Organizing your sheet music can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! The question of how to organize sheet music in a binder is one that faces musicians of all levels. By following a few simple steps, you can have your music collection neatly organized in no time.
Materials
First, gather the supplies you’ll need. You’ll need a binder (or binders, if you have a large collection), copies of your music, and a hole puncher.
If you have a lot of music to organize, it’s worth getting a nice hole puncher that can go through multiple pages at once. Take care to hole-punch your pages carefully so that they line up in your binder. This will help to protect your music and keep it organized.
Invest in good quality binders and some sheet protectors. You won’t need sheet protectors for most of your music, but they can be helpful for storing delicate scores, or sheets that cannot be hole-punched. The number of binders required will depend on the size of your music library.
Pro Tip: a ½ inch binder can house enough music for an hour-long recital program. Use one of these for the repertoire you’re working on actively, and file away the rest.
Methods
Next, decide on an organizational method.
One way to organize your music is by instrument, or by instrumentation. If you play multiple instruments, you can create a separate binder for each one. Alternatively, you can group together similar instrumentations, such as putting all of your SATB choral pieces, or solo repertoire together.
Another way to organize your music is by composer. This can be particularly helpful for classical musicians, who often encounter more than one piece with the same title (for example, numerous composers have set Paul Verlaine’s poem Mandoline to music). If you’re working on pieces by a specific composer, this system ensures that your music is easily navigable.
If you have a lot of music by a particular composer, consider sorting it by type. For example, a singer might divide their music by Johannes Brahms into solo songs and chamber repertoire, or a pianist might separate Mozart’s music into sonatas and concerti.
You can also organize your music by season. If you are a liturgical musician, it’s likely that a lot of your repertoire is designed to be used at a particular time of year. Keeping all of your High Holiday or Holy Week music together can make it easier to quickly navigate when those busy seasons arrive.
If you perform with more than one group, you might find it convenient to organize your sheet music in a binder by ensemble. This can be helpful if you’re preparing for more than one performance or if you have a lot of music for a particular event.
Organize Sheet Music in a Binder
Once you’ve considered the organizational styles available to you, it’s time to start sorting your music. Gather all of your sheet music together in one place. This will make it easier to sort through and organize.
Decide which method of organization will work best for you. Within that larger method, put together a filing system that is both easy to navigate and easy to maintain. This may include alphabetizing your music or creating a color-coded system.
For example, let’s imagine you’ve sorted your music by composer. You could then alphabetize the pieces based on title or opus, and color-code based on the piece’s instrumentation.
Whatever method you decide upon, be sure to label each binder or section clearly. This will make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Now you know the tools and techniques to organize sheet music in a binder!
Looking for some music to organize? Try joining a virtual choir!