The first true piano was invented somewhere around the year 1700. Sheet music, surprisingly, has been around in the form of musical annotations since 2000 BC. In previous decades, pianists had to comb local music stores for sheet music to study. Sometimes, you could borrow or copy sheet music from another fellow student, or special order it from the publisher. The modern Liberace, Chopin, or Gershwin, however, needs only to look to the internet to find sheet music that can be downloaded and printed on demand. Whether you’re just starting to tickle the ivories, or you’re looking for a grand piece to play at your next concert, we’ll help you find and download legal piano sheet music on a piano wire budget.
There are hundreds of websites out there offering free sheet music, but not all of them are created equal. Some are thinly disguised search engines that just want to sell you music related stuff, while others are just ad portals. For this article, we have scoured them all, looking at the range of music, quality and speed of the download and for anything nefarious that might be tucked into those downloads.
The websites listed below are simple to use, free or low cost, and will only download the sheet music in its entirety.
The International Music Score Library Project
Quick Links
- The International Music Score Library Project
- Musescore
- The Pianist’s Library
- 8notes
- Virtual Sheet Music
- Musicnotes
- FreeScores
- Mutopia Project
- Musicianeo
- Sheet Download
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- Duke University Libraries
- Making Music Fun
- Musicnotes.com
- Classic Ragtime Piano
- Rag’s Rag
One of the most popular places to download free and legal piano sheet music is The International Music Score Library Project. It is a project that collects sheet music and compositions that are public domain or creative commons. There are thousands of pieces there, including audio recordings to scores from all eras and composers. The simple search options allow you to search for scores by composer, genre, composer nationality, composer time period, or melody. Just click on the buttons below the search bar to refine your search. There’s also an option that connect you to other sheet music resources. It is well worth supporting if music is one of your true passions!
Musescore
Musescore is a great place to find hard to locate sheet music. It seems to have a wide range of pieces that other sheet music websites don’t. If you’re looking for something obscure, old or niche, this is the place to come. It is a trading site, so to download piano sheet music, you need to share sheet music. There’s also an entire community of like-minded musicians willing to share and discuss their current trials and tribulations. If you’re a composer, you can also use their software to create and share your own unique compositions. It is an excellent resource for anyone serious about music.
The Pianist’s Library
The Pianist’s Library contains a wide range of sheet music from quite the selection of composers. It is a direct download site, so find what you want and download it free and legal. Simple. It doesn’t have the breadth of the Library Project or the hard to find pieces of MuseScore but it does have a very respectable range of sheet music. It also offers a large forum with musicians around the world, who might also have a rare piece they can share with you.
8notes
8notes is a good looking website that allows you to download free piano sheet music; in fact, they offer sheet music for nearly every instrument! It is a very deep site with a search function and categories to help make finding what you’re looking for slightly easier. You can search by instrument or music genre, and even pick out some lessons and resources to help you along the way. Many of the pieces featured on 8notes have an audio clip that accompanies the sheet music so you can listen before you download. It’s a neat feature that allows you to double check you have the right music.
Virtual Sheet Music
Virtual Sheet Music requires paid membership to access everything, but does feature free sheet music too. With its many features, this would be a great resource for music or piano teachers, who might need to access a whole variety of sheet music all at once. It features piano, guitar, vocal, violin, flute and more with a broad collection of sheet music covering most composers and music types. Navigate to the Free Stuff s. You will still have to log in to download the free sheet music but won’t have to pay anything for it.
Musicnotes
Musicnotes is not free but the sheet music is very reasonably priced. For around $5, you get a digital print of classical and contemporary piano sheet music which you can download. The quality is excellent, downloads fast and each piece is available in a range of keys which is ideal if you’re learning or developing your skills. Musicnotes also does everything in its power to make sure you’re comfortable with the piece before you buy it, allowing you to play an audio sample, and even print a sample of the sheet music before you buy the whole piece.
FreeScores
FreeScores is not totally free, but is mostly free. There is a mix of public domain and premium sheet music on this site that covers a wide range of genre, instruments, eras and composers. This site is especially useful for learning duets or quartets as it lists sheet music by instrument or combination of instruments. It is a simple but very effective feature than makes FreeScores well worth trying. The site itself is a bit busy, due to the sheer amount of offerings available, but it’s definitely worth a look when you’re trying to find inspiration.
