Umm … being a relative newbie to music I find myself amassing a pile of sheet music which, at the moment, I stuff into a dresser drawer with my whistles. Alas, I don’t think keeping my sheet music with my socks and Halloween treats (which I’ve stolen from my children) is a good long-term solution so I was thinking that I could just punch holes in my sheet music and store it in a three-ring binder. But, perhaps there is a better way? I know there are quite a few experienced musicians on the board; perhaps some of you could provide some tried-and-true suggestions for organizing and storing sheet music. Thanks!
Hi Gary,
Possibilities are plenty.
Rather than punching holes in the paper though, I prefer to use plastic insert sheets which can go into a binder.
The paper will tear and stain (Flageolet Saliva drainage from End of Whistle Unto Page).
You can make separate sections for Jigs, reels etc.
Of course when you have a lot of tunes you can have your favourites bound/glued to make a book.
A lot of copy shops offer this service.
There are also plastic rim-things that you can slide on the back of a stack of paper.
When using a hard back and front cover you can make your own books. Try an office supply shop for these things.
That said, i must admit that I have insert folders with tunes, songs, lyrics and chords lying all over the place.
Thanks for the reminder about getting organised 
Jeroen
I use several methods:
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I get/put a lot of tunes in ABC format, store them on my hard drive, and print them as I need them.
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I bought a couple of plastic pocket folders at Target and use them for tunes that I print. Green folder = airs in left pocket, jigs and reels in right pocket. Black folder = American/folk/misc. tunes in left pocket, Christmas tunes in right pocket.
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For other tunes that I have acquired (and have yet to put in ABC), I use a three ring binder. I just punch the paper and stick it in, but page protectors is a good idea. I have a friend who does that, and it works well, particularly for music that doesn’t have wide enough margins for punching.
I use the three ring binder method…I punch holes in the papers and alphabetize them…I’m sure there are better methods, but hey, it works! Bye!
Brent
My general thought is 3-ring binder and page protectors, for the reasons mentioned above, and at least one other.
You can amass a large number of pages, sorted by whatever criteria (reel/jig/air/march/etc or alphabetically or by set) but when you need certain tunes, you simply pull out the appropriate pages and put them in a smaller, more portable binder, and haul them with you. Everything is protected from beer spillage.
My preference is something that lies flat without any fussing, so I don’t bind. In fact I’m dissembling my O’Neils as I find a tune, take the page out and stick it in my main notebook.
Quite honestly, I don’t organize my music within the notebook at all. On a daily basis I’m in there, poking around, and I pretty much know where to find something if I need it. I also keep a piece of paper somewhere with the tunes I’m trying to work on, tunes I feel I know pretty well.
It might be interesting to group all versions of a tune together so that you get a sense of how many different interpretations there are of the various phrases.
Most of the sheet music I have is in book format, though if I had a lot of loose sheets, I’d personally go with the “plastic 3 ring binder insert” idea..they’re inexensive, and work great (I’ve used them for kung fu notes for years).
I used to keep a stack of about 15 or so books of sheet music sitting next to my desk at any given time…nowadays, I find myself going to my own web page more often as a resource. It’s kind of a weird feeling.
Greg
I also use the three ring binder method, I found using one of the big 3" binders works well. With it I use one of those spring clips on the front cover to hold the sheet of music I am playing. The 3" binder is large enough to be stable when stood on end so it makes a great portable music stand
I think clear folders (the files with lots of transparent plastic pockets) are the way to go. The papers never crumple, and they can be removed easily should the need arise too. If you get a good file that allows add-ons, you can even buy extra plastic sleeves to expand on your printed GIF collection.
Thank all for you quick replies! I’ll probably go the binder and plastic page protectors route.
I use the binder and page protectors for storing my tunes. That way I can pull out a couple of tunes and slip them into my backpack to work on ad-hoc.
One post mentioned organizing them into jigs, reals, airs, hornpipes, etc. In addition to that, you may want to organize them into sets. For example you might have 2 or 3 sets that have the Road to Lisdoonvarna. Save the music as tune sets so that when you open the note book you can see all the tunes for the set. This eliminates page turning while playing a set of tunes. You get to see all three or four tunes at once. More popular tunes might be in the book more than once. It makes it easy if you incorporating a new player.
I occasionally play in the Baltimore Folk Music Society’s Open Band (BOB) that plays for Contra dances. They have a song/tune book that’s organized into sets. Organizing the book by sets has made it much easy for someone sitting in to join the band. Since the focus for the band is playing for dancers, its helpfull to have a record of which versions of which tunes are being played in each set. A tune/set list that lists the sets and the associated tunes, helps locate individual tunes for practice later.
Storing as sets also gives you the chance to practice play sets and include the transitions between tunes as part of the practice.
So my two farthings, consider keeping more than one copy of some tunes and organize them into reel sets, jig sets, hornpipe sets, mixed sets, etc.
Just a ha’penny hoping to help you …
Enjoy Your Music,
Lee Marsh
[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2001-11-14 12:42 ]