Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ:
Are all the scores in this site free?
May I post them on another web site, forum, or the like?
Under which formats are available your scores?
Why there is no Letter page size?
Most scores have pdf versions in A3 size; which is the difference?
Legal aspects
Are all the scores in this site free? (as in free beer)
Yes, they are free: they can all be downloaded and used without the need of any fee or any authorization.
The short answer: almost everything!
The long answer: you may download, copy, re-distribute, print, read, play, perform, record them (even for a price) or modify them without paying me any fee or asking me any authorization (of course, if you find them useful, I would appreciate you letting me know, using this form).
Technically, the scores — and all this site contents — are under the Creative Commons by-sa 3.0 license: you may find the precise license terms, both in legalese and in human readable form, in the relevant Creative Commons page.
There are only 2 limits:
1) You cannot pretend you made them yourself! Any copy you re-distribute shall contain the appropriate credits to me (leaving in place the copyright notice they already contain is enough). The same holds for any derivative work you might produce based on them (transcriptions, arrangements, etc.): they shall bear a notice saying: "Based on a score by Maurizio M. Gavioli" or equivalent; though not mandatory, a link to this site is welcome.
2) Any derivative work shall be placed under the same Creative Commons by-sa 3.0 license as the original score. Again, the precise license terms can be found in the relevant Creative Commons page.
May I post them on another web site, forum, or the like?
Yes, you may.
As these scores might be updated from time to time (and you probably do not want to track these updates manually), you would do your users a favor by also adding a link to the original page of this site from where you downloaded the file(s): this will enable your users to keep an eye on specific scores they may be interested in.
Technical aspects
Under which formats are available your scores?
All the scores are available in:
pdf format (for easy displaying and printing),
in MuseScore own format (if you have MuseScore,
you may directly open the score with it),
in MusicXML format (for importing in other music notation programs).
All the pdf's are in A4 page size. MuseScore's MSCZ files and MusicXML files also are in A4 size, but by opening them with a music notation program, it is possible to reformat them.
Why there is no Letter page size (8.5" x 11")?
A4 format is the standard page size in the great majority of world countries (see for instance what Wikipedia says on this). While the few exceptions (mainly United States and Canada) are large and important countries, I only have resources to maintain one page size for my scores and A4 is the obvious choice.
Most scores have pdf versions in A3 size; which is the difference?
pdf files marked as "A4" are intended to be printed 'normally' on loose sheets of paper with a 'normal' printer. They technically can be printed in booklet format on double-sized paper (A3; if your printer supports it), but might have inconvenient page turnings for pieces longer than two pages.
A3 versions try to minimize page turnings in booklet format printing by using fold-outs: pages are re-arranged so that the bulk of the volume can be printed as booklet on A3 paper and all the fold-outs are grouped at the end to be printed on A4 paper and glued at their respective places. The last page of each A3 pdf file contains specific printing instructions.