Resource Gems:
Digital Music Sources for the 21st-Century Teacher

Tim Stephenson

MTNA Business Digest, Volume 4, Issue 1

October 2024


If you are looking to make the transition from physical scores to digital sheet music, there are plenty of online resources available to you! The days of lugging around bulky 100-page scores are over!

Performers, teachers and students alike are moving toward digital sheet music, as it is easily accessible and convenient. Finding reliable scores can be challenging, as the increased demand for digital music sources brought on by the pandemic has left us with more options than we could ever need!

Because of the versatile nature of digital resources, you can find sheet music in a variety of formats. Below are just a few of the many different types of digital resources that provide access to sheet music online.

International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

By far the most popular digital resource for sheet music and scores is the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) or Petrucci Music Library. The collection includes nearly every print material under public domain that is licensed for public use. And the best part? It’s all free!

Users can browse the nearly 800,000 scores from more than 28,000 composers and 85,000 recordings on IMSLP’s site and download PDFs of the scores for free. While the breadth of resources available on IMSLP is spellbinding, the challenge with the site is that the quality is wide-ranging. IMSLP, like Wikipedia, is crowdsourced, meaning anyone can upload scores, which are then vetted by reviewers. So, you won’t find Henle or Bärenreiter on IMSLP! Inevitably, there are scores on the website that are not as reliable as a traditional Urtext, so be sure to review the scores you find carefully.


PUBLISHER WEBSITES & APPS

As digital scores become more popular, prominent music publishers have adopted their own approaches to the online consumption of music. Below are a few well-known publishers that have invested in developing advanced features for accessing and utilizing digital scores: offering modernized score readers, built-in interactive scores, advanced annotation abilities and more.

The Henle Library

Henle recently released its new music reader and online library app, which features its extensive library, available for purchase and download within the app. While free to download, the app works on a credit system, where you purchase credits that are then used to “buy” scores. Like the publisher itself, The Henle Library focuses on standard repertoire. The app is available in English, German, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Carl Fischer

Carl Fischer, which has been around for more than 150 years, is a popular publisher for large ensembles, chamber music and choral music, and boasts a large catalog of exclusive composers. Carl Fischer offers multiple mediums to access purchased music: traditional physical scores, digital scores accessed through music reader apps, and digital PDF downloads. Like the other publishers, each option must be purchased separately.

Presser

Like Carl Fischer, Theodore Presser is a long-standing publisher with a large catalog of exclusive composers and a wide range of musical genres and methods. The process for purchasing music is identical to Carl Fischer, with options to purchase physical scores, digital access and PDF downloads.

Other Notable Publishers

There are numerous publishers that offer access to digital sheet music, method books, educational resources and supplemental online materials on their websites, including (in no particular order) Hal Leonard, FaberPiano Adventures, Alfred, Kjos, and FJH. Teachers are encouraged to explore the offerings from each of these notable music distributors!


DIGITAL SHEET MUSIC WEBSITES

For those looking to find music beyond the standard repertoire that can be found at IMSLP or through a publisher, there are several websites that allow the purchase and download of modern music and arrangements. Below are just four of dozens of these websites; it is important to note for all these sites to use discretion about the quality of the scores before purchasing.

Musicnotes

Musicnotes.com has an extensive library of digital sheet music organized by level of difficulty, as well as genre, including jazz, gospel, religious, popular and more. There are a few different types of scores available, including “Musicnotes files,” which are typical downloadable sheet music files, “Musicnotes Editions,” which include the sheet music download plus performance and recording rights, and “Musicnotes Marketplace,” which are user-arranged sheet music. MTNA members save 15% on sheet music purchased through Musicnotes. Learn More.

Sheet Music Plus

Sheet Music Plus is the largest online catalog of sheet music, with more than 2 million titles available for purchase. There are several different sheet music formats available on the website, including traditional print, digital downloads and interactive downloads, which allow you to edit, resize and alter the scores. MTNA members save 10% off all purchases, plus save an additional 8% with Sheet Music Plus’s EasyRebates program. Learn More.

Sheet Music Now

With sheet music arrangements for piano, vocal, strings and more, Sheet Music Now boasts an easy-to-use platform with music organized by instrumentation and genre. In addition to purchased digital scores, the site offers free sheet music, with new complimentary additions added every month. MTNA members save 20% on all purchases. Learn More.

Shar Music

Shar Music is a one-stop shop for all things string instruments, including instruments themselves, cases, strings and sheet music. While the site itself is string-focused, there are sheet music offerings for a number of instruments. The digital downloads are quite straightforward and similar to the other digital sheet music websites. Like the others, Shar Music sources some of its digital scores from publishers like Hal Leonard and Presser.