Mutopia Project
The Mutopia Project is another open source music repository but this time, it features modern, popular, gospel, folk, jazz, baroque and all eras and genres of music. Over 2000 pieces of music for nearly any type of instrument you can imagine is featured here. You can search by Instrument, Composer, or Style, and check out the many collections compiled and shared by other musicians. It’s all free and you can contribute, too, if you have something that isn’t already there. Once you find a score that interests you, you’re able to download it as a PDF file, LilyPond file, or MIDI.
Musicianeo
Musicianeo lets you download free and legal piano sheet music from a range of composers and musical types. It includes modern, classical, baroque and all manner of styles. There are over 244,000 individual pieces on the site, all of which can be accessed through a brief search. Most pieces also allow you to choose the type of score you’re looking for, so if you’re looking for piano with voice, or for cello and piano, a select bar on the right side of the screen will help you find the best version. There are also other resources and an active community too.
Sheet Download
Sheet Download does exactly what it says it does. It is a resource for downloading piano sheet music for free. It isn’t as large or as deep as some of the sites featured in this guide but it does have some decent music. It’s a mix of eras including fairly modern/pop music. If you’re looking for something specific, this is definitely a site to try.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum website has a range of piano sheet music to download. The sheet music part of the site isn’t massive but it does have a nice selection of pieces from a range of composers. The site itself is absolutely gorgeous, and can help you find and listen to a wide variety of gorgeous performances and pieces that you might not be familiar with elsewhere. This is definitely a great resource for inspiration!
Duke University Libraries
Duke University Libraries has over 3,000 piece of sheet music that are free to download. They specialize in American music published between 1850 and 1920, which means there are thousands of potentially unexplored titles for you to discover. If you like finding and resurrecting obscure or forgotten pieces, this is definitely a website to try. From Irving Berlin to Fred Buckley, there is a little bit of everything from homegrown composers.
Making Music Fun
Making Music Fun is for younger musicians. It is a community that supports a wide range of musical activities from finding a piano teacher to developing skills. There is also a repository of free sheet music on the site that covers piano and other instruments. Each piece is graded according to difficulty and listed accordingly. This is an excellent idea for those learning music, as it helps coach you through those difficult moments in the learning curve. An excellent resource!
Musicnotes.com
Musicnotes.com has a selection of free sheet music to download. It is a subscription site that offers a selection of free downloads alongside its premium music. The range is wide and includes piano, strings, vocal, wind, brass and more within the site. The selection of free music isn’t huge but it is respectable; additionally, if you’re looking for plenty of music for future pieces, this might be a good subscription to have!
Classic Ragtime Piano
Classic Ragtime Piano is another self-descriptive website that gives more than a clue as to what you’ll find here. If ragtime is your thing, this is the place to come. The selection isn’t huge but it does contain a range of the more popular ragtime tunes from a golden era of our musical history.
Rag’s Rag
Finally, Rag’s Rag builds on what Classic Ragtime Piano does by featuring over 200 ragtime sheet music downloads. It also includes an audio clip of the piece so you know what you’re downloading. The site is simple and the collection narrow, but if ragtime is what you love this is another site you won’t want to miss.
Got any other websites that let you download free and legal piano sheet music? Share with the crowd!
FAQs
Where can I download piano sheet music for free? ›
- IMSLP.
- 8Notes.
- Musescore.
- Musicnotes.
- Pianotte.
If the music is in the public domain, you can perform it publicly — wherever you like, without paying any fees at all. You can make copies of it, record it, remix it, use it in a film or on a web site ... it's up to you. You do have to establish that the sheet music really is public domain, though.
What is the best sheet music download site? ›Sheet Music Plus – Sheet Music Plus will be a familiar name to teachers. This site claims the world's largest selection of sheet music, with plenty of digital downloads available. Sheet Music Plus has been a reliable, go-to for music teachers and enthusiasts alike since 1997.
Is there a website that reads sheet music? ›ScanScore is first and foremost, an electronic sheet music reader. With our easy-to-use program and modern app compatibility, it's never been easier OR faster for a program to scan and read notation.
