If you search for a song title and can't find it in the database, you can add a new song listing using the box below. New song listings will be approved by a moderator in 2-7 business days and then appear live and searchable on the site. In order to make your listing as useful as possible, include as much of the requested information as you can. This database is set up so that others can add to your listings, so if there’s something you aren’t sure about, someone else may add it later. Include links to recordings of the song (video or audio), websites where printed scores of the song can be purchased or shared freely, the website of the composer who wrote it, or to sources of information about the history of the song or contexts where it is sung by others. When adding tags, check the wording and spelling against the filters in the dropdown menu to the right so that your listing will come up when others search for those terms.
We aim to share information as freely as possible while respecting the copyrights of composers and publishers. If the rights to a song is owned by someone else, you can let users know you like the song by creating a listing and adding links to the publisher or composer's websites so others can obtain recordings or printed copies of the song through the channels preferred by the copyright owners.
This is a great place to share new songs you've written! If you'd like help transcribing a song or finding tools to make a video or audio recording to share, email Rachel Kroh at [email protected].
Contributing to Existing Listings
You can also contribute by adding information, sharing tips or suggesting tags for existing song listings.
Adding information: Sharing songs orally means that over time, tunes change, words change, and information about a song's origin can get lost. We hope this database will give us a chance to combine the inspiring innovation and cross-pollination that are hallmarks of the oral tradition with the wonderful capability of the internet to store information contributed by a community of people. If you know a different version of a song, know another recording or written source, or were told a different version of its origin story--contribute it to the listing!
Sharing tips: You can also contribute your experiences of leading the song and make suggestions that might help others. What context did you lead it in? How did it go? Any tips that might help others have success leading the song paperlessly?
Suggesting tags: Finally, you can suggest tags we can add to the listing that will help others find it. Choose tags from the list of filters to the right, or if you don't see the tag you're looking for, go ahead and suggest it. We can easily add more filters to the menu to match your tags.
Using the Database
This database is a tool to help you build a repertoire of paperless song leading. You can use the tabs above to sort the listings by your preferred method for learning music (print, audio or video), or use the filters to the right to sort by category. You can also type keywords like a song title or composer's name into the searchbox in the upper righthand corner of your screen.