Where to find free piano sheet music?
Did you google this? It might be better to google this way:
{Song name} {Artist name} {piano sheet music pdf}
The pdf at the end is crucial to find any pdfs floating around the internet first!
If you are looking for a popular song, maybe one that just came out or something else with words, you have 3 main options:
Musescore.com - not ideal, it's open source so anyone can upload their arrangements with no oversight. Sometimes you can find accurate music but it's a big gamble. If you just need a starting point for finding the melody by ear or the key, it can be useful.
Musicnotes.com - good for specific arrangements by good arrangers on YouTube like the Theorist, Paul Hankinson, etc. These are quality arrangements and worth the price of about $5-10. Some other basic arrangements on musicnotes.com can be found for free on:
Sheetmusic-free.com - which is my favourite site for free sheet music. The scores are a good basic outline of the piece covering the whole thing. Usually very accurate and they include lyrics and chord symbols. Sheets are either free or can be purchased with a small donation to the site (around $2 US). There is also a lot of adds on the site (probably why the sheet music can be free) so you have to be careful what you click.
Are you looking for a classical piece written by someone who has been deceased for 50 years or longer (Beethoven, etc.)? These pieces are in what's called the public domain and the biggest directory of these that exists is:
IMSLP - International Music Score Library Project
Here you can search for anything classical in the public domain and download all sheet music for free. There are some prompts for donations, like Wikipedia, but they are optional. There is also a disclaimer before you download that you agree that in your country it is legal to have sheet music in the public domain. The rules vary by country but in Canada we are in the clear.
If you are looking for a score from a living and breathing composer, the best source is to get it directly from them! You know it's going to be accurate, and look good and you are supporting music creation directly. After purchase, be sure to play it, record it and send it to the composer along with how much you love their piece - let's be more in contact with our creators.
A brief word about RCM books - they are almost as bad as Musescore with the amount of inaccuracies. I've found several blatant note errors, even in famous pieces like Fur Elise. I don't trust them for my teaching and I feel it's my duty to inform other teachers of their quality as well. I much rather use IMSLP for public domain pieces and get collections from composers for more modern repertoire.
Hope this helps you on your search for sheet music!
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