Someone once said, “Nothing in life is free”. Well, that person clearly hadn’t stumbled upon IMSLP, a website that provides a collection of public domain free sheet music. Now that you’ve picked yourself up off the floor, read on to find out how to access some of your favorite classical jams for ZERO dollars.

IMSLP, which stands for International Music Score Library Project offers over 230,000 scores and over 23,000 recordings for your musical needs. The website is available in 25 different languages and also includes a forum for individuals to discuss relevant topics. Here’s how it works:

Let’s say you’d like a score of Bach’s Flute Sonata in E-flat Major. You can type the full title into the search and you’ll be rerouted to a page with his score, related recordings, and general information about the piece. From there you can download the score as a PDF file and print out the music. (Be aware that works on the site will not have parts separated for each instrument–these are available through purchase on the website). You can also use the search function in other ways.

Underneath the search box you can click the book icon and search for scores by the composer’s name, the composer’s nationality, the composer’s time period, and by the genre of the work. The site also allows you to search for the piece by typing in the melody, which is probably not practical, but it definitely is cool.

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