Hymnal e-books

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I have an interest in hymnals published as e-books. I have found several apps but they only have lyrics, not music. I would like it if I could find songs that are readable on a phone or a tablet, since letter-size pdfs are often hard to navigate on a phone. Something like a powerpoint slide but navigatable from a phone, and also licensed for sharing in that way. This would allow congregations to read music during services without having to have the music projected on the screen. Does anyone know if this kind of thing exists? I would be willing to contact a publisher and take this on as a project if they are open to it, but I don't want to duplicate work.


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I know there are tablet apps for Sacred Harp and probably other current oblong shapenote tunebooks like Shenandoah Harmony. I don't have such a thing, but at singings a small but quite real proportion of the singers are often singing off an electronic device that is presumably lighter than the book would be. Wouldn't surprise me if some Church of Christ books are available that way, too. I went to a Messianic Synagogue service recently (Beth haShofar just south of Seattle) where the Siddur (or whatever they called it) was exclusively on a Nook, and when you entered the sanctuary you picked up a Nook if you wanted one.  My impression was most of the regulars were doing most of it from memory. Interesting halachic issue involved, I think. This wasn't a tremendously halachically rigorous outfit.

Hymnary.org has apps for three hymnals: United Methodist Hymnal, Glory to God, and Lift Up Your Hearts. They can be downloaded free with the public domain hymns, so check them out. You have to purchase the copyrighted hymns.

These apps have the option for purchasing FlexScores, which include a version of hymns for projection, but it's not necessarily very convenient or optimized yet. We're working on that.

Musical notation is actually surprisingly legible on a phone screen, especially if you show the "large print" version which is melody only.