Is MuseScore really free? ›Using MuseScore.org/ notation software will always be free of charge and without any limits—that's a promise. The musescore.com website and MuseScore mobile app can also be used for free but with limited functionality.
Is it legal to copy sheet music for personal use? ›The only one who can give you permission to make copies is the owner of the copyright – the publisher, composer, etc. In other words, the U.S. Copyright Laws state that, if music or lyrics are under copyright protection: you CANNOT reproduce the music or lyrics without permission.
How do you get free sheet music notes? ›Simply scroll down to the bottom of the free page to see them all. Or, download the Musicnotes app for free to get our free songs automatically loaded into your library. Enjoy your sheet music!
Is it illegal to copy music? ›Making unauthorized copies of copyrighted music recordings is against the law and may subject you to civil and criminal liability. A civil lawsuit could hold you responsible for thousands of dollars in damages.
Is Musescore safe to download? ›Yes, it's safe.
How do I find piano notes for a song? ›How to Find Notes on the Piano Perfectly Every Time - YouTube
Is Musescore good? ›
Though there are many known notation programs on the market, we've done our research and found Musescore to be the best of the best. So, if you are looking for the perfect music composing software and scorewriter to start writing your beautiful musical compositions, Musescore is just the application for you.
Is there an app that will play sheet music? ›iSeeNotes can help you! Using iSeeNotes, you can take a picture of a piece of sheet music using your Android phone or tablet, and it will be converted into sound using optical music recognition.
How can I read music for free? ›- WikiHow. If you want an easy-to-digest website that offers a one-stop-shop for learning how to read music, you cannot go far wrong with WikiHow. ...
- DataDragon. ...
- Dolmetsch Online. ...
- MusicTheory.net. ...
- ToneSavvy. ...
- Teoria. ...
- 8notes. ...
- Berklee Online.
quickly and easily with ScanScore. Simply download ScanScore and use your smartphone, tablet or a scanner to scan your sheet music and play it back to you. And you can just as easily transpose your score, export your notes to almost any music program and edit them further. No hassle!
Can you download sheet music? ›Easily buy and download sheet music from our catalog for a variety of instruments including piano, flute, violin, guitar, clarinet, drum, cello and more! Sheet Music Now™ has downloads available for musicians of every level, from easy to advanced, and almost every genre. Downloading our sheet music is easy and fast!
Are free scores Safe? ›It can impact credit card approvals and maybe even a job application. Getting a free credit report can be safe if you are careful about the particular website from which you get it. Three major credit reporting agencies provide credit reports: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Is musicnotes a legitimate site? ›Musicnotes has a consumer rating of 1.59 stars from 27 reviews indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Consumers complaining about Musicnotes most frequently mention customer service problems. Musicnotes ranks 175th among Music Other sites.
What is better than MuseScore? ›The best alternative is TuxGuitar, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like MuseScore are Guitar Pro, LilyPond, Rosegarden and Avid Sibelius. MuseScore alternatives are mainly Music Production Apps but may also be Digital Audio Workstations.
How can I download MuseScore 2022 sheet music for free? ›How to get paid Sheet Music on Musescore for FREE - YouTube
How long is MuseScore free trial? ›There are two types of MuseScore subscriptions: trial and non-trial (instant). Trial subscriptions provide 30 or 7-day free access to PRO features and the ability to use almost all functions available on the website and in the mobile app.
Is MuseScore legal? ›
You may transcribe other people's copyrighted music using MuseScore, but you do not necessarily own the copyright for the resulting sheet music. You may still upload it to MuseScore.com, but please use appropriate privacy settings so that you are not sharing this music any more widely than the law allows.
What happens if you Screenshot sheet music? ›It's a copyright infringement to reproduce sheet music without the express permission of the copyright holder. The law makes a “fair use” exception that applies to teachers which is horribly vague.
Which sheet music can be legally photocopied? ›Any sheet music composed before 1923 is considered in the public domain, and can be copied, redistributed, performed or otherwise used by anyone without restriction. However, if significant edits have been made to the original by a later composer, using the updated version of the composition may be liable infringement.
What are the 7 notes of music? ›In the chromatic scale there are 7 main musical notes called A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. They each represent a different frequency or pitch. For example, the "middle" A note has a frequency of 440 Hz and the "middle" B note has a frequency of 494 Hz.
