Keeping Sheet Music Organized!??!

[lostinidlewonder]

Before the internet it was not a problem, I could keep all my books and the few loose sheets of paper that I did have in order. But now with the internet and the ability to legally print off pretty much infinite amounts of loose sheet music I have a big problem.

One of my greatest weaknesses is keeping organized. If you look at my music room it has sheet music everywhere. Every month I spend the weekend organizing the mayhem throwing away countless printed sheet music and out of date student materials.

I have never mastered keeping myself organized at all times. Things start going bad when  I am doing my sight reading practice, I go through so much music and throw them to the side when I am finished. After a few hours of practice I have hundreds of sheets everywhere, I am just too tired to bother tidying them up so I grab the pile and just throw them into a less chaotic pile. When I sight read larger works I simply place the already read sheets face up on the side of the piano (so if I need to read back a page I can do so), this makes all the sheet music go in reverse when I collect them up again.... Usually through the reading practice I have to go through the messy pile and pull out the pieces that were of greatest interest, I am wasting a lot of time ordering the sheets which were mixed up during the sight reading practice.

I use to put all sheet music into plastic sleeves but then I couldn't write on them when I needed to put in a fingering or comment. It annoyed the hell out of me having to pull the sheet out marking it, then put it back in, waste of time. I only store sheet music this way.

Binding the sheet music is a good idea but I like the power of being able to rip up one page and replace it with ease. I also like to be able to share the music and it is hard to remove bound sheets from a book. I don't want to have to print the same piece 10 times for other people I prefer to give them a copy to make themselves.

I tried punching holes in the sheets and putting them in a ring folder, reinforcing the holes with plastic rings. The sheets just don't turn fast enough and even with the reinforcement the holes end up tearing and then the sheet music is loose!

Right at this moment there has to be at least 200 pages of useless printed material scattered in the room. I will remove them but then they come back! What the hell can you do about this??

[frank_48]

stick all the sheets into a scrap book with blutac,

you can still turn the pages fast, still write on the music, and still remove and replace if need be.

[chopinlover23]

~I suggest for the loose sheets that aren't bound together, tape them so they're like the form of a book. For example (Maiden's Prayer by Tekla Badarzewska, mine has 3 pages, tape page 1 to page 2 then tape page 2 to 3 its that simple) fold it then state the name of the composer on the front.
you can still put fingerings and comments w/o turning pages, this will only work with solo pieces not concertos.

~For your concerto sheet music, have them book bound, check if they spiral bound them.. for easier page turning

~Purchase accordion folders at office supply store, depends on the no. of loose sheet music you have. Try my 1st suggestion and group your folder into the eras of music. Or color code the accordion folders, lets say (Red-Baroque, Blue-Classical,and so on)

~Buy plastic boxes and store the accordion folders with your loose sheet music there. Place them near the piano, so you wont forget to put them back.

~Shelves also work, you can have shelves built in your music room to store the sheet music.

~Keep important sheet music,special sheet music,your favorite ones inside the piano bench if you have the kind that you can open and store your sheets.

I hope these suggestions help

[omar_roy]

Like anything in life, it's about having the right tools and building the right habits.

All you need are binders.  You can organize the music itself by whatever system you want whether it's by difficulty, chronology, composer, or any combination you can dream of.

Get in the habit of hole punching it and sticking it in the binder as soon as you print it out.

The key is to make it a habit and stay on top of it.  There really isn't much to it.

[bleicher]

I use plastic wallets, the type that are open on two sides with no punched holes. I just tuck the whole piece into one wallet when I'm not playing it, then I play from loose sheets, then tuck the piece back into the wallet before starting the next one. Having said that, I prefer to play from properly printed music if available: the paper and print quality is better, you often get a more up-to-date edition, and it supports music publishers which are important.

[thalbergmad]

I have given up.

I just chuck everything in empty crisp boxes.

Thal

[ahinton]

I have given up.

I just chuck everything in empty crisp boxes.

Given the voluminous repertoire of which you have scores, I am already very worried about the sheer quantity of crisps that you might consume before those boxes become empty...

