When I am learning a new piece, it really helps if I can listen to it played by a professional (or someone much better than I.) Are there any websites that I can use to listen to classical pieces? I've been searching amazon and youtube and they;ve been hit or miss. and amazon allows you to listen to just a few seconds of any one piece. and I don't want to buy a CD just to listen to one thing. (i am a beginner, just started with chopin, bach, and clementi's sonatine album)
thank you

Yes, Stellabella.

Check out classicat:

http://www.classiccat.net/

They have a huge number of recordings, and all free.

Click on "See all composers" for the whole list.

Mel

Here's another one that someone on this site recommended to me. Even if you don't subscribe you can listen to 3 pieces a day. They have MIDI and live performances.

http://www.classicalarchives.com/

There's always the still extant filesharing services. Soulseek has been my source of most music for over five years. Website is Here

You can try your luck with bittorrent. I use the Azureus client. Here\'s Azureus

Following that last link should also inform you as to the nature of Bittorrent. It's not a standalone program like Napster was or Soulseek is.

Whether you have a bias against downloading music written 100-400 years ago is not known to me. Some are afraid, which is why they don't do it. Some claim it's illegal. The ones doing the claiming are either trying to support the artist [1] or represent someone attached to the music industry or even the industry associtions themselves.

I never feel downloading classical music is bad. There are seldom any artists making royalties from these performances. Musicians in an orchestra are paid a decent wage and don't play the hollywood game.

I feel the spirit of the music must live on. I would have had to shell out tens of thousands for my access to the music I have. I can still sleep at night, though.

It's a pirate's life for me,
Bryan

[1] you should support your popular artist through direct contribution by shows attended and merch purchased

May I suggest an alternative that can have your conscience rest at ease? Subscribe to rhapsody.com. For very one low fee per month (how much depends on whether you want the basic or enhanced service, which lets you download tunes), you have unlimited listening privileges, and they have a HUGE library of classical, modern, jazz, rock/pop, even (shudder) rap/hip-hop. I have learned so much and expanded my musical horizons infinitely since I started subscribing to them, because it allows me to try out artists and genres I never would have bothered buying a whole CD for.

If you're considering pay subscription services, I also suggest emusic.com. Their cheapest plan is about $10/month and you get 30 non-DRM mp3 downloads a month. They have a jillion classical recordings including much of Naxos's catalog. You can check out their selection before signing up. Do note that they don't have any major label stuff.

I also subscribe to Rhapsody (the cheapest plan, also about $10 but I think they're increasing it soon) because you can listen to entire songs there before deciding to download. But I usually don't download from it because their downloads are .rax format (playable only in realaudio/Rhapsody unless you burn them into cds and then rip them to mp3--too annoying! lol) and they charge me for each download in addition to the monthly fee.

I'd also suggest your public library as a free offline alternative, if you have a good one nearby.

You also might want to check if you library website has access to a music collection online. Our library does.

www.live365.com

I don't even listen to regular radio anymore.

This is commonly referred to as "stealing". It never ceases to amaze me that people who profess to be music lovers can somehow justify stealing from musicians.

I hate to disrupt your delusion with some facts but here's how things work:

• With the exception of the very top orchestras. Symphonies everywhere are struggling.
• Musicians in symphony orchestras have studied and practiced for years to earn their positions.
• With the exception of the very top tier orchestras, musicians have taken significant cuts in salaries and/or benefits in an often vain attempt to keep an orchestra going.
• Classical music is not a huge money maker for record companies, an enormously successful classical music release might sell in the tens of thousands of copies. About what the last Usher CD sold in the first 10 minutes.
• The sequence goes like this:
  
  • Record company signs a symphony to a record contract.
  • They produce a CD
  • The CD has fewer sales than expected
  • The record company doesn't renew the contract
  • The orchestra has one less source of revenue
  
  
  [*]You might find a search on the terms "bankrupt symphony" informative.

Yes, the top symphonies will live on and they'll keep on releasing yet another Beethoven symphony cycle and Rachmaninov's 2nd will get yet another run through. Works off the beaten path or those performed by excellent orchestras in smaller cities just won't happen.

 Quote:

Originally posted by Bryan Carney:
I feel the spirit of the music must live on. I would have had to shell out tens of thousands for my access to the music I have. I can still sleep at night, though.[/b]

Interesting rationalization. After you've beaten and robbed the widow down the street you can use "she's going to die soon anyway and I needed the money more than she did".

Glad you can sleep at night.