Piano Sheet Music in the Internet Age

Over the past decade, the rise of the Internetworks by the most famous composers have
has dramatically changed the availability andbeen available on the Web. When it comes to
presentation of piano music. Free downloads ofBeethoven, "Fur Elise" and "Moonlight Sonata" are
sheet music -- as well as audio recordings of pianoeasy to find on numerous sites, but what about
performances -- are easy to find in abundancemore obscure works like "Piano Sonata No. 13 in
through a simple Web search. Because of this,E-flat major?" For years, pianists were
old-fashioned sheet music publication has been onhard-pressed to find such works on the Internet.
the decline in favor of Web-based documents --Fortunately, the world of online piano sheet music
image files, .pdf's, eBooks, and other formats. Asis now working to overcome such shortcomings.
with a lot of technological change, this is neither aYes, "Fur Elise" is as easy to find as ever, but
good thing nor a bad thing. It's just different.now, former no-shows such as "Piano Sonata No.
Today, conscientious adult piano players should13 in E-flat major" are almost just as available.
have a basic understanding of the current stateThis is thanks to a number of sites offering free
of sheet music publication, and where it is headed.downloads of piano music. The Mutopia Project,
After all, when we examine our habits asfor instance -- an online source of free piano
consumers, we find that most of us tend to lookmusic downloads -- offers free piano music by
for the cheapest and easiest options wheneverhundreds of composers, from the origins of
possible. So these days, when there are so manywritten music up to the 20th century.
free piano music downloads to be found all overPlus, piano teachers are now learning about the
the Internet, why would anyone ever pay moneyexpansiveness of music available on the Web.
for sheet music?Many piano teachers will tell you that the most
In truth, more people cling to the old mediums ofdifficult thing about their work is choosing pieces
sheet music than one may think. And, of course,to perfectly suit the needs of a student. Because
there is nothing wrong with this. Some people areof the Internet, this is no longer such an issue.
simply not comfortable with the Internet, andWhen a teacher feels that her student needs to
may never be. Besides, what adult piano playerlearn a certain piece, that piece is likely available
doesn't enjoy the look and feel of a thick,on the Internet. Just a few years ago, this wasn't
comprehensive collection of the piano works oftrue. Now, thanks to the continued growth of the
Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann,Web, almost every piece of piano music by
Tchaikovsky, Debussy, or Rachmaninoff? Mostevery significant composer is available to
contemporary pianists learned how to play withdownload for free. Instead of those old, massive
such books, and most still own tons of those old,piano music collections, today's piano teacher is
worn, and wrinkled collections. Until recently, thesemore likely to use folders of sheet music
books were the lifeblood of the piano world, whichprintouts from the Web.
had been the case ever since the advent of theOf course, the availability of piano music free to
printing press.download does not change the fact that many of
Indeed, something has certainly been lost in theus still love those old-fashioned piano books. After
decline in popularity of such books. "The Completeall, such books are still high-quality products, and
Piano Works of Beethoven," for instance, holdsthey always make great gifts. Thus, even though
pieces even the most passionate Beethoven fanthe Internet is now a huge and ever-growing
might not know. In contrast, for years since thesource of sheet music, the old mediums aren't
inception of the Internet, only the most popularlikely to disappear any time soon.