Free Music
Music You Can Use for Free
There are a lot of resources out there for free or inexpensive music, so it can be hard to know where to begin and even harder to find stuff that is of good quality. I have made a list below of free music that I liked enough to sing again. I don't pretend that it is even remotely comprehensive: it's mainly stuff I have sung before. It's just a place to start....
Recommended Music You Can Get for Free (or nearly so...)
So many choir directors are reluctant to "just sing a hymn." Give hymns the respect they deserve! Making a hymn beautiful without a fancy accompaniment to cover up for you can be a big challenge. There are beautiful, inpired gems in the hymnal and some of them are downright HARD (try "O Savior, Thou Who Wearest A Crown"). There are hymns by great classical composers as well as newer LDS composers. Here are some suggestions:
Hymns that Work Well as Musical Numbers
This is a list of sites that I have found that have free music available for download. I have NOT tested them for quality of musical content. Here I am simply supplying a list of resources for your own exploration.
Sally Deford Music http://www.defordmusic.com
Andrew Hawryluk Music http://www.musicbyandrew.ca/
The Choral Public Domain Library http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Hoffman House http://www.hoffmanhouse.com/sheet.html
Dan Carter http://www.heartrisemusic.com/Downloads/index.html
M. Ryan Taylor www.choirworks.com
Steven Kapp Perry http://www.stevenkappperry.com/
Aaron Waite http://www.aaronwaite.com/about.html
Ashley Hall http://www.ashleyhallmusic.com
Craig Petrie Music http://www.petriefamily.org/ldsmusic/
Teton Music (Michelle Willis) http://www.tetonmusic.com/ldscatalog.htm
Vieve Thompson Music http://www.wardchoir.com/
More Music Links http://www.defordmusic.com/links.htm
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Music is in the public domain if it is old enough that the copyright has expired. Once something is in the public domain, it may be copied. If you do copy music that is in the public domain, please write on it "In public domain. May be copied." to avoid confusion with illegally copied music. For more information on whether something is in the public domain, see the following link:
http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm