Sheet Music Secrets:
How to Find Good Stuff for your Ward Music Program
by Greg Hansen

I, dear readers, as the Sheet Music Sleuth of the century, have listed below some sources of free or inexpensive worship meeting appropriate music and hereby debunk some of the Persistent Church Music Myths that Refuse to Die, such as:

My Ward Has No Music Budget!
Really, every ward has mostly the same per capita funding, so it’s simply a matter of deciding where those funds are allocated every year. If your ward is not used to having an amount set aside for purchasing choir or instrumental music, it’s probably because no one has asked for it. Simply request say, $100 yearly, especially when the bishop is asking the auxiliaries for their budgets for the new year, and with that you can get several fresh new numbers, especially for those big performances-Christmas and Easter. The manual authorizes ward funds for music purchases. Honestly, it’s common to see that much spent a month for YM/YW goodies, and sheet music has a much longer shelf life than doughnuts.

If the ward budget isn’t spent at the end of the year, any excess goes away, so put in your request consistently each year so the leaders get used to it. As you build confidence with them, over time you will be able to get more funds. If asking is too uncomfortable, then if possible, simply buy it yourself and keep it, becoming one of the legendary musical monoliths I describe later in this article. Or donate it and take it as a tax deduction.

Having served in several bishoprics, I know that often a ward music budget is simply not thought of, mostly from lack of awareness. But do your job well, and the music will bring the Spirit with power and purpose, and all will appreciate its ability to add to church worship services significantly.

In the meantime, there are a number of free or inexpensive places you can get decent choir, instrumental or vocal solo music, but for the most part, the “you get what you pay for” rule applies. In general, this article is about sources for prelude and postlude music, vocal and instrumental special musical numbers, and ward choir material. Here’s a roundup of some good sources:

The Hymnbook
I have always felt that there is no reason to have a ward choir if all you do is sing a hymn with all the verses the same way right out of the hymnbook, because the congregation can do that. A choir should do something a little different than what the audience can, because it lends a fresh outlook on the familiar, bringing a better chance of new spiritual insight to the participants. Doing a hymn as a solo may be a better option. A duet or a capella version can be different enough to bridge the “same old” feeling of a familiar hymn done too often without variation.

The Tabernacle Choir is a good model of how to do the above. When they sing from the hymnbook, they always have interludes and vary the vocal colors from verse to verse during conference sessions.

There are excellent directions in the back of the hymnbook for varying the voices on each verse. However, a hymn arrangement is always more effective at bringing the Spirit simply because it is a new variation on an original theme, as long as it is in keeping with cultural propriety.

The Church Website
www.lds.org
The “Frequently Asked Questions” page on the “Church Music Callings and Resources” section is a treasure trove of definitive information on all things musical in the church. Talk about debunking myths-here is the authoritative source. Also on the church music site are substantial free downloads of sheet music published in church magazines, Young Women songs, YW camp music, seminary songs, answers on who pays for what, and everything else. Though most titles have been around for a while, the music offered there can be recycled and copied forever. It evens mentions bringing in pro musicians for multi-stake music workshops.

LDSMusicNow.com
www.ldsmusicnow.com
This site has all the new vocal solos from many of your favorite LDS artists as well as oodles of duets, choir numbers, and instrumental hymn arrangements for Sacrament meetings.  It’s the iTunes of sheet music. You simply click, pay and download the songs instantly. The charge is minimal per copy, and a request for large choir multiple copy discounts can be made via the “contact” button. This site makes last minute preparation for tomorrow’s rehearsal a breeze, even if you live in Timbuktu. Most of the songs even have professionally recorded mp3 clips of how they sound. You can download the first page of each song to be sure it’s what you want. They have a free download each month, so if desired, you could have a dozen new songs a year without paying a dime! It is a great resource for soloists, choir directors and instrumentalists. An e-mail receipt is sent with terms of use for the number of copies purchased. The site is well done, has high quality material and is simple to use.

Sally DeFord Music
www.defordmusic.com
Sally has written a lot of music and is able to offer it free on the net. If you are a fan of her music, this is a good place to get it at no cost. There are some hidden gems there.

Jackman Music Corporation
www.jackmanmusic.com
Jackman Music has been around for many years and has the ward choir thing down pat. They send out a sampler via snail mail every year of new published works. You can order from their website and have things shipped to you. They will soon be offering a web download version of their catalog as well. They use online ordering and snail mail delivery. They also have solos and instrumental music that are appropriate worship meeting material.

LDSMusicSource.com
www.ldsmusicsource.com
Another good source for ward choir music, this site provides sheet music downloads online and sends out green stickers for multiple copy purposes. Kind of a hassle, but it works. The material is good, and is from various composers. They also have solos and various other selections.

Sheet Music Plus
www.sheetmusicplus.com
Over 30, 000 titles featuring the music of John Rutter and all those great Mac Wilberg Tabernacle Choir arrangements. Uses online ordering and snail mail delivery. Good and reliable, in an old-fashioned sort of way.

Oxford University Press
www.oup.co.uk/music/
Good stuff here too. Some nice choir books for Christmas can be found, as well as some great new music. Also uses online ordering and snail mail shipping.

Janice Kapp Perry.com
www.janicekappperry.com
Janice is perhaps the Church’s most beloved and familiar composer. Her songs for Primary, original hymns and choir music, and Young Women’s music can be ordered online at the site listed above.

And after all these lovely ideas, let us not forget the tried-and-true old school headwaters of the ward musical river.

The Elusive Stake Music Library
This is usually a myth of epic proportions. The old music manual says that wards should pool their music into a single stake music library to be shared by all wards in the stake. If there is one, it has usually been ruthlessly ravaged, pillaged and the spoils carried off to long forgotten barbarian lands. I once found some old dusty music in our library that still had all-flags-instead-of-beams notation from the Jurassic period. But, like finding the Holy Grail in the catacombs, you may get lucky.

The Secret Libraries of People Who Have Been in Church Music Callings Forever
You know these people. They are talented musicians who never escape the fate of being reincarnated in every new ward as the organist, choir director, or music chairman. It is like an unending cycle of rebirth. These are the true heroes of our lay ministry. They have by far the greatest music libraries of Extremely Cool stuff. All you have to do is buddy up to them enough to get them to loan you a song or two for your choir or special musical number.

But only borrow two songs at a time, please. My library is by invitation only. :)

Find out more about Greg Hansen at his website:
www.Greg-Hansen.com