I have found Finale (or comparable software) to be very helpful. There is a degree of work involved inputting the music, but you can take shortcuts if you aren't using it for the group to sing from (you don't have to do all the formatting in that case). If you do the formatting, then there is an added benefit that you have clean copies to produce for your group. All of our music is public domain (at least what I put in Finale - or we have sufficient purchased copies), but if you are using copyright music, you do have to take some precautions in that regard to ensure you are legally compliant.

From Finale, you can output the music as wav files. There are free converter softwares available to change the wav files to mp3. I should point out that Finale gives lots of flexibility to put in tempo changes, some ability to set dynamics, the ability to control volume of different voices separately, with a wide selection of instruments to select from. There are several advantages - one is that the PC always plays back correctly what you've input. Another is that you can VERY easily transpose to different keys as needed.

There is also the ability to export to pdf files, and free software to combine pdf files - so I can create a larger pdf of multiple motets, for example.

For our group, I created a Google Group (free), which also gives me a shared Drive and set a shared Calendar. One of my members wrote an app that reads the Calendar and my music schedule / practice schedule Excel files from the Drive to automatically send all members reminder e-mails that include what will be practiced and what music will be sung, who the cantors are, etc.. for each practice and Mass. Members have the ability to opt-out of receiving the e-mails.

So on the Drive, I have a folder for sheet music, a folder for playback files (which you can modify in Finale to bring one part over the others), a folder for schedules etc.. We use the Group site (more sparingly than I would like) to post policies or group announcements.

I have separate folders for other purposes like weddings and workshops.

Some members prefer to use mobile devices to read the music online rather than the printed books I provide. I'm fine as long as they annotate the music in either location.

I would avoid all the modern technology and, instead, practice with patience, repetition, color-coded stuff.....

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Kathy.

Time saved can be valuable, but the recordings our choir members find on their own often don't reflect the conducting and performance practice of our choir director. Rather than saving time, this situation makes the problem worse.

Dad, I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting replacing practice with recordings. The recordings are a tool (much like sol-fege) that can aid members to learn pitches and perhaps provide some idea of the intended nuance.

While I personally find more value in doing Finale recordings than grabbing something from YouTube (precisely because different groups / directors have different styles), it doesn't mean that recordings in general can't be ONE of the valuable tools used to teach music.

Many pieces that are classical rather than sacred can be found on Cyberbass which can be used for free. My husband uses Finale as outlined above by Incardination with our choir since he arranges most of the hymns we sing into 3 part arrangements for our 12 voice/3 or 4 men group. By hearing the line prominently but in the context of the harmony, it speeds up the learning process for those who don't read music much at all. Over the past 4 years this group has improved their ability to master new music. Of course this is just a supplement to real rehearsals.

So, Incardination, that is amazing. I am a huge fan of Google Suites for keeping a group on the same page, but haven't nearly utilized it as much as you have. I music plan on Google Docs. The choir has access and can get email updates when changes have been made. I have also given my right hand woman editing power to fix the page number mistakes she always seems to find! I love your ideas with the folders with music and audio files kept in one place!

About the music writing programs: is the technology there to scan music in or am I inputting the tenor part note by note?

Kathy- that is valuable advice. We do use YouTube and have benefitted from already produced videos featuring part learning. However, that is the exception.

As far as Spotify- that intrigues me? We are still mainly a GIA parish. Maybe 1/4 of the songs we sing are public domain hymns. is Spotify mainly for the classical pieces? I will set up a free account to check it out. It wouldn't have been on my radar besides the enthusiastic recommendation.

If you're looking for software try Musescore, it's free and as functional as Finale. Our music director has made cds for us and does each part separately. She uses a digital recording device like you would find at a good music store or Best Buy then transfers the mp3 to CD.