame them later on or have a portfolio around of the music I like to see/view..


- SC

I tend to order my sheet music in hard copy from either SheetMusicPlus or Amazon, I prefer to have a book rather than a PDF, since I find that most of the time, it looks better on other page that way. One exception (for me) is that I often buy sheet music from David Nevue's website, his sheet music always looks very nice. And besides, that's the only way to get it!

One thing to note is that there are some sheet music sharing websites (or at least one that I know of) that are of questionable leagality. Generally, even for music that has expired copyrights, if something was scanned in from a score book, then most likely that's a copyright violation. For classical music that is no longer under copyright, you can get free versions of it, but generally you get better quality sheet music (and more reliable transcriptions) by paying for a version from a reputable music publisher. Personally, I am happy to pay for sheet music because I want music publishers to stay in business! The only time I try to get something through an online download site is when it's not available in any other way.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you are trying to do something illegal! But when the question of download sheet music comes up, this tends to be an issue. Also, the lack of response to this thread might be because most people here tend to order sheet music in hard copy rather than download. Or maybe people have just missed the topic in amongst all the other threads! Bump?

BTW I have never actually looked at PW's resources forum, maybe I should!

My modus operandi seems to be the following:

1. Download and print sheet music I'd like to play from IMSLP (for out-of-copyright sheet music, it really seems to be the place to go).

2. Learn most of it, but gradually grow unhappy with the scan quality or fingerings

3. Purchase a proper version from a brick-and-mortar store (or occasionally Amazon.com)

The internet is great for discovering and trying out new music to play, but you do mostly get what you pay for when it comes to quality.

I've been using http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/

They have a few titles that are free so you can sample their site and see if you like it. Then there are two ways to buy, either one title at a time or pay $37/year for a subscription so you can get all you want.

Each title contains the PDF book, a MIDI file and an MP3.

The PDFs are NOT scans from books they are original engravings by the company so the quality is as good as your printer. The thing about PDF is that the print quality is up to you. If you want over sized 9 x 12 inch sheets then you will need an oversized printer. If you want quality non acid paper then you will have to buy that paper. But when it gets dog eared or marked up, just re-print it. That is another advantage of PDF, I can mark them up any way I like because I can always print another clean copy.

The MIDI file is very useful because you can play it back at any tempo for learning or even edit it (to possibly remove one hand or transpose it) If you have the right software you can re-engrave the midi files for different print style. (Midi is a data file with every note on the score.)

the MP3 is useful too if you can't deal with MIDI. It's a mechanical rendering of the score, played very "robot like" but good for putting on an iPod

They are offering a free subscription to anyone who downloads their new iPhone app and leaves a review on Apple's iPhone app store. I tried it and my review said the app worked well but the entire idea was "pointless" (What does one do with a PDF score on an iPhone?) Even with those comments they gave me a free $37 subscription.

One more thing: The on-line services give you instant access to a huge library. It is so cheap and quick to get the music that you might just down load stuff that you never intend to play just because you are curious or want to learn how it is constructed. Before these on-line service if you wanted to study the scores you have to go to a university music library.

I've also used the MIDI files as "raw material" for hacking up in an editor to make a soundtrack for one of my amateur slide show video DVDs.

imslp

http://imslp.org


should have anything you want in the public domain.. it's free. it's also a project and library of such magnitude and service that it deserves any free will offerings.

it will not have new music in it.

Here's a great site, tons of sheet music & free:

Just type what you're looking for in the search box.

http://www.scribd.com

Here's what I did ...

1. Buy a subscription to PianoStreet.com
That was a Christmas gift, around $30, IIRC.
Not free, but it amounts to about 1 penny per item! Pretty cheap.

2. Download all 2500 or so items of piano sheet music.
That's more music than I'll ever play in a lifetime.

3. Print what I need, when I need it.
Put the sheet music in a three-ring binder.
Use extra-heavy stock printer paper (needed for two-sided printing).

For classical public domain works I love imslp.org like others have said. For everything else, try http://musicnotes.com They seem to have everything! It's inexpensive with no membership fees.

Here's a list of places I usually look. They archive scanned pre-1923 sheets no longer under copyright as a free public service:

http://mainemusicbox.library.umaine.edu/
http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/
http://www.nla.gov.au/music/index.html
http://www.ragtimepiano.ca/
http://www.loc.gov/performingarts/index.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/smhtml/smhome.html
http://library.duke.edu/music/sheetmusic/collections.html
http://digital.library.msstate.edu/collections/sheetmusic/index.html
http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/music/index.htm

Howard

imslp is to me the best site for classical sheet music, as fingering is for the most part annotated, as these are scanned from actual printed music.

I've bought a number of pieces from musicnotes.com. You can print the first page for free and can also listen to the first page for free.