Music business and lockdown—has the industry gone digital?
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Want to play the piano? Looking for the right sheet music? It’s not always worth buying a new music book for every step of your piano journey. The many digital solutions that are available to you for tailor-made piano sheet music can help here. There are both free and paid offers through which you can regularly get new piano sheet music. But how good are the respective offers and what do you have to look out for when looking for new piano sheet music? In this article we will show you what is important.
Why digital sheet music is increasingly replacing the printed form
While printed piano sheet music is generally good for notes and annotations, it can quickly become expensive over time depending on current progress. With a digital subscription or with offers that are suitable for every progress, you are significantly cheaper in the long run. Another advantage is that you can easily choose the digital sheet music and its content yourself. So you don’t have to play the given notes from the booklet, but decide for yourself.
The increase in flexibility becomes a decisive advantage in this way, since you can also easily choose the style and the associated accents. While music books are usually required for classical piano lessons anyway, you save yourself the associated effort for the exercise. Many of the sheet music from digital providers or subscriptions do not even have to be printed out for this purpose, but can be displayed directly on the tablet in purely digital form. This makes it easy to find piano sheet music online and use it quickly.
This is what matters when searching for piano sheet music online
Not all piano sheet music available online is a good choice when it comes to digital practice and immersion. In the field of piano sheet music, there are suitable and significantly less suitable providers where the content of your sheet music leaves a lot to be desired. The cheapest offers are not always the worst, but a closer look at the origin of the notes can’t hurt. If you want to find piano sheet music online, you should also keep an eye on your current strengths and skills. This makes it easy to keep track of the piano sheet music supply and choose a solution that can always meet your needs.
Free providers to find piano sheet music online
When it comes to digital piano sheet music, there are quite a few providers with free content. This makes it easy for you to increase the fun of playing and improve your piano skills at no additional cost. However the notes themselves, and also their presentation and arrangement can be decisive for one’s own learning progress. The following providers provide you with free piano sheet music online, so because of that, you’ve got nothing to lose by checking them out:
Mutopia Project
When it comes to high quality sheet music, Mutopia Project is a good choice. The option for precise filtering is also a good addition, allowing you to keep an eye on genres and possible composers. A small disadvantage, however, is that the selection is not quite as large. Nevertheless, Mutopia Project might be a good choice for you to start with.
IMSLP
The International Music Score Library Project (or IMSLP) is a resource which you can rely on for more than 150,000 tracks. IMSLP is the largest portal for free piano sheet music, where you can filter by artist, genre and many other aspects. This makes your search even easier.
Musikunterricht.de
While not a provider in the traditional sense, musikunterricht.de offers a good overview. There you will find a constantly updated list of other providers of free sheet music, some of which are significantly smaller than the usual portals. This is a great source not only for piano sheet music, but also for choir or the violin.
MuseScore
If you want to find piano sheet music online, MuseScore has many high-quality options. The piano sheet music is created independently via the platform, which increases the recognizability of the individual information. At the same time, however, the options for filtering are very limited and the titles are not uniform either. But it’s best to see for yourself.
These paid providers also offer new sheet music
In addition to the free platforms already mentioned, you can also opt for subscriptions or other paid solutions. In a direct comparison to physical sheet music for the piano, you score significantly better here. So it can be worthwhile to set aside a little money each month and provide yourself with new piano sheet music at any time. Here’s some of the players you should know in the paid sheet music space:
Sheet Music Direct
When it comes to a wide variety of genres, Sheet Music Direct is a good choice. The platform can be used both as a subscription service, as well as for the direct for the purchase of individual sheet music. In addition, Sheet Music Direct offers you good sheet music for many other instruments.
OKTAV
One of the best-known providers in this category is OKTAV with more than 10,000 individual pieces of piano sheet music. After a seven day free trial, OKTAV costs 99 euros per year or 9.90 euros per month. The more piano you play, the more OKTAV is worthwhile for you. After all, who wants to pay for each new piece individually?
Klaviernoten24
In addition to the big platforms, we don’t want to neglect smaller sources. One of them is Klaviernoten24, where you can flexibly choose individual pieces. If you only want to learn one or two new pieces a month, buying them individually from such a site offers you significant price advantages. The costs are around three euros per piece.
Musicnotes
Musicnotes is a good choice for English-speaking musicians. You should expect costs of between three and five euros for individual pieces. For the price, however, you also get the right to print out the sheet music once. A PDF download is also possible for an additional charge. It’s best to take a look at the offer yourself.
Is a flat rate for piano sheet music provided online worthwhile?
Providers in the area of flat rates are also increasing. The advantage of this is that you don’t have to pay for your piano sheet music as you need it, but can fall back on suitable solutions at fixed prices every month. The more you play with different pieces, the more worthwhile such a service is for you. Especially in the area of piano sheet music, subscriptions can be useful for teachers who want to regularly offer their students new pieces. In terms of price, the all-you-can-eat model of a subscription might be the best way to go. If you want to experience new music regularly, the flat rate could be a bargain.
The most important facts about the copyright of digital sheet music
When it comes to digital piano sheet music, copyright issues are a real concern. Whether you opt for a professional provider with a flat rate or for individual pieces, you can also use the sheet music at your leisure. Possible restrictions on publication and transfer can usually be found in the respective terms of use. However, it is not always that easy with the free pieces. The source of the notes is crucial here.
If in doubt, you must check each piece for yourself whether there is a copyright and what fees are associated with the use. While no one will blame you for private practice with free pieces, spreading them further is potentially difficult. This applies, for example, to teachers who also want to share free piano sheet music with their students. At this point it makes more sense to use paid offers right from the start and thus to move on safe territory. There is always some risk involved with free piano sheet music.
This should be taken into account when printing out and exchanging pieces
Not only the use, but even the printing of the sheet music can be problematic. The same criteria apply for this purpose as for exchanges, which means that copyright must be regulated as clearly as possible. For pieces that you received through subscriptions or purchased for money, you can of course print your digital piano sheet music at any time. In this case, you have also acquired the copyright, which means that you can use the piano sheet music freely.
However, those who want to find piano sheet music online cannot always rely on this right. So it is important to keep a close eye on the usage requirements in order to stay on the safe side as a musician both in the beginning and in professional development. This also applies to the exchange, which is only legally possible for pieces you have purchased without a gray area.
Find the right piano sheet music online now!
Would you like to find the right piano sheet music for your personal skills? We would be happy to help you compare the many providers on the market and thus keep an overview. In addition, here at mukken we offer you the opportunity to get in touch with other musicians yourself and benefit from tailor-made solutions. The exchange of piano sheet music is also easily possible in this way in order to benefit from new pieces. If you are also interested in learning how to read sheet music, please have a look here.