Best,

Alistair

[gerryjay]

I have a huge, 6-door cabinet where I keep all my music stuff. My scores are divided by period, then by composer, then (in such cases as Bach, Mozart, etc) by any proper classification. I once had a complete file, library-like, but I did give up almost ten years ago. Now, I know roughly where the score is, and when I need something I have to look at only one (two at most) files to check. And I never leave a score that is not in use out of the cabinet. I mean, never ever!

It works fine.

Furthermore, I am giving away every paper PD edition I have and keeping only the PDFs (organized in such a manner: files per period, then by composer, usw). Since Kindle, I only print a score if it is absolutely necessary.

Best regards,
Jay.

[gerryjay]

I have given up.

I just chuck everything in empty crisp boxes.

Given the voluminous repertoire of which you have scores, I am already very worried about the sheer quantity of crisps that you might consume before those boxes become empty...

I'd like to be a good painter to be able to visually describe the scene I imagine!

Vaguely remember the end of one Indiana Jones' movie, with a huge storage building, filled with crispy boxes. Thal is somewhere playing the piano, while an entourage of oompa-loompas look desperately for the next score he needs to play.

Best,
Jay.

[thalbergmad]

HEHEHE, I definately need to be more organised.

All of my crisp boxes are labelled with a letter of the alphabet apart from Plinky scores, which are labelled with a capital P and worthless late 20th century garbage, which are labelled WL2G. Any Schumann are used to light bonfires and I think they have all gone now.

The boxes contain originals and library copies. I no longer bother to print out pdf's unless I want to play them. Mr pre 1850 originals do actually have covers.

Every month I promise myself I will stop buying scores and every month I break the promise.

May was particularly bad with 24.

Thal

[gerryjay]

Every month I promise myself I will stop buying scores and every month I break the promise.

May was particularly bad with 24.

As my shrink would probably say, it is not a problem unless it is a problem. If you are not going bankrupt due to your score habit, or if you don't think your vital enery is being somehow drained by the fungus, I think that a couple of new scores do good. Well, 24 of them are perhaps excessive, but what is a man if not his own overindulgences?

Best regards,
Jay.

PS: to anything that considers too many scores a problem...well, the original poster... I think what I just write is kind of a bad advice...

[bleicher]

Maybe I could organise my music into two piles: music that I can play, and music that I bought with a vague intention of learning, one day. I know which pile would be bigger.

[lostinidlewonder]

stick all the sheets into a scrap book with blutac,

you can still turn the pages fast, still write on the music, and still remove and replace if need be.

I do use scrap books but I glue them in (which makes it hard to share the sheets or remove them but they are certainly perfect for keeping the sheets I enjoy to play), the scrapbook gets extremely thick with all the pages glued into it. Using blue tac would make it too thick for me.
Maybe if there was some type of adhesive for scrapbooks where you could freely remove the sheets and replace them but I've never seen it.

~I suggest for the loose sheets that aren't bound together, tape them so they're like the form of a book. For example (Maiden's Prayer by Tekla Badarzewska, mine has 3 pages, tape page 1 to page 2 then tape page 2 to 3 its that simple) fold it then state the name of the composer on the front.

I know I've seen plenty of people have sheets taped up but I find chaining all the pages together makes it difficult to move the music around while I am sight reading. If there if more than 4 pages it becomes too haphazard to turn a page, maybe there is some special pasting pattern which would make turning easier. Also my sheets get used a lot so I wonder what the life span of the tape would be, I am not very gentle with my sheets either!

~Purchase accordion folders at office supply store, depends on the no. of loose sheet music you have. Try my 1st suggestion and group your folder into the eras of music. Or color code the accordion folders, lets say (Red-Baroque, Blue-Classical,and so on)

I have folders and filing cabinets, they look beautifully in order every now and then, but as things get taken out and not replaced they simply fall into chaos since I am naturally disorganized! I find I am forced to refile the entire lot because it is too confusing trying to repair what I had previously.

~Buy plastic boxes and store the accordion folders with your loose sheet music there. Place them near the piano, so you wont forget to put them back.

I think I could staple the accordion folders to my forehead and the sheets still wouldn't get put back!  If those sheets are loose the will go wandering without fail if they get used. I sometimes feel like there is a "Mr Nobody" who comes into my room and steals one or two pages from a score and hides it. I like the idea of a box that I could throw my loose sight reading sheets into, maybe like an in and out box.

