Ginny Anderson: Music warehouse on the internet

By GINNY ANDERSON

Beethoven once said there ought to be one large art warehouse in the world where artists can take their works and exchange them for what they require. That was in 1801.

It's 200 years down the track and we're almost there.

The internet has been revolutionary for music lovers and not just for punters looking to swap MP3 files. Budding musicians eager to learn an instrument but without the funds to take up traditional lessons can find many musical gems online.

Guitarists are exceptionally fortunate when it comes to picking up tips on the web. Want a free tutorial? Visit www.cyberfret.com. Interactive lessons with video, audio and tabulature aids will get your fingers strumming in no time. Your first lesson covers tabulature, what it is and how to read it — you'll need to learn this system of notation if you're going to make the most out of all the fantastic tabulature sites out there.

Now on to chords. www.chordfinder.com plays you the chords and at the same time demonstrates the finger positioning on a fret board at the top of the screen. Just select one of the many chords available and large red dots will appear where your pinkies should be. There's even a left-handed version. You'll also find a list of excellent links, including tabulature search engines and sheet music addresses. Just make sure your Java Script plug-in is up to date, so you can get the most from this top-notch address.

If you've already grasped the basics, the web's your oyster. http://www.tabrobot.com has a pile of music listed by song title and band. From Dylan to Buckley, thousands of artists have been covered. That's not to say these archives always offer perfectly correct chords or lyrics and not every song can be always be found. That's because the guitarists who post the music have to spend hours listening to albums to note down the chords. They're hardly going to do that for tunes they don't like, so we can offer them a little leeway don't you think?

If the bass is your thing www.tabspider.com offers a search engine for bass tabulature and yet again offers a brilliant selection of artists. Or if you're just after lyrics, and can't recall the name of the song or the artist, (but just have that one irritating line flying around your brain) try www.lyrics.ch/index.htm. It'll sort you out in no time.

Not all music is free on the web. If you're after recent sheet music that's still under copyright and you're looking for a perfect rendition go to www.net 4music.com. You'll find a wide selection available to be downloaded in PDF format. And not just for the piano and guitar. Flute, sax, clarinet, violin and vocal versions are also up for grabs. If you're interested in buying do so in Aussie dollars — it's the closest currency you'll get.

Don't fancy opening your wallet? Free files are also available. Known as public domain files, they're generally sourced from collections with copyrights in the late 1800s. Virtual sheet music www.virtualsheet music.com grades pieces and offer versions for instruments other than piano.

www.sheetmusicarchive.com claims to be the largest free collection of public domain classical piano sheet music on the web. It's well worth a gecko. There's an almost complete Chopin collection, and Beethoven and Mozart's sonatas are also available for downloading. I wonder if Beethoven would be beaming about that? The net is probably not the type of art warehouse he imagined all those years ago.

* Peter Sinclair is on leave

Links:

www.cyberfret.com

www.chordfinder.com

www.tabrobot.com

www.tabspider.com

www.lyrics.ch

www.net4music.com

www.virtualsheetmusic.com

www.sheetmusicarchive.com