Last Updated on May 31, 2022 by Rebecca
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Where can I buy piano sheet music online? What is the best site for piano sheet music? I'm looking for online piano sheet music!
If you're looking to buy piano sheet music online, there are about a million and one options available. But for me, there are 5 main places I always turn to!
If you're looking for specific recommendations for sheet music you might be interested in buying, check out my Resources page. But if you've already got some music in mind, or if you just want to shop around, keep reading to find out where you can buy online piano sheet music! (Some of it is even free!)
Amazon [Best for Piano Sheet Music by Famous Contemporary Musicians]
Amazon actually has a huge selection of piano sheet music! When I'm looking for printed copies of contemporary music, this is where I always look first. I've purchased books from Andrea Dow (for example, The Amadeus Anthems), Ludovico Einaudi (for example, Islands – Essential Einaudi), and several other contemporary composers on Amazon.
I love ordering from Amazon because with my Amazon Prime membership, I get free shipping, which is definitely not the case for most online music stores! (If you're not already an Amazon Prime member, you can get a 30-day free trial here.)
IMSLP [Best for FREE Sheet Music by Famous Classical Musicians]
If I'm looking for a famous classical piece of music. Something by, say, Beethoven, Mozart, Grieg, Tchaikovsky (basically anyone who's been dead a very long time!), I turn to IMSLP.org.
This website offers PDFs and audio files of over well over 100,000 pieces of public domain music. And yes, since it's all public domain, that means it's all FREE! Which is fantastic.
You do have to either print the music yourself, or read if off a device screen though, so if you're looking for a collection that's already printed, this site won't give you what you need.
RCM Bookstore [Best for Levelled Piano Books Once You Graduate from Method Books]
Here in Canada, The Royal Conservatory of Music is one of 2 main examination boards. Once my students complete their method books, I move them into the leveled books from RCM to help them continue to progress in their skills.
They have books of repertoire pieces, étude pieces, and even a very thorough series of theory workbooks. And their repertoire selections include a range of musical styles, from baroque, to contemporary, and everything in between.
The best place to buy these books is direct from the RCM Bookstore. What I love most about the RCM Bookstore is that they charge a flat rate $5 shipping. So no matter how many books you order, you still only pay $5.
Sheet Music Plus [Best for Fully-Notated Piano Covers of Popular Songs]
When I'm looking for piano sheets of a pop song (and I'm not in the mood to arrange it myself by ear), I turn to Sheet Music Plus.
You can actually order printed books of sheet music from this website and have it shipped to your door, but when I go to Sheet Music Plus, I'm usually on the hunt for a single sheet of a specific song, so I usually prefer to order a PDF for instant download.
You'll also find a lot of contemporary music by less-famous contemporary musicians on this website.
One of the benefits of shopping on this site is that you get a preview of the first few pages of the pieces, so you can decide whether the arrangement is suitable to your ability level and personal style.
Another (possibly even better) benefit is that a lot of the time, the composers/arrangers will post an audio recording or a link to a YouTube performance of the music, so you'll be able to hear it first and decide whether you like the arrangement.
You know when you go to YouTube and listen to piano covers of your favourite popular songs, and there's a link in the description to the sheet music for the song? Those links usually lead to Sheet Music Plus!
Piano Pronto [Best for Contemporary Piano Sheet Music for Beginners]
Piano Pronto is a line of piano books created by Jennifer Eklund. Her Fired Up! method books are my go-to for teen beginners who can't stand the thought of starting out with songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb.
But her company has so much more to offer than just her method books! She also publishes a lot of contemporary music written by herself and by many other contemporary composers as well.
And there's even a page on her site where she offers free sheet music PDFs for instant download! There's always a new piece cycling into the “Limited Time Offer” spot on this free page, so if you check back often, you can build a pretty good collection.
You do have to create an account to download music from this site, but to me it's worth it.
You can preview the sheet music on the Piano Pronto website to decide whether it's the right level for you, and you can listen to samples to help you decide whether it's music you would enjoy playing. So you always know exactly what you're getting.
If you live in the US, ordering print books from this website will be no problem at all. But things get a bit more tricky if, like me, you live in Canada.
The cheapest option for Canadians is to order PDFs and print them yourself.
Shipping to Canada for the printed books is pretty pricey. However, there's a work around!
MusicTime.ca is a Canadian online retailer that sells Piano Pronto books. The shipping is flat rate $12.50CAD (which to me is still a lot to pay for shipping, but it's a lot cheaper than shipping directly from the Piano Pronto website).
The good news is it's flat rate shipping, so if you find a lot of books you like, it's easier to rationalize the shipping cost. (And if you're a piano teacher, you can bulk order books for several students and split the shipping between them so they each only have to pay a small portion of the shipping).
BONUS: Rebecca's Piano Keys [Best for Creating Your Own Music]
Of course, if you're interested in creating your own music (whether you're a complete beginner or a more experienced piano player), you might just find something you like in my online Shop!
The hardcopy workbook Learn to Read Your Own Music Book 1 is perfect for anyone who is just starting out and wants to learn to read their own music. It will help you learn how to confidently read pitches on the music staff and count rhythms, all while exploring your own musical creativity!
The Chords Superpack will help you learn all the triads on the piano, and how to use them to create effective musical chord progressions for your own songs and compositions.
The Improvisation Rhythm Challenge Series will help you practice 5 (yes, five!) different skills: reading and playing rhythms, playing chords smoothly, reading lead sheets, improvising your own music, understanding scales/key signatures.
Summary
So to sum it up, here are my top 6 websites for piano sheet music:
- Amazon [Best for Piano Sheet Music by Famous Contemporary Musicians]
- Remember, if you're not an Amazon Prime member, you can get a free 30-day trial here and get free shipping.
- IMSLP [Best for FREE Sheet Music by Famous Classical Musicians]
- RCM Bookstore [Best for Levelled Piano Books Once You Graduate from Method Books]
- Sheet Music Plus [Best for Fully-Notated Piano Covers of Popular Songs]
- Piano Pronto [Best for Contemporary Piano Sheet Music for Beginners]
- Remember to check out the special page of FREE piano sheet music from Piano Pronto!
- Rebecca's Piano Keys [Best for Creating Your Own Music]