Times have changed. Perhaps it’s the instant gratification of search engines and the availability of free online videos. To write sheet music that people want to play, it has to be readable, printable, and playable.
When I learned to play the piano, I discovered what the music sounded like only after I sightread the piece. My students, on the other hand, prefer to play music that they have heard of. It’s almost as though time-challenged individuals are constrained by their lack of time and spoiled by the easy availability of Youtube and iTunes. Why risk learning a piece that you’ve never heard of?
There is risk in spending time on the unfamiliar. First, you have to spend time. The opportunity cost is to spend time on something else, more rewarding, more comfortable, and more productive. Second, after you spend time on the unfamiliar, you may realize you don’t like the result. There lies the risk. There is a real danger that you’ve wasted your time. Third, you may make mistakes. You may feel incompetent. And that doesn’t feel good.
When I was learning to play the piano, the risks seemed smaller than what my students perceive now. There was no short cut. There was no alternative. Everybody did it.
Unless my teacher played the piece for me, I wouldn’t know what the piece sounded like. I didn’t have a large record collection. I didn’t know people who played the piano, other than my teacher. [When I got older, one of my indulgences was to hide in music bookstores, read sheet music, and hear the music in my head. Sadly, sheet music stores are disappearing. See article.]
How do you entice people to learn a new piece of music? Have them listen to a recording or the midi realization of it. Play it for them.
Without the above, is it possible to interest someone to play your music?
It is possible. Here’s how.
Make it readable. Make it look so easy that it’s not possible to make a mistake. For beginners, the size of the note head and spacing between the notes do matter. Don’t make them strain to read the notes. Don’t introduce impossible feats like intervals greater than one octave for one hand. As pianists dislike reading ledger notes with more than one or two ledger lines, make use of 8va instead.
For beginners, it’s important to add fingerings, especially the tricky bits. For advanced players, this may seem like an insult.
Most importantly, make the score look final and professional. Unless you are engaged in work in progress or have influence over the work, you probably don’t want to waste time reading a draft or commit to learning notes and symbols that appear temporary or intermittent.