Are music notes free? ›We offer free manuscript paper, a new free song each month, as well as other free songs. Simply click here to see what you can score from our list of free music! Our Musicnotes apps and programs include a selection of free songs.
What are the 12 basic music notes? ›Western music typically uses 12 notes – C, D, E, F, G, A and B, plus five flats and equivalent sharps in between, which are: C sharp/D flat (they're the same note, just named differently depending on what key signature is being used), D sharp/E flat, F sharp/G flat, G sharp/A flat and A sharp/B flat.
What was the first illegal music downloading site? ›The first application that demonstrated the implications of music piracy was Napster. Napster enabled users to exchange music files over a common free server without any regard for copyright laws.
Is it okay to download music for free? ›Using a file-sharing network like Kazaa or BitTorrent to freely download copyrighted music is illegal — unless the copyright owner (the artist, the music label, or someone else) gives permission for the music to be freely distributed. Rest assured, very few artists or music labels do this.
Should downloading music for free Be Illegal? ›Most songs and movies that appear on download or file–sharing websites are copyrighted. It is illegal to download any music or movies that are copyrighted. Downloading or file-sharing a copyrighted song or movie could expose you to a lawsuit for money damages that could cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Is MuseScore still open-source? ›MuseScore is free and open-source and is written mainly in C++, with the graphical user interface making use of the cross-platform Qt toolkit.
Is LilyPond free? ›
LilyPond is free software and part of the GNU Project.
Can you download official scores MuseScore? ›The new category of scores called official HQ scores is not allowed to be downloaded or printed according to the copyright owners' requirements. However, these scores can be viewed, played, and used in Practise mode.
How find the key of a song? ›The easiest way to figure out the key of a song is by using its key signature. The number of sharps/flats in the key signature tell you the key of the song. A key signature with no sharps or flats is the key of C (or A minor).
How do I find a song by melody? ›Ask Google Assistant to name a song
Play a song or hum, whistle, or sing the melody of a song. Hum, whistle, or sing: Google Assistant will identify potential matches for the song. Select one of them to view the Search results page and listen to the song, read lyrics, or view the music video.
Middle C is a basic foundation note. It is the first note that beginning pianists learn to find on the piano. It is on the outside left side of the group of two black keys in the middle of the piano.
Is it easy to cancel MuseScore? ›Go to Account Settings or click your profile icon located at the upper right of the MuseScore website and choose 'Settings' in the dropdown. Then open the 'Subscription' section and click 'End my Free benefits. '
How many people use MuseScore? ›According to Muse Group, MuseScore is the most popular application of its kind—it claims more than 200,000 musicians find scores on it every day from a repository of more than 1,000,000 publicly available scores.
What's the difference between MuseScore org and MuseScore com? ›What is the difference between MuseScore.org and MuseScore.com? MuseScore.org is home to the open source MuseScore program for Windows, macOS, Linux, and its developers, contributors and users community. Its forum is the ideal place to ask any question related to the MuseScore program.
What app do musicians use to read music? ›forScore is perhaps the most popular sheet music app that you can use to read music. If you are looking for an app that will display your music on your Android device or iPad while keeping it organized, then you should definitely try forScore.
How much does ScanScore cost? ›Talking about pricing, this is another big plus as ScanScore comes with very user-friendly prices starting at $39. To sum it up ScanScore is a great tool for musicians how would like to digitalize their sheet music and work with it, practise their parts, play or sing along or import it into DAW or notation software.
How do I scan a sheet to PDF? ›
- Make a stack of all your physical sheet music. ...
- Turn the scanner on.
- Place a stack of sheets into the feeder of your scanner. ...
- Walk over to your computer, and open the program you use for scanning. ...
- Check all the settings in your scanning program. ...
- Hit “Scan”.
- Know The Basics. Start with learning scales and notes. ...
- Get Familiar With Variety Of Rhythms. ...
- Learn About The Starting And Resting Position. ...
- Break It Down Into Smaller Chunks. ...
- Make Markings. ...
- Practice Often. ...
- Repeat It In Your Head. ...
- Ask For Help From The Experts.
Absolutely anyone can learn to read music with the right approach and some practice. Learning to read music is not hard – anyone who can read the alphabet of everyday language or read numbers already has the tools to learn how to read music.
