For many people, learning to play an instrument means more than just mastering techniques and memorizing songs. Playing music is an outlet for self-expression and creativity. These musicians get the most enjoyment out of their instrument when composing their own material to express their innermost thoughts and feelings.
Are you wondering how to make the leap from just playing an instrument to writing your own songs? Take advantage of the many resources for musicians available online to expand your musical knowledge, boost your creativity, start writing your own pieces, and share them with the world.
Learn
–Ultimate Guitar has tons of great content for guitarists at all levels, including chord charts and tabs for thousands of songs.
–DrumLessons.com provides video lessons and more tips to help drummers sharpen their skills.
–Metronome Online helps you learn tempos and practice keeping on the beat.
–Get Tuned has great online tuners for most stringed instruments from guitar to banjo to violin.
–The Sight-Reading Project is a free database of exercises and resources you can use to improve your sight-reading.
Play
–Otomata is an interactive instrument you can play with a click of the mouse. Use it to experiment with different rhythms and sounds.
–Virtual Keyboard is a great way to experiment with playing piano and to try out playing melodies that come to you when your piano is out of reach.
–Music Text Composition Generator turns the lines of text you type into music. Have fun playing with this unique way of letting words inspire your music.
–Muziic DJ lets you upload and remix tracks and make playlists. Maybe your DJ creations will inspire you to create your next great piece!
–Incredibox is a web application that lets you compose and share animated beatbox songs using recorded samples.
Write
–Blank Sheet Music is just what it sounds like: a site that offers all varieties of blank staff paper that you can print for free. This is a great resource for those of us who still like to compose by hand.
–Noteflight lets you write music notation online and embed it in your website.
–Soundation is basically an online recording studio. Experiment with recorded loops and mixing your own recordings
–Songwriting Fever connects songwriters with similar or converging interests to other songwriters across the globe. This could be a great place to meet your next collaborator!
–Scorio is another great place to create and print high quality music notation online.
Share
–SoundCloud is an easy-to-use site with an active community. Upload your original music and share it publicly or send it privately to a friend’s inbox.
–BandCamp is a great free site for artists who are ready to sell their digital albums and physical merchandise.
–Viinyl lets you create a unique website to showcase one song, complete with photos and more information about yourself.
–BandPage helps bands make their websites and helps fans connect with new music.
–ReverbNation connects musicians, venues and promoters to help you score incredible gigs.
Musicians, did we leave anything out? Share your favorite sites in the comments!
You might also like…
–Infographic: What Makes 54% of us Buy New Music?
–How Batman can help your Band get more Facebook Fans
–3 Websites Indie Bands Need to Know
Photo by Wstryder
Megan L.