Free resources we trust
Curated free / open tools — no paid funnel required. Prefer official sites; verify licenses when downloading scores.
Theory & reading
- musictheory.net — gold-standard free animated lessons (staff, rhythm, scales, intervals, chords). Optional paid apps support the site.
- musictheory.net exercises — note identification, keyboard trainers, ear drills.
- Open Music Theory (OMT2) — open college-level theory textbook (fundamentals through harmony). Also: OMT classic.
- This repo: Time signatures (Western meter) · Note values · Sight reading · Highway.
Scores & repertoire
- IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library — public-domain sheet music (methods, etudes, classics). Check the copyright banner for your country.
- Search IMSLP for beginner method books and simple folk melodies once C–G is solid.
Technique & finger exercises
- Hanon — The Virtuoso Pianist — all 60 finger exercises transposed to every key, with free sheet music (PDF) and play-along audio, plus a free online metronome. Public-domain classic (1873).
- This app's own Drills (wake-up patterns) and Exercises (Hanon No. 1, scales, arpeggios, hand-syncing) — interactive, at your own tempo.
Interactive keyboards (browser)
- PianoPath — free browser piano with chords, scales, and lessons (no signup).
- This app’s own practice keyboard and Quest Mode for daily practice without leaving the site.
Video (free channels to search)
- Piano Video Lessons / method channels — search YouTube for “beginner piano middle C” and “C major scale hands separately”; prefer teachers who show hands from above.
- Andrew Huang / Adam Neely / 12tone — deeper theory & creativity once basics click (not piano-method first).
YouTube quality varies. Cross-check anything “viral” against musictheory.net or a teacher.
How we use them here
- Daily keys + ear on Theory and Practice or Quest Mode.
- When a concept is fuzzy (e.g. key signatures), open the matching musictheory.net lesson.
- When ready for real pieces, grab a public-domain beginner score from IMSLP.