is there a thread here that has a bunch of good piano songs?

swalker133 · Post by **swalker133** » 10-30-10 6:53 pm

i searched this forum already trying to find a thread with a bunch of good piano songs from a variety of genres that are good to be learning.... does anyone know of such a thread? I tryed to start one here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2226 but it basically died, does anyone know of such a thread?? i think it would be a good thread (or maybe even a new section under the board index) to start because i believe that the best way to get better at anything in music is by learning to play as many songs as you possibly can and studying the theory behind them...

jimhenry · Post by **jimhenry** » 10-30-10 8:18 pm

We walk a fine line on posting links to sites with MIDI files. As we all know, many of those sites do a poor job of managing the copyright issues involved with MIDI files. I'm not being harsh about that, I know how hard it is to manage those rights. Unfortunately, Nicholas can't afford to put himself in the position of appearing to encourage or facilitate the use of MIDI files that violate copyrights even if they are on another site. That was what brought down Napster. If someone knows of a site that posts good MIDI files that is scrupulous about observing the rights issues, please do post that. I don't think there are very many that fall into that category.

swalker133 · Post by **swalker133** » 10-30-10 8:19 pm

i see...

Pianotehead · Post by **Pianotehead** » 10-30-10 10:10 pm

Agreed, let's respect copyrights. Even in spite of the rotten ethics of some of the recording companies. I've read that the composer/artist only gets a small portion of the sheet music sales, the bulk of it goes to the publishers. That's something they have to deal with regarding their own conscience.

I've been scratching my head how to get music notes for popular songs, written before 1923, because I understand there is only copyright issues on music made after that, with the exception of more recent adaptations of the older works. This is my conclusion:

I'm thinking about buying them in books, collections of ten or more songs. The reason: outrageous prices of the single downloads. The sites i've visited charge you $3, up to $5 per song! That's robbery in broad daylight.

By buying the collection books, I can get down to $1 per song, sometimes less. I would have thought it's less expensive to publish the scores online than on paper, not the other way around. If I want MIDIs I can always type the notes into a MIDI-notation program, for private use of course.

jimhenry · Post by **jimhenry** » 10-31-10 1:31 am

Before you spend money on pre-1923 sheet music, check out some of the on-line collections that are available:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/List ... s,%20Music

jimhenry · Post by **jimhenry** » 10-31-10 1:40 am

Here's another site with a large collection of PD sheet music:
http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/index.html

swalker133 · Post by **swalker133** » 10-31-10 10:08 am

right now im using ariamaestosa: http://ariamaestosa.sourceforge.net/ free midi editor, to split my midi files into right and left hand piano parts... works pretty well. heres a tutorial on how to do it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yNrfGEZbRY