Find Free Sheet Music (Best Legal Websites!)

Free Sheet Music - Legal or Illegal?

Anything anyone composes belongs to them, as a rule. They can decide whether you can have it for free, or not. In legal language, we say "The composer holds the right to their music". However, if you wait long enough, the composer's rights will expire. Don't hold your breath - most often, this happens 70 years after the composer's death (requirements vary across countries). And once the composer's rights have expired, everyone - INCLUDING YOU! - is free to

• use the composition
• without any cost, and
• without having to seek anyone's permission.

This is why a lot of free Classical sheet music can be found on the web. After all, Mozart's rights have expired around 1861!

However, there can be a catch. Sometimes, not only the composer is involved in the creation of sheet music. Let's assume the composer had a contract with a publishing company. Then that publisher also owns certain rights to a composition, for example to a special edition. These rights might still be valid even if the composer's rights no longer are. So if you want to make sure the sheet music you download is not going to get you into legal trouble, it may not be enough to just look at the composer's death date.

Safe Genres to Download for Free

Classical music and Old music is generally likely safe to download for free:

• Medieval music (alas, no piano yet, and not too much sheet music, either!)
• Renaissance music (cembalo/harpsichord)
• Baroque music (Bach, Vivaldi, Händel, Pachelbel...)
• Music from the Classical period (Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn...)
• Music from the Romantic period (Schubert, Brahms, ...)

Quite often when scouting free sources, you will find PDF copies of old editions, scanned and uploaded by volunteers.

3 Popular Websites for Free Sheet Music

IMSLP

IMSLP is an acronym for "International Music Score Library Project", and is perhaps the most widely known and largest collection of public domain (= composer deceased for more than 70 years) sheet music in the world. It offers predominantly Classical music scores. Sometimes, this library is also referred to as the "Petrucci Music Library" because it is owned by Project Petrucci LLC. Here is an overview of its copyright description, and here, you'll find its more detailed view.

The IMSLP library consists mainly of sheet music scans. Often, you have quite a few historical editions to choose from. However, due to copyright issues, IMSLP had to close for a year (2007/2008), then similar issues came up in 2011, and 2017. In 2015, IMSLP came up with a subscription-based service. Free music is still available, but with a two-day time lag, and advertisements.

Musopen

Musopen is a US database for public domain (copyright-free) sheet music, originating from a college project that aimed to "set music free". Furthermore, Musopen raises money to finance recordings of Classical music, e.g. the complete works of Frederic Chopin.

Like IMSLP, Musopen offers semi-free music - scores are available for free, but if you want to access and download premium quality music (their recordings included) you would have to subscribe.

Mutopia

Mutopia is a volunteer project with a collection of ca. 2000 public domain pieces of sheet music (including contemporary compositions donated without royalty claims - this takes you to their licensing section. It caters to several instruments. For the piano, the website states that just short of 800 pieces are available. The largest selection of sheet music Mutopia offers is Baroque music. All files are also available in editable LilyPond format. There's a log that shows when users criticize or complain about the content. No new content has been added since 2020.

Never Download This Type of Sheet Music for Free!

Sheet music of contemporary music is never available for free (exceptions may rarely apply). If you download copyrighted music from any source "for free", you are almost certainly breaking someone's copyright. The only exception is clear written permission by the contemporary composer (and publisher, if applicable) that you may indeed download this sheet of music for free. Fines can be hefty.

Forbidden Sheet Music (Unless You Pay)

• Contemporary composers (regardless of genre, ranging from songwriters younger than Billie Eilish to any "less than 70 years deceased" composers like Leonard Bernstein)
• Very valuable special editions are not available for sale at all, only for rent. To rent them, you have to apply directly to the publisher. In this day and age, someone might still have scanned and uploaded these editions to a free sheet music site, illegally. By downloading these protected editions you can get into big trouble.
• Movie Soundtracks
• New Age Music
• Rock music
• Pop music
• Jazz music

You can only legally source these arrangements if you pay for them. This can mean

• you buy them from a source of legal sheet music, like OKTAV,
• you subscribe to a legal sheet music provider like OKTAV, again, or - if they are very precious -
• you rent them from the publisher.

Buying Sheet Music: Pros and Cons

Pros

Buying your sheet music does have its advantages, so it might be a good thing to give it some thought:

• Better quality because overall viewing has been optimized for digital use and print
• You can play any piece, any genre, even if it is copyrighted
• no legal troubles
• Fair pay for contemporary composers ensures that they can keep writing and producing music professionally - you're contributing towards supporting culture & creativity!

Cons

• Costs money - obviously. Who wouldn't rather have something for free?
• If you play a lot and always purchase each score (or sheet music book) individually, costs can add up quickly. Also, you spend a lot of time ordering sheet music.

Downloading Free Scores: Pros and Cons

Pros

• It costs no money (which is the point")
• You support community-based projects
• You get to play genres that are usually copyright-free

Cons

• You might only find old editions that are hard to decipher (due to bad PDF quality or to the old, yellowing edition it was copied from)
• Legal status unclear: A publisher might still hold the copyright to the particular edition you download
• Finding a good quality arrangement to download for free without legal trouble can take some time. If you play a lot of music you might find it too time-consuming to be effective.
• Members of the "open access" movement have tried to circumvent publisher's rights by writing their own arrangements at home and uploading them. The quality of these depends on the arranger's expertise and might range from good to well-intended, to unusable.
• You secretly dream of playing more contemporary music!

Sheet Music Subscription: Pros and Cons

Pros

• If your heart wants more than the Classical & Baroque sheet music that's available for free.
• If you love to play New Age, Pop, and Rock, Movie Soundtracks, Jazz, and Boogie.
• If you want to focus on playing and not so much on researching where to find good free stuff to play.
• If you don't enjoy checking copyright sections of websites in tiny legalese print.
• If you don't want to worry about how good or bad the scan you found is
• If you want to read crystal-clear scores optimized for digital use each and every time you play
• If you want an easy digital way to file, organize, and access your scores
• If you want to cut down on costs for sheet music purchases and save a lot of research time with a flat-rate subscription that easily allows you to play both high-quality public domain AND copyrighted sheet music!

Cons

• It does cost you as much as 3 cups of coffee per month - never more!
• It's a commitment. But, like in a relationship, if you find the right service commitment can be a good thing and make you play more
• If you don't play much and rarely try a new piece it might not be worth the expense
• If you are perfectly happy with only playing Bach, Beethoven, and their fellow composers

A Final Word of Warning

Read the small print! Usually, free sheet music websites will not guarantee you that everything you download from them is legal. They just appeal to their contributors to only upload sheet music arrangements that are in the public domain. So if you download anything that's copyrighted, they'll argue they are not liable. You, however, will be.