How to Download Free Music for Marching Bands

It's becoming difficult to download free music for anyone, marching bands included. Most sites that offer truly free downloads are illegal peer-to-peer networks. However, many sites now offer unlimited downloads for a subscription fee. They often advertise "free" downloads, since the songs are in a sense free to you, once you've paid for your subscription.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Adobe Acrobat
• MP3 or other media player

Download Free Sheet Music for Marching Bands

1. Download Acrobat Reader if you don't already have it on your computer. Most sites offer their music in PDF format, which can be opened in Reader.

2. Search for the sheet music you want. Though it's difficult to find sheet music specifically arranged for marching bands online, you can find a wide variety of music arranged for piano, which can then be transposed for other instruments.

3. Go to Marchingpercussion.com for free downloads of percussion riffs, with no subscription fee (see Resources below).

Download Free Songs for Marching Bands

4. Find a media player you can use to listen to the songs you download. The three most popular media players for PCs are Quicktime, RealPlayer and Windows Media Audio. You can also download iTunes, which can be used for both PCs and Macs. In addition, iTunes has a built-in music store, where you can purchase and download a nearly limitless amount of music online.

5. Look for a music site with a subscription-based service, which usually allows a number of free downloads before you have to start paying, such EZ-Tracks.com (see Resources below). You probably won't find any genre listing for "marching band music" per se, but you can find orchestral and big band music on such sites.

6. Select the song you want, and click to download it. You will be directed to a registration page for a subscription. Read all terms and conditions carefully before signing up.

7. Download the song once you've subscribed. This will usually open up the default media player on your computer, or you'll be given the option to save it to your desktop or music folder. If you open the song with iTunes, the program should play the song and add it to your Music Library automatically.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want recorded music from particular school marching bands, your best bet is to start with the official website of the college or university. Search their site for "fight song" and you may find a recording to download for free. You can also search for sites that provide free downloads of school fight songs--these are not hard to come by.
• If you want recorded marching band music other than school fight songs, you may have to search harder. Try marching band competition websites; they often provide downloads or DVDs of winning performances, either for free or for sale.
• Music, both recorded and written, is protected by copyright law. Be sure to get permission before using any other composer's work, unless the work is in the public domain. Even a particular arrangement of a traditional song can be copyrighted; always check before making any copies, even for students.

Resources

• Free percussion riff downloads
• Song downloads at EZ-tracks.com

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[FreeBandMusic]

on 10/16/2007 Visit my site: FreeBandMusic.biz and download free music for marching and concert band. I do custom arrangements too!