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Sheet Music for Hymn Tunes

• What is PDF?
• What can be done with PDF files?
• Why aren't the hymn lyrics included in the sheet music?
• Where can I find hymn lyrics?
• Why can't I print the sheet music on my computer?

What is PDF?

"PDF" or "Portable Document Format" is based on Adobe's "Postscript" language, but designed to be printed on any machine, regardless of what Operating System, Postscript drivers, fonts, or macros have been installed there. It requires only the "Acrobat Reader" software from Adobe, which is free and downloadable. The Free Software Foundation and Project GNU also provide software that can display or print PDF files.

"PDF" is a "vector file" format. This means that the better your printer or display device, the better the image looks. The most common web graphic formats ("BMP", "JPG", "GIF", etc.) are "raster" or "pixel" formats. If a "raster" file is small enough to view on a typical computer screen, it will look very jagged (or very tiny) when printed.

What can be done with PDF files?

• PDF files look like any other file to a computer; you can download, save, copy, or distribute them just like any other software or data.
• You can print PDF files to create high-quality sheet music. Since these files are public domain, you may create and distribute copies as you wish, free of cost or obligation.
• Modifying those files is legal (they are free of copyright) but is impractical for most people. Generally, the best way to edit the sheet music is to use the corresponding Noteworthy Composer file, or import the corresponding MIDI file into a "music notation editing program," tweak as necessary to match the PDF printout, then edit it there.

Why aren't the hymn lyrics included in the sheet music?

Some of these tunes are used with many different hymns; and this collection was begun as a complement to text-based hymn archives.

If your group is accustomed to reading the hymn text underneath the music, you may print it separately with a text editor, web page editor, desktop publishing program, or even word processor. Otherwise, you'll need to modify the files with a music notation editor. Most scores are included in "Noteworthy Composer" format for convenient editing.

Why can't I view (or print) the sheet music on my computer?

• Software Requirements: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 4.1 or later. Acrobat Reader is free, and downloadable free from Adobe's web site. If you download a "PDF" file, and open it with Acrobat Reader, and it shows a blank page, then this is the first problem.
• Browser Configuration: All files downloaded on the net have a "MIME type", which is a coded description of the format of the file, so that the browser knows what to do with it. For instance, Files of type "text/HTML" are automatically displayed as ordinary web pages. You can configure the browser may be configured to handle other types. The CCEH server gives PDF files a "MIME type" of "application/pdf". If you can't view files from the CCEH website, but can view them with Acrobat Reader after downloading and saving them, the browser configuration is probably a problem.
  

  You may need to configure your browser to recognize MIME type "application/pdf" and "file extention" of "PDF":

  • On Netscape 4.*, Click on the "Edit/Preferences" menu item, and click on "Applications." There will be a list of known MIME types, extensions, and programs that know what to do with them.
  • On Netscape 6.*, Click on the "Edit/Preferences" menu item, and click on "Helper Applications." There will be a list similer to Netscape 4.*.
  • On recent versions of the Microsoft Infernal Exploder, this is buried in the MS-Windows configuration, which is hidden differently in each release of MS-Wind. the IE is notorious for handling MIME types incorrectly in general, and in my experience hardly ever interfaces correctly with Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download a real browser (Opera and Netscape, among others, offer freely available, reputable products). Or you can download the PDF files and view them offline.