11 of the Best Free Sheet Music Sites
If you’re a music teacher on a tight budget it can be difficult to find the money to purchase sheet music for the myriad of music ensembles, instrumental and vocal students you may have at your school.
It’s good to know that these days there are many websites that offer free sheet music and a large percentage (not ALL) of the titles are either public domain or Creative Commons-licensed so you can arrange, transpose or transform the original to your heart’s content. I’ve listed some useful free sheet music sites below.
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1.International Music Score Library Project
The IMSLP (Petrucci Music Library) website houses a collection of public domain scores and Creative Commons licensed scores from a range of composers. There are more than 110,400 works by more than 14,400 composers and the site also includes some MP3 recordings of performances that are available to download.
2. Mutopia Project
A collection of classical sheet music in the public domain. Their collection of modern editions and arrangements is also growing. All the music on Mutopia has been typeset using Lilypond notation software and the Lilypond files are freely available, alongside the PDF version of the score.
3.The Gutenberg Sheet Music Project
The Gutenberg Sheet Music Project was a sister project of the electronic book-sharing site Project Gutenberg from approximately 2001-2006. Although it is no longer active, there is still an accessible collection of completed scores on the site. There is also a useful collection of music books which includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s Principles of Orchestration, Beethoven’s Letters and the Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
4.Choral Music Public Domain
Founded in 1998, the Choral Music Public Domain site focuses on sharing free choral and vocal scores as well as texts, translations and other useful information. There are currently more than 3600 choral and vocal works by at least 2754 composers.
5.Band Music PDF Library
Described as a collection of “music from the Golden Age of the American town band”, the Band Music PDF Library includes marches, waltzes, rags, theater music, solo works and more.
6.Sheet Music Eden
A collection of free public domain sheet music for piano, violin, viola, cello, trumpet, clarinet, drums, and guitar. Founded by Brian and Robert Roizen in 2006, you can browse by composer, or use the search box to find something specific.
7.Free Scores
Like some of the other sites listed above, this website includes a collection of public domain scores plus scores and digital music books that you can purchase. You can use the filters on the left of the page to define your instrument, skill level and genre.
8.8-Notes
8Notes.com offers original arrangements of free public domain songs and instrumental pieces. The sheet music is provided in a GIF format (lower quality image format). You can pay $20 to subscribe for a year which gives you access to the PDF versions of scores and removes the ads from the site. They also have a useful riffs/licks section if you just want to know the basic main riff of a pop song
9.Mus Open
Mus Open is a non-profit focused on increasing access to music by creating free resources and educational materials. The site has a collection of recordings, sheet music, and textbooks.
10. Library of Congress – Music Division
The United States Library of Congress website features a digital music collection that includes books, letters, photographs and notated music. Includes music and other artifacts from Aaron Copland, Band Music from the Civil War Era, Baseball Sheet Music, Sheet Music of the Musical Theater (more than 17,000 titles!)
11. Public Domain Sherpa
Although the sites above offer free sheet music it’s wise to be aware that not all titles are completely copyright-free. Public Domain Sherpa offers a run-down of many sheet music sites (including ones not listed here) and lets you know whether the music may be subject to copyright restrictions.
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33 Comments
“Free” doesn’t always mean music is in public domain or without copyright…
On SibeliusMusic.com, “free” usually means that a visitor can print out a score without first paying for the copy of the music! But most of the scores by self-publishers or small publishers of contemporary composers are copyrighted editions, just like common printed sheet music bought from any music store. So it is not free to distribute, arrange or transform, unless you get the publisher’s and the composer’s permission. Transposing directly online before printing is ok, though, when that option is set by the publisher.
BTW, the search function on SibeliusMusic has been dysfunctional for months, so if they haven’t fixed it yet (any day now, it is said), it’s better to google for “sibeliusmusic” + your search terms, to get a relevant result!
Yes – you’re absolutely right Maria, as I noted under the link to the final website in my list, Public Domain Sherpa. Many of these titles are $$ free, but it’s absolutely necessary to check the copyright implications by checking the licensing arrangements for each title. However, with the growing support for Creative Commons I imagine there will be an increasing number of sheet music titles available in coming years which you will be able to arrange or transform with pre-approval from the composer.
Wow, looks great. Thanks for sharing these links and useful music teaching resources that most music educators out there can use today in their classrooms and studios. Creative and innovative music teaching doesn’t mean it has to be expensive; music teachers like us can still use it without overspending. Using innovative music teaching software and applications can take our music teaching experience to the next level. I also do agree with what Maria and Katie have said on the availability and accessibility of free sheet music as well as the importance of checking the licensing arrangements for each title. Again, thanks for this post and more power. See you around. Til your next posts!
[…] 11 of the Best Free Sheet Music Sites: “If you’re a music teacher on a tight budget it can be difficult to find the money to purchase sheet music for the myriad of music ensembles, instrumental and vocal students you may have at your school. It’s good to know that these days there are literally hundreds of websites that offer free sheet music and a large percent of the titles are also copyright-free so you can arrange, transpose or transform the original to your heart’s content”. Hat-tip: James Frankel […]
Very helpful. Thanks!