~Shelves also work, you can have shelves built in your music room to store the sheet music.

They hold all my books, sheet music is not worthy!!

~Keep important sheet music,special sheet music,your favorite ones inside the piano bench if you have the kind that you can open and store your sheets.

Yep they are all scrap booked but I would love a better alternative.

I hope these suggestions help

Yes it got me thinking thanks!

Like anything in life, it's about having the right tools and building the right habits.

It is certainly the lack of habit for me. My parents are extremely organized people so are my brothers, but I am the black sheep of the family in that department. I think it just feel like I have no energy or time to keep myself organized, it is a terrible habit, when I finish one task I don't want to have to clean up after myself although I know later on I will have to do it anyway! I am the type of person who loves to cook but someone else can clean up.

All you need are binders.  You can organize the music itself by whatever system you want whether it's by difficulty, chronology, composer, or any combination you can dream of.

Get in the habit of hole punching it and sticking it in the binder as soon as you print it out.

Binders just don't work sheets I am using, for me since I like to read the sheets many times before they become obsolete. I turn pages pretty roughly sometimes while in mid playing so the holes always get ripped, I wonder if there is any new reinforcements for punched holes.

The key is to make it a habit and stay on top of it.  There really isn't much to it.

Yes, it seems like I'm on the other side of the gun that I always fire off at my students. You know piano practice is not hard, you just have to make a habit of it! I can make a habit of it, but then I fall into my old ways, sometimes it happens because I am interrupted in between a practice session and have no time to clean up, sometimes I am too tired, sometimes too angry, 100001 excuses and reasons.

I use plastic wallets, the type that are open on two sides with no punched holes. I just tuck the whole piece into one wallet when I'm not playing it, then I play from loose sheets, then tuck the piece back into the wallet before starting the next one. Having said that, I prefer to play from properly printed music if available: the paper and print quality is better, you often get a more up-to-date edition, and it supports music publishers which are important.

I like those plastic wallets, do they hold a lot of sheets? I've never tried them to hold my sheet music I use to use them to hand in assignments which didn't have heaps of pages.

I just chuck everything in empty crisp boxes.

I would feel very hungry and angry that I have so many chip boxes and no chips. I may be tempted to eat chips while playing piano which is a cardinal sin .

I have a huge, 6-door cabinet where I keep all my music stuff. .... I never leave a score that is not in use out of the cabinet. I mean, never ever!

I have cabinets and suitcases full of sheets. I naturally leave scores out, takes a lot of effort for me to put it back where I found it, loose sheets just hate me and never stay in place.

Furthermore, I am giving away every paper PD edition I have and keeping only the PDFs (organized in such a manner: files per period, then by composer, usw). Since Kindle, I only print a score if it is absolutely necessary.

PDF are a godsend for disorganized people like myself. I am constantly sight reading music with my laptop on top of my piano, marking the score is very inefficient at the moment though. Technology will improve eventually though to make that an obsolete problem.

As my shrink would probably say, it is not a problem unless it is a problem. If you are not going bankrupt due to your score habit, or if you don't think your vital enery is being somehow drained by the fungus, I think that a couple of new scores do good. Well, 24 of them are perhaps excessive, but what is a man if not his own overindulgences?

Best regards,
Jay.

PS: to anything that considers too many scores a problem...well, the original poster... I think what I just write is kind of a bad advice...

One of my clean ups I did I physically couldn't carry all the scrap paper out in one go and my recycle bin couldn't hold all the paper even though I stomped on it. It is certainly an addiction, printing off sheets and skipping over to the piano and making some music. You don't think about the thousands of pages and ink that you go through every month. It is a terrible waste sometimes, just printing off, scratching on the paper then throwing it away once you have used up what you need from it.

I thank God I am not a hoarder as well, I sometimes feel pain for throwing away sheets which have commentary or my own fingering on it, I can vividly remember once cleaning up a voice telling me, oh you will forget about that little note or fingering you wrote on that score, if I throw it away you will lose it forever! But I never listened to it and happily throw away material that I probably will not use again. If I can't say I will use it again for sure I throw it away, if it is maybe I throw it away so long I know I could print it off again some day if I really need it. We humans are funny things. We can be so greedy sometimes!