In an effort to make the blessings of Church music more accessible to members, the Church has created and launched the Church Music Web Site (www.lds.org/churchmusic) as a resource for members, families, choir directors, music leaders, speakers, accompanists and performers.
David Warner, director of the Church's Music and Cultural Arts division, said, "Whether or not members have a background in music, the site will help them in studying doctrinal principles, conducting family home evenings, serving in Church callings, and teaching the gospel in many settings."
The centerpiece of the site is the Interactive Church Music Player, a tool that will play, print or download most of the hundreds of pieces from Hymns and Children's Songbook. The player can play the music with or without vocals. Users may isolate and play specific parts of a song — helpful in learning a part. The player also allows users to change a song to a higher or lower key and even print it out in the new key.
People using the site can download any of the available songs with or without vocals as MP3s. The songs are all searchable by title, first line, topic, scripture reference, keywords, or author's first or last name.
The site includes help for users who have a range of musical experience from basic to more advanced. Suggestions are included on selecting hymns for meetings, adapting hymns for choral use, teaching songs to children, adding variety to singing, accompanying singers, and choosing easy-to-play hymns. The Interactive Conducting Course provides helpful instruction on leading music.
Also included on the site are guidelines and rules for sending original songs and hymns to the Church's annual music submission. Site users can also print out sheet music from a number of past submissions.
Macromedia Flash 7.0 is required to view most of the site's content.