# Online sheet music **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179 "2008-08-25T09:38:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/1 "2008-08-25T09:38:23Z")
Can anyone recommend some good online sources for popular and classical piano sheet music? I’m looking at [sheetmusicdirect.com](http://sheetmusicdirect.com) at the moment. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/2 "2008-08-25T09:54:08Z")
Do you mean online as in downloadable scores, or online sales of real paper items? If the latter, then I’ve used sheetmusicdirect quite a bit, and never had a problem, whether with the cheap airmail delivery or the fast courier service. They seem to have a great amount of stuff in stock, and I’ve always had other items dispatched within the lead times they gave. Plus, I also have a coupon which is about to expire, which you’re welcome to have the code from, because I don’t think I’ll use it in time. That’ll save you a magnificent $1.50 🆒 Edit: :smack: all that actually referred to [sheetmusicplus.com](http://sheetmusicplus.com) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/3 "2008-08-25T09:59:04Z")
Both really. I like the instant gratification of downloaded music, but I also like to have complete albums of popular music in printed format. Edit: Roger the headsmack, I’ll check out sheetmusicplus. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/4 "2008-08-25T10:13:22Z")
I am emphatically **not** a musician, so YMMV etc… I’ve found some scores for my daughter’s piano lessons on [http://www.allpianoscores.com/](http://www.allpianoscores.com/). Files are downloadable in PDF format, however, which means that if you don’t like the layout there isn’t much you can do about it. Her piano teacher thought the size of everything (staves, notes, print…) was about 2 points to small. On the plus side, this particular site is completely free (legal – all the scores they let you download are in the public domain. Or at least so they say.) ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/5 "2008-08-25T11:45:08Z")
[Sheet Music Archive](http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/) has scores (including piano scores) in the public domain for download. There are several available for free download, but you need a subscription for full access. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/6 "2008-08-25T11:54:45Z")
A couple of sources of free classical stuff I should have mentioned earlier: [IMSLP](http://imslp.org) provides scans of out-of-copyright prints, while the [Mutopia Project](http://www.mutopiaproject.org/) has specially-created editions, albeit of a rather variable quality. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/7 "2008-08-25T16:42:23Z")
Somebody already mentioned sheetmusicplus, so I’ll add [http://www.music44.com/](http://www.music44.com/) a.k.a. the Sheet Music Store. Music 44’s prices are nearly always cheaper than sheetmusicplus, if only by a few cents, and music 44’s exchange policy is pretty liberal–if you get it and it’s the wrong thing, you can swap it. They don’t give refunds, but they will give you store credit. They also send e-mail coupon codes, which, however (downside) tend to expire in a couple weeks, so you gotta use 'em quick. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/8 "2008-08-25T22:30:14Z")
It’s traditional choral music, but some of it may be useful just for melodies: [Choral Public Domain Library](http://www.cpdl.org) ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/9 "2008-08-26T01:26:38Z")
[www.musicnotes.com](http://www.musicnotes.com) seems to work for a lot of people. You have to download their software, but once you do it’s pretty cool. You can choose your key, and they have a pretty wide selection. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/10 "2008-08-26T02:28:48Z")
Thanks for the suggestions all. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/11 "2008-08-26T02:40:27Z")
I particularly like the sites that give you the opportunity to view the first page of music from a song. I was looking at a couple of different versions of “Song for Guy” by Elton John and the one on sheetmusicdirect had a repeating, glaring error. There’s also a “solo piano” version of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” that has a horribly tacky intro, that one was repeated on several sites. I guess there’re only a few sources of the actual music and the various websites just distribute them. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/12 "2008-08-26T02:50:27Z")
Out of curiosity, what kind of error? I don’t want to download their Sibelius viewer to find out, but I am curious how you could mess up a standard C progression. Speaking of which, how do you make a descending F progression tacky on Yellow Brick Road? I swear, some of these transcribers should be shot… ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/13 "2008-08-26T04:18:37Z")
Ah, how to describe it? The bass note on the main theme is notated a half beat too early. It happens every second bar through the theme. I’ll see if I can upload a screen shot to somewhere, facebook should do. For Yellow Brick Road they use the arpeggiated pattern used in that famous duet song that everyone knows how to play even if they can’t play piano, and whose name I don’t know, with a C, Am, F, G chord pattern. The normal version of the song is available as well, but it’s good to be able to see it so you know what you’re getting. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/14 "2008-08-26T04:36:11Z")
[Here’s Song for Guy](http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=868223&l=7fe6c&id=526637542). The offending notes are the tied C on the bass cleff leading into the second measure, and the tied B leading into the fourth measure. Those notes should both be on the first beat of the second and fourth measures, i.e., the tied half notes shouldn’t be there. [Here is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road](http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=868290&l=45e40&id=526637542) with the arpeggio pattern we’ve all come to hate. I don’t have a gripe with this transcription really, it’s probably an attempt by Carol Klose to add some interest to an arrangement that seems intended for beginning players. It just demonstrates why I appreciate the websites that give you a preview of the music before you download. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/15 "2008-08-26T04:48:49Z")
Wow, that stuff’s pretty bad. (I think the song you’re thinking of is “Heart and Soul”, by the way). Well if you’re just getting started with piano, [this book](http://www.amazon.com/Elton-John-Anthology/dp/0793503698/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219725885&sr=1-4) is good for Elton, or if you’re more advanced, [this one](http://www.amazon.com/Elton-John-Keyboard-Book/dp/0793514789/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219725885&sr=1-2) has his piano transcribed pretty close to the original recordings. I think both of them include those two songs. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/16 "2008-08-26T05:09:09Z")
I’m sort of getting started and sort of not. I’ve played the piano under my own instruction since I was about 10 but after moving out of home 14 years ago I’ve been without a piano or keyboard and am severely out of practice. I recently bought a Roland digital piano that’s been sitting in a box at home for the last three weeks while I’ve been away working\*. My skill level is such that I can play Song for Guy in my sleep (literally, I dreamed last night that I was playing Song for Guy on a piano and after I woke I remembered enough to know I’d been playing it right), but I’d like to challenge myself a little when I get home. I can’t read music and I have some minor problems rhythm. As I haven’t played anything with a keyboard for four or five years I really don’t know how much skill I’ve retained and how much I’m going to have to learn again. I’m reluctant to get an entire Elton John book because I find him an uneven artist. Some of his stuff I really like, and some of it I can’t stand. I like most of the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album and used to have the sheet music for it but seem to have lost it. \*Just one week to go and I can rip open the box that’s imprisoning my poor FP4! Edit: Heart and Soul is similar, but I’m not sure if it is the song I’m thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/17 "2008-08-26T05:16:39Z")
I used [sheetmusicdirect.com](http://sheetmusicdirect.com) just the other day to buy a copy of a song by Randy Newman. ([_When She Loved Me_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is_hpHzEMiE&feature=related), if you must know. _Warning! If you click on this link, you are guaranteed to burst into uncontrollable tears._) It worked just perfectly, and the transcription seems quite accurate. I’ll just say that, as a certified Old Fart™, I am still not comfortable with this idea of paying for something with no no real, tangible component. I buy CDs, and have never paid to download an MP3. So I hesitated to buy this sheet music, which only gave me the right to print it out once, rather than purchasing the physical sheet music, which, at the very least, would be printed on more substantial paper. But the instant gratification urge won out in this case, and I’m a satisfied customer. [I should probably make a backup Xerox of the music, just in case.] ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/18 "2008-08-26T05:25:39Z")
I didn’t realise it was a once off print from sheetmusicdirect, I suppose the other places are similar. After a quick visit to YouTube I’ve realised it _was_ Heart and Soul I was thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/19 "2008-08-26T14:24:00Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”] I didn’t realise it was a once off print from sheetmusicdirect, I suppose the other places are similar. [/QUOTE] Right, they warn you to make sure your printer is ready and working, because you only get the one chance to print it out. Just to see, I tried to print it again, and got a message saying I didn’t have the right to do that. They have a customer service department that presumably can handle things that go wrong. As I said, everything worked fine for me, and I got a nice, clean printout. I think if I do it again, I’ll remember to use heavier paper. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179/20 "2008-08-26T14:50:34Z")
I’m not sure how your currency handles up against the British Pound, but back when the dollar was stronger, I used to order from [musicroom.com](http://www.musicroom.com/) which also has the digital downloads and a different variety of stuff. On a side note, this past weekend I took about 1/2 of my songbook collection to the local used bookstore and sold about 600 books. It was a little sad to see them go, but they were definitely the ones I didn’t play much if at all. Then I sent about 75 books down to my parents in Arizona with a $50 shipping bill. Ouch. I’ll be putting up another 100 or so of the more rare ones on eBay soon (Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Todd Rundgren, OMD and the like). I’ve gotten to the point in playing music that I don’t use sheet music as much and have been relying more and more on my ear which has been great. Besides, I’m in the second move with this huge library and decided that I never want to move that many books again. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-sheet-music/461179.md?page=2)