For those poor musicians in our readership trying to stay alive on compliments and cat food, and in need of sheet music for a favorite classical piece, the Mutopia Project might be a godsend. Much like analogous sites such as Project Gutenberg, the Mutopia Project is a volunteer-driven online source for classical material. Volunteer musicians transcribe sheet music for pieces by Schubert, Chopin, various Bachs, and other great composers. The music is then posted and made available for free download on the web site.

The music is formated as PDF files, and carries a Creative Commons license allowing free downloading, printing, copying, modifying, and recording. Computer-generated MIDI files are also available to give you a sense of the piece. Those wishing higher- quality copies can choose to pay for professional printing.

For a fumble-fingered musician wannabe such as me, this site is wonderful; I can download innumerable pieces on which to demonstrate my shortcomings. For competent players, free, immediately-available sheet music should be a welcome resource for stretched budgets.