Between lessons, these sheet music sorting strategies can help keep practice time productive.

1. Collect your books, sheet music, and digital copies near your instrument practice station. Online video music lessons are followed by emails and digital files, so be sure to collect and forward those documents.
2. Put your music stand on a diet. Economy wire stands are designed for single sheets and light books, while is perfect for violin and vocal. Conductor stands and trays built into the piano and keyboard are built for larger books, such as Real Books and anthologies.
3. It’s kinder with a binder. For guitar and drums, collect your handouts and three-hole punch them before putting in a Current Binder. Have an Archive Binder for songs that are older than one year. This is a helpful system for students in a rock band program because older songs need to reviewed to fill a set list. Voice students should have lyrics and lead sheets for their songs.
4. Straight up curves. If you can’t have a vertical storage system and must stack your books, fan them out Marilyn Monroe style so you can see the colour of the books. This makes it easier to find.
5. Create a sticky situation. Use sticky notes (from Minnesota or elsewhere) or paper clips to mark pages. This is particularly helpful for exam preparation when flipping through different sections of a book or different books.

Sheet music sorting strategies are worth the initial time invested.