Two very helpful resources:
http://wikifonia.org, hundreds of free leadsheets, you can transpose on site, publish and edit the sheets.
http://pianofiles.com, hundred thousands of sheets to trade.
[…] -Assistive Music Technology: “So just what is the SoundBeam and how does it work? SoundBeam is a device that converts […]
Just a thought – some music of mine (published by Faber Music and available at all good music shops) turned up on the Sibelius site – some rude person decided to create a copy and make it free without asking the permission of my publishers or myself.
So free music in this case was fell off the back of a truck free, and everyone printing it off and saving their dollars was doing so was participating in the theft.
An underwhelming example of ‘free’.
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[…] 24. Music Tech Tips – Author Katie Argyle runs a music technology training business in Australia and is also a qualified teacher. When asked about her blog, Wardrobe describe it as a site which “demystifies” the use of technology in the classroom by providing video tutorials and articles which give “concrete step-by-step instructions explaining how to get the most out of notating, recording, teaching, learning and playing music.” Recommended posts: “Tutorial: How to Convert Audio Files Using iTunes,” “Cool Online Instruments and Games for the Music Classroom,” ”Musescore in 10 easy steps,” and “11 of the Best Free Sheet Music Sites.” […]
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[…] 11 of the Best Free Sheet Music Sites | Midnight Music. 11 of the Best Sheet Music Sites This post was updated 8 September 2016 If you’re a music teacher on a tight budget it can be difficult to find the money to purchase sheet music for the myriad of music ensembles, instrumental and vocal students you may have at your school. It’s good to know that these days there are literally hundreds of websites that offer free sheet music and a large percentage (not ALL) of the titles are also copyright-free so you can arrange, transpose or transform the original to your heart’s content. I’ve listed a few sites below, but if you’d like to find more, just search Google for “free sheet music”. 1. International Music Score Library Project The IMSLP (Petrucci Music Library) website houses a collection of public domain scores and Creative Commons licensed scores from a range of composers. 2. […]
I enjoy using https://noobnotes.net and flutersmusic.blogspot.com as they write their music in letter notes so it’s really easy to read 🙂
May I suggest my website with piano sheet music for all ages and levels: http://www.pianosongdownload.com/
Amazing list of websites.. Really helpful
Great. Thanks for sharing these links. Really amazing
[…] A selection of websites offering free sheet music. — Les på midnightmusic.com/2009/11/11-of-the-best-free-sheet-music-sites/ […]
[…] A selection of websites offering free sheet music. — Les på midnightmusic.com/2009/11/11-of-the-best-free-sheet-music-sites/ […]
Thanks for post this great. I’m a long time reader but ive
never commented till now.
Thanks again for the awesome post.
I would add musescore.com which has a large selection of music written by a community of composers.
Thank you very much. Big help here in the Philippines. Musicians here seldom no access to music sheets. Cannot afford to buy. This will be a big help for us.
You’re welcome 🙂
Great site. I have a site with several thousand pages of sheet music, mostly piano classics and children;s music. About 400 pages of instructional materials and articles. Here’s the catch. The music is all on what I call key maps and diagrams. It’s like tablatures, but the notation also shows rhythm – all in what I call TruScaled. It is also in beautiful color. I think of it as a visual art form as well as something to play from. I have been developing this music for over 20 years -full time (I’m retired). I have a degree in music and give free piano lessons.This music has been developed and tested for over 20 years years. Much testing and revising based on student input. I own the copyrights to all of the music, but I make it available on a non-commercial basis. You can have it, but you can;t sell it. Cheers
Hi John – I just visited your site. Looks really interesting. A little like some of the Youtube videos which show the keyboard MIDI notes in a “guitar-hero” style, although I’m sure your version came first! Thanks for sharing the link.
Unfortunately a lot of the music on the musescore.com site is now behind a paywall even though it is unaltered public domain material. I don’t think the site is properly monitoring what is an original contribution and what is traditional and copyright free. Still worth checking out, but you may find the same piece from two subscribers, one charging and one not.
Yes – that’s one of the reasons I didn’t include it in my list. Maybe you can find the same piece/s on a different public domain website?
Hi Katie,
Are you familiar with Hi,
Sheet Music International? SheetMusicInternational.com
It is a large library of public domain sheet music with world wide distribution. Music on this website is free to the public either in public domain or has been uploaded for distribution by copyright owner. It is also translated into multiple languages.
Users that register for a free account are also given a personal library to store their favorite music.
Thanks
Carl Reiter
Hi Carl – thanks so much for commenting. It looks great. We’ll be updating this post soon and I’ll add in Sheet Music International when we do that.
[…] utilizing these free sheet music sources, pianists can access a variety of arrangements and interpretations of “When I Grow Up” […]
I love finding new sheet music to play! Thank you for compiling this list!
[…] Considerations: Not all free sheet music sources adhere to copyright regulations. It’s essential to ensure that you are accessing legally […]