Top Five Websites for Downloading Classical Sheet Music

Classical sheet music is widely available on the internet. Gone are the days of purchasing a large collection of music for one or two compositions. With all the great sheet music sources at your fingertips, it's hard to determine which website suits your needs. A quick web search of classical sheet music will bring up hundreds of thousands of options. Hopefully this breakdown of the top five search engine results for classical sheet music will allow you to spend less time searching and more time rehearsing. Whether you need free sheet music, a massive catalog, audio support, or custom designed compositions, the following sites should be of assistance.

www.music-scores.com

free music: YES

membership: $29.95

individual titles for purchase: YES

index: composer, instrument, skill level

This website offers non-members access to 292 free items, but limits downloads to any 3 in a 24 hour period. With a $29.95 paid annual subscription members have unlimited access to 2,017 items. Music-scores.com will also transpose 5 pieces of classical sheet music per year for paying members, and will help arrange pieces for weddings and special events. Sheet music on this website is recorded as .midi files so you can listen to it while you practice.

www.virtualsheetmusic.com

free music: YES

membership: $37.75

individual titles for purchase: YES

index: composer, instrument, ensemble, skill level

Virtualsheetmusic.com offers a sampling of about 61 items for non-members. Members, however, have unlimited access to 1,300 compositions and 6,000+ midi or mp3 files.

www.sheetmusicarchive.net

free music: YES

membership: $29.95

individual titles for purchase: YES

index: composer

Sheetmusicarchive.net writes they have "about 500 freely downloadable scores". The website lists free classical sheet music downloads from over 74 composers. Members gain access to "thousands of scores." whether that indicates 2,000 or 10,000 is unknown.

www.freesheetmusicguide.com

free music: YES

membership: n/a

individual titles for purchase: through linked websites

index: song name, composer, composition, instrument

An indexed catalog of websites offering free sheet music. Freeshetmusicguide.com is a search engine for public domain classical sheet music and also guitar tabs. Membership is free and amounts to a quarterly e-mail newsletter indicating site updates, additions, and editors picks..

www.everynote.com

free music: PARTIAL

membership: n/a

individual titles for purchase: YES

index: composer, instrument, skill level, style, composition, song,

This website claims it is the "worlds largest sheet music library". There is no membership, and the first page of music is available as a preview. Individual titles are sold with a low price guarantee. everynote.com hosts 30,000 compositions, and has an impressive search engine to guide you through the pages.