Welcome to The Latter-day Saint Organist's Resource Blog

The purpose of this blog is to help pianists learn to become true organists. Many individuals believe that if you play the piano you can play the organ, but the instruments differ greatly. While this blog is specifically geared towards members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, much of the information shared can be utilized by all. I hope that the information I share here will help you become an effective organist in your ward, stake, or other congregation.

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Monday, January 30, 2012

My question for you: Storing music

I have a lot of music in my house. With my collection of flute music and my husband's tuba music from college, some piano music, my husband's vocal music, my ever-growing collection of organ music, and now my children's oboe and French horn music, I've outgrown my piano and organ benches and the space under another padded bench in my music room. I'm tired of having music piled on my organ, and I'd love to bring up all of the music that's currently stored in a huge box in my basement.

I'd like something that's not too bulky and a system that makes it very easy for me to find things. Unfortunately, I have no idea where to start!

So I'm asking you: What have you used and seen? What has worked for you, and what has NOT worked for you?

Thanks for your help! I'd love to feature your responses in a future article.
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6 comments:

  1. Joni_rtJanuary 30, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    I finally had to make a "music room" in my house with a closet for instruments and a bookshelf organized by instrumentation. But it turns out that no one likes to put their books away, so I also have a small shelving system next to the piano where "frequently used" music can be piled up.

    But what I like best is my "gigbooks" app on my iPad. I can organize digital music into binders and search quickly for what I am looking for. Now if i could only get an iPad with a screen large enough for two pages - and one that will do a quick page turn...i could trim my whole library down to a couple of digital screens (I have a dream)

    ReplyDelete
  2. FloraJanuary 30, 2012 at 9:55 AM

    I juggled things so I could take over a small closet just for my music. It has saved my sanity. I, too, have a problem with music not being put back. I have designated Sunday afternoon as a time to put music back where it belongs. If I do it every Sunday, it never takes more than five minutes.

    I use magazine files to hold my music. I label, label, label. (Books that don't fit into a magazine file just go on the shelf.)

    It is so wonderful to have all your music in one place and to see where it belongs. It's worth the effort!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Barbara Van HeelJanuary 30, 2012 at 10:29 AM

    I'm looking for a solution myself. I have a friend who uses file cabinets, and I think that's the way I may go. I'm going to look for some wide file cabinets.
    My former system (which was pretty poor) got destroyed while I was away at the BYU Organ Workshop last summer - my teenage daughter decided the file cabinet I had in the living was too ugly and took all the music out of it and off the top (I had bookends holding music as if on a shelf on the top of a 2-drawer file cabinet) and removed the cabinet. She insists all the music is still there and crammed into the other cabinet. But I can't find ANYTHING and there's music lying on the piano, on the floor, etc. Aaarrgh. I guess at least it's motivation for me to get a better system!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dave and Sharon BarrusFebruary 1, 2012 at 8:19 PM

    I use a wood lateral filing cabinet that looks like a piece of furniture. It's really nice and holds tons of music. Here's a link to a picture of one like it:
    http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11523447&search=wood+lateral+file+cabinet&Mo=149&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=4000487&whse=BC&Dx=m
    I spent about $110 for mine. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. sadatoniFebruary 17, 2012 at 9:48 AM

    I use a book case. The organ music is on one shelf and piano music on all the other two shelves. The order of music on the shelves is rather haphazard. Big books are on the bottom shelf. Individual sheet music is on the top shelf laying flat in neat stacks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Paul S.February 21, 2012 at 6:37 PM

    This is kind of a late response, but here it is anyway!

    I use a mail sorting cabinet made of oak. The cubbies are just the right size for storing the music flat. Since mine has 27 cubbies, it's easy to sort my music into different categories as well.

    Here's a link to a pic:

    http://i1027.photobucket.com/albums/y340/pslaught/Music%20Storage/IMG_20120221_182730.jpg

    ReplyDelete

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