How long does it take to learn to play piano? ›If you want to be a professional classical performer, you're looking at a minimum of 10 to 15 years of concentrated study with a master teacher, and hours of practice every day. Most people who want to learn piano to play for their own enjoyment can get great results within three to five years of study and practice.
How good is ScanScore? ›This is a great bit of software, which is intuitive and easy to use. Its ability to take PDF scores and turn them into MusicXML or MIDI is a huge plus for it. So if you are in the market for OMR software that works and will only get better with each iteration, then I suggest you check out ScanScore on the link below.
How do I scan music with my phone? ›Launch the Shazam app, select a track you want to identify from your music app, and tap Shazam. View the song's title and info and past Shazams from My Music > Shazams on iOS and the Shazam Library on Android.
How good is PlayScore 2? ›For a fast and easy to use tool for students, hobbyists and professionals needing a way to quickly hear a piece of sheet music, PlayScore 2 gets a big thumbs up. For exporting to music notation software for editing, it is fast, with impressive accuracy — as long as the chord symbols and lyrics aren't an issue.
Is Musescore safe to download? ›Yes, it's safe.
How do you download Musescore for free? ›How to get paid Sheet Music on Musescore for FREE - YouTube
Is Musescore com safe? ›omg they say the compositions and all the sheet musics are legit free and they promised for it, look what's happening next... when you tries to download a music as midi, it keeps showing you and forces you to use 30-day trial.
How do I get musicnotes sheet music for free? ›
In case you haven't seen it in our weekly newsletter, every month we offer a new piece of free sheet music at Musicnotes.com! We take extra care to arrange our free song of the month for every instrument so that no one gets left out. Check out this month's free song here and download the arrangement of your choice.
Is there anything better than MuseScore? ›There are more than 50 alternatives to MuseScore for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android Tablet and iPad. The best alternative is TuxGuitar, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like MuseScore are Guitar Pro, LilyPond, Rosegarden and Avid Sibelius.
Is musicnotes safe? ›Musicnotes.com is designed to provide a safe and secure shopping environment. When you access your personal account information or place orders, our systems work with the browser software on your computer to establish a secure, encrypted connection using an Internet-standard technology called SSL.
How long is MuseScore free trial? ›There are two types of MuseScore subscriptions: trial and non-trial (instant). Trial subscriptions provide 30 or 7-day free access to PRO features and the ability to use almost all functions available on the website and in the mobile app.
Is MuseScore legal? ›You may transcribe other people's copyrighted music using MuseScore, but you do not necessarily own the copyright for the resulting sheet music. You may still upload it to MuseScore.com, but please use appropriate privacy settings so that you are not sharing this music any more widely than the law allows.
Can you download official scores MuseScore? ›The new category of scores called official HQ scores is not allowed to be downloaded or printed according to the copyright owners' requirements. However, these scores can be viewed, played, and used in Practise mode.
Can you print from MuseScore for free? ›Description. Create, playback, and print sheet music for free. MuseScore is cross-platform, multi-lingual, open source music notation software.
How does MuseScore make money? ›The MuseScore company uses income from their commercial sheet music sharing service to support the development of the free notation software.
What's the difference between MuseScore org and MuseScore com? ›What is the difference between MuseScore.org and MuseScore.com? MuseScore.org is home to the open source MuseScore program for Windows, macOS, Linux, and its developers, contributors and users community. Its forum is the ideal place to ask any question related to the MuseScore program.
Is it easy to cancel MuseScore? ›Go to Account Settings or click your profile icon located at the upper right of the MuseScore website and choose 'Settings' in the dropdown. Then open the 'Subscription' section and click 'End my Free benefits. '
Are music notes free? ›
We offer free manuscript paper, a new free song each month, as well as other free songs. Simply click here to see what you can score from our list of free music! Our Musicnotes apps and programs include a selection of free songs.
How many beats is a whole note? ›In the musical world, we can start with the whole note as the basic unit to be divided up. It receives 4 beats. Using the note value tree above, answer the following questions.
Why does sheet music cost? ›Sheet music is expensive because it costs a lot of money to produce. Many people are involved in the publishing of sheet music and they must be paid at every stage. Composing, engraving, editing, publishing, printing, shipping and selling at stores drive the cost of sheet music up.