Online piano sheet music

Cafe Society
1

When I’m sitting at home in my underwear and I get the urge to learn a new piece of music, I wanna put my hands on that score now dammit. So I’m looking for online sources of piano music.

I was too hasty when I plunked down $20 for a year’s subscription to 8notes.com. Their selection isn’t as great as I was hoping. A search for “chopin funeral” turns up 5 hits - none of which is the full arrangement. (a search for “chopin Piano Sonata No. 2” had no hits).

pianostreet.com looks good and I was about to click “Pay Now” ($47 for a year or $7 per month). Then I thought I should ask the good folks at SDMB for opinions first.

My criteria for a good source includes large selection, professional scores, mainly classical (but the more genres the better) and of course value for money. Oh, and the music needs to print well (no computer on the piano, unless I borrow Mrs. Call’s iPad - I really need to get my own).

Just before posting I did a search for “online sheet music reviews” and found this, which scores 8notes in their top ten and no mention of pianostreet. Hmmm… maybe I need to explore 8notes more, or maybe it ranked higher because of instruments other than piano. I’ll check out these and other reviews, but there’s nothing like hearing success stories from actual people.

So, where do **you **get instant piano music?

2

Most classical music is in public domain. If I’m looking for something I don’t go to any particular site, I just do a Google search on <name> pdf. For instance, searching on chopin sonata 2 pdf yielded this:

http://www.free-scores.com/download-sheet-music.php?pdf=3397

Scroll down a bit and you can download a PDF for free. Granted, some pieces are harder to find than others, but you can find almost any public domain work free (and legal) if you look hard enough.

3

Well, looks like the archive I used to use years ago is no longer free (sheetmusicarchive.net), but I just found this which has a mess of public domain piano scores:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Main_Page

Looks pretty legit and I just downloaded Chopin’s Nocturne Op 9. No 2. in E-flat major, and the whole score came through fine.

Here’sthe page for your Piano Sonata No. 2.

4

<embarassedly stroking sides of chin thoughtfully>
So Google, eh? They’re on computers now?

Thanks to each of you for finding that sonata. The one from free-scores.com absolutely fits the bill. The one from imslp.org is really cool - it appears to be scanned from Chopin’s own handwriting!

So maybe I don’t need to pay anyone.

One thing I did appreciate from 8notes is the quality of the PDFs. The ones I have downloaded don’t appear to be scans from a book. I’m not a snob by any stretch - it’s just the non-scanned PDFs are easier to read when they come out of my crappy printer. As cool as that imslp.org score is, I’m not sure if I’d be able to play off of my printout. I don’t mind paying for a site that provides good selection and consistent high quality. (and, of course, I also don’t mind squinting a bit if it’ll save me a few bucks!!)

5

You may find this link useful as well - IMSLP/Pecrucci Music Library. It stands for Internet Music Scores Library Project (or something similar…) Again, all Public Domain stuff, usually first editions with little or no editing or correction.

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Note that there are six different versions of that score available on that website. It’s only the first one that has the hand transcription. The others are in a sheet music format you’re more used to.

7

cough Post #3. cough

8

…As found earlier by pulykamell, who is much smarter and cooler than I!

9

I have an iPad and use the music notes app. I’m pretty sure you can just purchase and print the music as well (I don’t print it, I just use the iPad).

10

You’re right, I neglected to scroll down. Again thank you! (you too Le Ministre de l’au-delà)

11

When I get home I’ll bribe Mrs. Call to part with her iPad for a moment - once I figure out how to surgically remove it from her hands (damn you “Plants vs. Zombies”). The bribe will have to include a 20-min back scratch I’m sure.

The app you mentioned is connected to one of the top ten in that review I linked to. In fact musicnotes.com is #2 on their list - second only to a site that only provides books, no downloads. So it looks quite promising.

Using the Chopin sonata as a test case I find this sample available for $4.46. Compared to $0.00 at imslp.org it’s steep but I do like the idea of having using the the iPad (esp. once I get one of my own - although back scratches do build finger strength, a plus in piano playing right?) It avoids printing and clutter.

ETA: according to the site, using the musicnotes software you CAN download and print the music you purchase from them - as well as use the iPad app.
ETA2: you can also get a bluetooth pedal page turner for the iPad - plus in an orchestra equipped with iPads the conductor can turn EVERYONE’s page for them… neato - what a cool time we live in!

12

Good stuff. I own much of the stuff I need in my little library at home, but I’ve had awesome luck for public domain pieces online. The last one I grabbed was a reduction of that famous tango, “Por una cabeza” and it printed jes fine. A kid I was helping out was working on a little prelude by Bach, which I didn’t have, and that one worked fine too.