BONUS: MUSIC READER APPS

While there is a plethora of options for finding and downloading digital music, another important choice is how to read and access that music. Often, websites like IMSLP or Sheet Music Plus will offer the option to download PDF scores; however, some require a music reader app, whether that be the publisher’s website (like Henle) or an external one. Here are three apps that are frequently used.

Piascore

Boasting over 10 million users, Piascore is a free music reader app, which includes a tuner and metronome. Piascore, like the rest of these apps, can open and annotate PDF scores with a wide range of options for editing scores. The app grants direct download access to its own sheet music store, as well as IMSLP.

forScore

forScore is very similar to Piascore and is a popular music reader app for performers, as it is known for its speed (which is helpful for page turns!). forScore has several organizational tools for an expansive music library, including setlists, keywords and other identifiers. The application has direct download access to its sheet music store “forStore,” as well as cloud storage sites like DropBox and Musicnotes, Carl Fischer, Presser and more.

Newzik

Like the others, Newzik offers a range of editing and annotating options for PDF scores. Newzik’s advantage is that it is largely cloud-based, meaning that scores are shared across devices and users. So, you can share your markings with students or collaborators in real time. There are additional features through Newzik, including adding audio or video to a score as a teaching tool.

 

Looking for a good read?


book cover;

Jennifer Walschap

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

David Allen’s Getting Things Done is a must-read for modern business owners in any field, but especially creatives. The day-to-day planning and tasks of running a studio business can wear us out mentally, leaving little room for the creative side of our visions.

Allen offers an easy-to-follow system that has been tested and refined over years of using it with his own clients. He teaches us how to get everything out of our mental to-do list and create routines for reflecting and engaging so we can utilize the free space for creativity.

The book is divided into three parts:

  1. “The Art of Getting Things Done” outlines the problems we often face with productivity and gives an overview of the GTD system’s steps for workflow and project planning.
  2. “Practicing Stress-Free Productivity” goes more in-depth into how to get started and provides details for each of Allen’s five steps for mastering workflow.
  3. “The Power of the Key Principles” briefly describes the cognitive and emotional benefits of GTD and presents scientific studies that prove why the system works.

What is so effective about the system is that it can be modified to fit your preferences, needs and lifestyle. Your inbox can be a paper list or a fancy computer app. Scheduled “weekly review” sessions can vary in length to fit in your schedule.

And one of the best parts for creative business owners? The process includes brainstorming your “someday/maybe” ideas—things you’ve always wanted to do, or thoughts you might want to explore more—and creating “next action steps” to help them become a reality!

Studio owners who are serious about developing a game plan for the nitty gritty of managing their studio and freeing up precious space in their schedule (and mind) for creativity will find this book an essential resource.

Visit gettingthingsdone.com for current resources, including blog posts and podcast episodes.

 

Ask Us Anything!

Welcome to this new segment, designed to meet your needs! This issue’s question comes from an independent studio owner in North Carolina:

Question: “I recently booked a venue for my studio recital coming up in mid-May and they asked for event liability insurance from me. Do you have any recommendations on how or where to get this type of insurance for my studio’s event? I have no idea where to start.”

Answer: There are several options for your studio:

  1. Depending on your homeowner’s policy, you may be able to add a rider to your home insurance policy. Check with your local agent.
  2. MTNA has partnered with F.L. Dean & Associates to promote a new policy designed with the independent teacher in mind, offering general liability insurance as well as abuse and molestation liability insurance. Click here for more information.
  3. The Trust for Insuring Educators that MTNA is a member of has a professional liability policy that you might want to explore. Click here for more information.

Each of these will probably provide slightly difference coverage, so you will want to make sure what you select addresses your areas of concern. If this is just a one-time liability policy need for the recital, it might be best to check with your personal insurance agent first, as items two and three above are designed to be more full coverage for studios.

NOTE: For state affiliate and local association events (recitals, competitions/festivals, etc.), liability insurance coverage is available under the umbrella of the MTNA liability policy. Click here for more information.

Do you have a question for the MTNA Business Network teachers? Ask us anything! Submit questions or provide feedback.

 

Tim Stephenson

 

Tim Stephenson is a pianist, teacher and administrator on staff at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and on faculty at Pacific Piano School. Tim is currently a doctoral candidate at IU’s Jacobs School of Music.

 

 

Jennifer Walschap

 

Jennifer Walschap , NCTM, is the founder and director of Imagine Music and Arts in Norman, Oklahoma, where she teaches Suzuki piano. She received an MME degree in piano pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma.

 

 

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